This upper lower split workout is geared towards women and helping them to gain strength while working out at home. This 4-day workout routine splits your workouts into two different areas. By splitting your workout like this, you’re better able to focus on the muscle groups of that day.
As a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist, I can tell you that this helps you increase your workout volume and your results. Though there are a variety of ways to break down a workout routine, this upper lower split workout plan was designed to help you strengthen and build muscle at home.
"I just finished my first four-day split and whew! What a workout. I definitely feel it, and I love that it didn't take too much time. Definitely going to keep this up for another four weeks. I'm feeling it!" -Christy
Key Takeaways
- All workouts are done in under 20 minutes
- All you need is a set of dumbbells and a mini loop
- The workouts were created with busy moms in mind
- The exercises vary but are loosely based around compound exercises and functional training to make the best use of your time
This 4-day upper/lower split workout is designed for women who train at home using dumbbells and a mini loop, perfect for building strength, toning up, and fitting into a busy schedule.
Jump To
- Key Takeaways
- What Is An Upper Lower Split?
- Benefits Of The Workout Routine
- Equipment You Need
- Warming Up
- Your Workout Schedule
- How to Progress the Upper Lower Split Plan
- Upper Body Workout #1
- Lower Body Workout #2
- Upper Body Workout #2
- Lower Body Workout #2
- Strength Training & Cardio: Which Is Better For Fat Loss & Toning
- Dumbbell Upper Lower Workout PDF
- More Fitness Tips To Help You Smash Goals
- Frequently Asked Questions About 4-Day Split Workouts For Women
What Is An Upper Lower Split?
An upper lower split routine is exactly what it sounds like: when you split your training days into two groups: upper body workouts and lower body workouts.
This is what I commonly use in the SMASH At Home Workout Plan because it works so well.
On upper body days, you’ll focus on the lats, chest, arms, and shoulder muscle groups.
On lower body days, you’ll be working on the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
Both days can have some elements of abs and core work thrown in.
Benefits Of The Workout Routine
Upper/lower splits let you focus on one area at a time, making it easier to hit all major muscle groups and build that lean, “toned” look many women want. Moms in the SMASH home workout program love that it allows back-to-back training with enough recovery time between sessions.
- More focused workouts = better muscle gains
- Faster sessions with less fatigue
- Easy to train 4x/week without overtraining
- Lower risk of injury thanks to recovery built in
Equipment You Need
For the 4 day upper body and lower body workouts below, all you need is a set of dumbbells and a mini loop!
For the dumbbells, aim to use 15 lbs or 20 lbs. Learn more about why 15-pound dumbbells are great to start with.
This is what I recommend for all my at-home SMASH workout clients. This is because you can easily just use one dumbbell if you need to scale back but a set of 15-pound dumbbells is a great choice for lower body workout days to gain strength.
Need less weight?
For smaller exercises like kick backs, or rear delt flys, you can use wine bottles or filled water bottles instead. Save some money and still get a workout!
Create a stronger, healthier you with minimal space and money! Check out the 4 best home workout equipment to rock your at-home fitness journey.
Warming Up
As with any strength training routine, warming up is a crucial component for this upper-lower split for women (learn how to warm up).
Make sure you focus on dynamic mobility drills to really get the joints happy before diving into anything strength-based.
Just hopping on the treadmill won’t do it. Use the 5-minute warm-up videos below because your workouts
Your Workout Schedule
You can schedule your workouts any way you like. However, I recommend not placing your upper body days back to back or your lower body days back to back.
A sample workout schedule could look like this:
Monday: Dumbbell upper body #1
Tuesday: Dumbbell lower Body #1
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Dumbbell upper body #2
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Dumbbell lower Body #2
Sunday: Rest
Adding in some active recovery work like 5 minute upper body mobility sessions can help too. This way, all your muscle groups get some rest between days.
How to Progress the Upper Lower Split Plan
To keep building strength and seeing results, your workouts need to get just a little harder over time. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself as you get stronger. You can do this by:
- Shortening your rest periods
- Adding pause reps to increase time under tension
- Bumping up your weights
- Doing fewer reps with heavier loads.
Hack: learn how to progress your home workouts so that you're always seeing results!
Upper Body Workout #1
| Exercise | Repetitions and Sets |
| 1 Arm Dumbbell Row | 10 reps per arm |
| Inverted Pike Press | 8 |
| Rest | 45 seconds x 3 sets |
| Push Ups | 3x max reps |
| Superman Row | 10 |
| Rear Delt Fly | 12 |
| Rest | 30 seconds rest x3 sets |
| Around The World | 20 seconds per leg |
| Tricep Extensions | 12 reps |
| Rest | 30 seconds rest x2 sets |
How to perform it:
- Perform the first two exercises back to back without rest.
- Take 45 seconds to recover and perform them again for a total of three rounds.
- Move on to the next three exercises, performing them back to back without rest.
- Recover for 45 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Finally, move on to the last two exercises for two rounds with 30 seconds of rest between sets.
Note: "max reps" means performing as many push-ups as possible until your form breaks down. Learn how to perform push-ups if you're a beginner.
