8 Week Upper Body Program
Programme Overview
The focus of this programme is to develop upper-body strength and muscle.
With this in mind, upper-body sessions are slightly longer to allow for more volume and work.
Even though the upper body is the primary focus, it’s still important to train the lower body to support:
- Overall health
- Good posture
- Balanced symmetry
Programme Structure
- 4 sessions per week
- Session length: 60–90 minutes
- Rest between sets: 2 minutes
- Warm-ups: Use both Upper and Lower #1 & #2
Week 1: Goal
You’ll notice the week is split into alternating upper and lower body days. This schedule allows for rest between sessions while making the most of the programme.
For the first two weeks, the structure is straightforward to follow. On the upper-body days, you’ll perform both push and pull movements—on both sessions.
This approach maximizes training frequency, allowing your muscles to be worked as often as possible for optimal adaptation.
The goal for Weeks 1 & 2 is to get comfortable with the format and observe how your body responds to 4 sessions per week. We’ll look to progress further in Weeks 3 & 4.r in Weeks 3 & 4.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session Intent: All essential movement patterns with lower rep ranges, offering plenty of progressive overload options going forward into the programme.
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Session Intent: All essential movement patterns with lower rep ranges, offering plenty of progressive overload options going forward into the programme.
Week 2: Goal
You’ll notice the week is split into alternating upper and lower body days. This schedule allows for rest between sessions while making the most of the programme.
For the first two weeks, the structure is straightforward to follow. On the upper-body days, you’ll perform both push and pull movements—on both sessions.
This approach maximizes training frequency, allowing your muscles to be worked as often as possible for optimal adaptation.
The goal for Weeks 1 & 2 is to get comfortable with the format and observe how your body responds to 4 sessions per week. We’ll look to progress further in Weeks 3 & 4.r in Weeks 3 & 4.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Week 3: Goal
The biggest progression in these next two weeks is the introduction of supersets!
Some lower-body movements will also see slight progressions.
On the upper-body days, you’ll now pair a couple of exercises into complementary supersets:
- Perform Exercise 1, then immediately Exercise 2
- After completing the superset, take the 2-minute rest recommended
Supersets are practical for saving time while also being an effective way to increase intensity and challenge your muscles in a shorter session.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Week 4: Goal
The biggest progression in these next two weeks is the introduction of supersets!
Some lower-body movements will also see slight progressions.
On the upper-body days, you’ll now pair a couple of exercises into complementary supersets:
- Perform Exercise 1, then immediately Exercise 2
- After completing the superset, take the 2-minute rest recommended
Supersets are practical for saving time while also being an effective way to increase intensity and challenge your muscles in a shorter session.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Session Intent: Identical exercises, just a basic progressive overload in rep ranges, increasing in most exercises. Plus an added exercise
Week 5: Goal
Over Weeks 5 and 6, you’ll see another jump in intensity.
Some exercises will become more challenging, but the biggest progression is how you’ll now manipulate every rep—the speed, the tempo, the burn, and ultimately, the gains.
These rep manipulations are where real muscle growth and development begin to take off.
Stay focused on maintaining strong technique and be strict with your timings to get the most out of these sessions.
Keep pushing—you’ve built the foundation, now we build on top of it.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Week 6: Goal
Over Weeks 5 and 6, you’ll see another jump in intensity.
Some exercises will become more challenging, but the biggest progression is how you’ll now manipulate every rep—the speed, the tempo, the burn, and ultimately, the gains.
These rep manipulations are where real muscle growth and development begin to take off.
Stay focused on maintaining strong technique and be strict with your timings to get the most out of these sessions.
Keep pushing—you’ve built the foundation, now we build on top of it.
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Week 7: Goal
The final 2 weeks of a long programme! All your sessions are now testing. You’ll have tempo reps, pause reps, complex movements, more supersets, and even sets taken to failure. These 2 weeks are demanding in both volume and intensity.
It’s important to still take your rest between sets — unless it’s a superset exercise! One last big push.
You’re going to feel amazing after this.
Let’s go!
Session 1 (Upper)
Session 2 (Lower)
Session 3 (Upper)
Session 4 (Lower)
Week 8: Goal
The final 2 weeks of a long programme! All your sessions are now testing. You’ll have tempo reps, pause reps, complex movements, more supersets, and even sets taken to failure. These 2 weeks are demanding in both volume and intensity.
It’s important to still take your rest between sets — unless it’s a superset exercise! One last big push.
You’re going to feel amazing after this.
Let’s go!
These rep manipulations are where real muscle growth and development begin to take off.
Stay focused on maintaining strong technique and be strict with your timings to get the most out of these sessions.
Keep pushing—you’ve built the foundation, now we build on top of it.