Why a fourth session changes the plan
With three sessions, each one has to cover the whole body. A fourth lets you divide the work: upper body on two days, lower body on the other two. Each half still gets two sessions a week, in line with the World Health Organization's advice to train all major muscle groups on two or more days, and each session has fewer jobs, so you can spend longer on each one.
The other four-day options are less tidy. A push/pull/legs rotation needs three or six days to come round evenly, and four full-body days leave little rest between them. If four visits is your plan, RPM's membership page lists what to confirm about access before you sign.
The upper/lower template
| Day | Session | Main work | Supporting work | Kit it ties up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper, pressing first | Bench press or dumbbell bench press, then a seated cable row | Shoulder press machine, cable face pull, arm work | A bench, then a cable station |
| 2 | Lower, squat pattern | Back squat or leg press | Walking lunges with dumbbells, leg extension, calf raises | The rack or the leg press for most of the hour |
| 3 | Upper, pulling first | Lat pulldown or assisted pull-up, then an overhead press | Dumbbell row, incline press, cable lateral raise | A pulldown station plus dumbbells |
| 4 | Lower, hinge pattern | Romanian deadlift, barbell or dumbbells | Hip thrust, leg curl, a carry along the turf | Floor space with bumper plates, then the turf |
Your coach or programme sets the loads and reps. Day 1 and Day 3 can swap if a pulldown is easier to get than a bench at your hour.
Upper days usually take longer than people expect, because every exercise uses a different station. Lower days are the opposite: few exercises, long stretches at one station and long rests between heavy sets.
Laying four days over the week
Two days in a row are fine on this split, since the upper body rests while the lower body works. What to avoid is two lower days together. These layouts suit most Abu Dhabi weeks:
- Weekend start: Saturday upper, Sunday lower, Tuesday upper, Wednesday lower. That leaves Monday and Thursday open, with Friday as a rest day.
- Weekdays only: Monday upper, Tuesday lower, Thursday upper, Friday lower. Friday hours are shorter at many gyms and the day is shaped by prayers, so move the last session to Saturday morning if Friday is awkward.
- Mixed: two weekday evenings and both weekend mornings, with the lower days on whichever pair of slots is quieter at your gym.
Whichever layout you pick, apply one rule. Put lower days in your quietest slots, because they hold the rack for longest. Put upper days where the floor is busiest, because they can switch between benches, dumbbells and cables when one is taken.
How a fourth day changes kit and crowd needs
Three visits a week can usually dodge the busiest hours. Four often cannot: for many people at least one lands straight after office hours, when floors tend to be fullest. When the gym is least busy explains the typical pattern and how to check a gym at your hour.
- Rack time. A lower day can hold a rack for most of an hour, so ask whether the gym has a habit of sharing racks at peak.
- A second lower-body anchor. If the rack is taken, a leg press keeps the squat day intact.
- Several pulling and pressing stations. A multi-station cable tower lets more than one person work at once on upper days.
- Bumper plates and floor space for the hinge day, so deadlifts are not squeezed into a corner.
- Parking and lockers you never have to think about, because you will use them about 17 times a month.
- Opening hours that suit both your weekend mornings and your weekday evenings.
When four days shrinks to three
Most four-day weeks lose a session sooner or later to a late meeting, a sick child or a work trip. Decide the fallback now so the week does not collapse.
- Lose an upper day: fold its main lift into the next upper day and drop the arm work.
- Lose a lower day: keep the main lift on the next lower day and drop one supporting exercise.
- Lose two days: run two full-body sessions that week, using the three-day template as a guide.
- Lose a whole fortnight: restart at lighter loads instead of where you left off.
Ramadan or summer travel can cut a four-day week to three for a few weeks. Switch to the three-day plan for that stretch and pick up the split again once your routine settles.
An upper/lower week at RPM
RPM is one club, on Level 4 of AD HUB Sports Complex in Al Manhal, reached by a lift from free on-site parking. For lower days, the photos show a squat rack with colour bumper plates and a plate-loaded leg press. For upper days, there are benches with dumbbells, a plate-loaded pulldown and multi-station cable towers.
The women-only Ladies section has its own strength and cardio equipment, so women can run the split there or in the Mixed section, depending on which sections their tier covers. Men use the Mixed section. Floor is the training-floor tier. Engine adds coached programming if you want the split written and reviewed for you.
RPM does not publish its busy times, so the placement rule depends on what you see. Visit at the hour you plan to use for a lower day and ask the team how busy the rack gets then. The team confirms prices and what each tier includes when you enquire.
Sources
Questions, answered.
Is upper/lower better than full body on four days?
Neither suits everyone. Upper/lower gives each session fewer exercises and more time on each, while four full-body days repeat everything with less rest in between. Choose the one you will keep doing.
Can I train four days in a row?
On this split you can, because the halves alternate, but most people feel fresher with a rest day after every second session. Four in a row also leaves three days off together, which can feel like starting again each week.
Where does cardio fit?
Easy cardio fits on rest days or after an upper session. WHO advises adults to do 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, and brisk walking counts. Keep hard intervals away from the day before a lower session.
Do I need a coach for an upper/lower split?
No, it is one of the easier splits to run alone. A coach is useful when progress stalls or you want the exercises changed each block. Structured coaching shows what a coached 12-week block involves.