Lower Body Workout #2
| Exercise | Repetitions and Sets |
| Staggered Single Leg RDL | 10/leg |
| Duck Walks | 30 seconds |
| Rest | 45 seconds x3sets |
| Banded Goblet Squats | 12 reps |
| Single Leg Elevated Bridge | 12 reps per leg |
| Side Plank With Hip Dips | 30 seconds per side x3sets |
| Rest | 30 seconds |
| Isometric Mini Band Squat | 30 seconds |
| Sumo Walks | 30 seconds |
| Rest | 20 seconds x 2 sets |
How to perform the workout:
- Perform the first two exercises back to back without rest.
- Take 45 seconds to recover and perform them again for a total of three rounds.
- Move on to the next three exercises, performing them back to back without rest.
- Recover for 45 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Finally, move on to the last two exercises and perform them for only two sets with 30 seconds of rest between them.
Note: for the front squats, you want to pause for three full seconds in the bottom position. Learn more about pause reps and why they'll get you mega strong.
Upper Body Workout #2
| Exercises | Repetitions and Sets |
| Eccentric Push Ups | x 6 reps |
| Mini Loop Pulldown | x 12 reps per arm |
| Rest | 45 seconds x3 sets |
| Plank Row | x 8 reps per arm |
| Mini Loop Lateral Raise | x 12 reps per arm |
| Hollow Body Hold | x 20 seconds |
| Rest | 30 seconds x 3 sets |
| Single Arm Dumbbell Floor Press | x 10 reps per arm |
| Floor Bow | x 30 seconds |
| Rest | 30 seconds x 2sets |
How to perform it:
- Perform the first two exercises back to back without rest.
- Take 45 seconds to recover and perform them again for a total of three rounds.
- Move on to the next three exercises, performing them back to back without rest.
- Recover for 45 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Finally, move on to the last two exercises for two rounds with 30 seconds of rest between sets.
Lower Body Workout #2
| Exercises | Repetitions and Sets |
| Deficit Lunge | x8 per leg |
| Wallsit With Abductions | x 30 seconds |
| Rest | 45 seconds x3 sets |
| Staggered Goblet Squat | x 8 per leg |
| 1 ¼ Hip Thrust With Dumbbell | x 12 reps |
| Deadbug | x 40 seconds |
| Rest | 30 seconds x 3 sets |
| Reverse Squats | x 30 seconds |
| Quadruped Abductions | x 30 seconds |
| Rest | 20 seconds x2 sets |
How to perform it:
- Perform the first two exercises back to back without rest.
- Take 45 seconds to recover and perform them again for a total of three rounds.
- Move on to the next three exercises, performing them back to back without rest.
- Recover for 45 seconds and repeat for a total of three rounds.
- Finally, move on to the last two exercises and perform them back to back for two sets with 30 seconds between sets.
Strength Training & Cardio: Which Is Better For Fat Loss & Toning
And yet, so many women shy away from a heavy lifting workout routine not realizing that building muscle is what tones! Learn more about strength training for beginners.
Dumbbell Upper Lower Workout PDF
Below is a PDF of the workouts for you to download (click the image). Here, you can record your weights and any notes.
Mark down the workouts and then as you go through them week by week strive to progress them by upping your weight, improving your form, or getting through the sets faster. Want more PDF workouts? Get the whole library (25 workouts) for just $10.99
More Fitness Tips To Help You Smash Goals
- 5 Day workout routine for women
- 3 day dumbbell workout plan
- 2 day workout split
- No equipment shoulder workout
- 25+ home workouts for weight loss
- 6 week fat loss workout plan
- How to make at home workouts harder
- The best mom workout for busy days
- Everything you need to know about home workouts
- How to master push ups as a beginner
- The best tricep exercises for women
- Wicked exercises for back strength
- 3 muscles to always stretch post-workout
- Why you should use pause reps
- Best bodyweight exercises for moms
- Follow-along at-home workouts
- Fitness tips
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Frequently Asked Questions About 4-Day Split Workouts For Women
When using an upper lower split workout you can either complete your cardio after your strength training workouts or on your active recovery days. If you find that your legs become sore from your cardio workouts, make sure not to pair your cardio days back to back with lower body workouts or you’ll risk maximum results from your strength workouts (and injury).
There are multiple ways to schedule your workouts with four days of training time. You can do an upper lower split, a muscle group split (glutes/hams, chest/quads/back), or a strength/HIIT split (upper/lower/total body strength/totally body HIIT). All of them can be effective. It depends on your personal goals, which muscle groups you want to focus on, and your preferences.
Follow the 4-day workout routine for at least five weeks before progressing your workouts.
Though there are subtle differences in regards to training for men and women. However, unless you are at an elite level, both men and women can have pretty similar training sessions when the goals are building muscle mass or weight loss.
This answer varies depending on your goals. However, you'll start to feel stronger within a few short weeks (roughly 3). When it comes to weight loss, much of that depends on your calories and overall expenditure (walking, movement, etc).
Nope, it's perfect! Because you're splitting up your muscle groups, each area has lots of time to recover while still getting the benefits of multiple workouts per week.
Christy says
I just finished my first four-day split and whew! What a workout. I definitely feel it, and I love that it didn't take too much time. Definitely going to keep this up for another four weeks. I'm feeling it!
fitasamamabear says
Glad to hear it!