PHULWorkout guide.

Give strength and bodybuilding their own space

PHUL is useful when you want to practice heavier compound lifts without making every visit a low-rep barbell session. The name stands for Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower. Its practical attraction is the organization: two upper-body sessions and two lower-body sessions, with different jobs for the earlier and later workouts.

Begin with the PHUL companion planner, entering the rep range, set count and load for an exercise from the routine you have chosen. The companion helps track set-by-set progress. Its optional double-progression decision is an independent logging method, not an additional rule claimed to come from the author.

Our source is Brandon Campbell’s PHUL article on Muscle & Strength, originally published in 2013 and updated in 2021. Use that public routine for the complete exercise tables. This guide explains how to choose loads, interpret the log and troubleshoot the four-day commitment without turning every uncertain result into a program change.

Check whether four days are genuinely available

PHUL is a strong candidate when you want both strength and muscle-focused training and can protect four weekly visits. The source identifies it as an intermediate routine. That label describes the intended audience; your ability to execute and recover from the actual workload matters more than the label attached to your training history. Review the author’s overview.

Put the four visits into your real calendar before selecting exercises. Include commuting, changing, equipment queues and the time needed for the final movements. If only three sessions reliably happen, choosing four on paper does not create another usable day. GZCLP or Greyskull LP may offer more manageable alternatives when a simpler schedule is the main constraint.

You should also want both halves of the plan. Someone who repeatedly skips bodybuilding work to test heavy singles is choosing a different priority. Someone who dislikes the heavier compound work may prefer a more focused hypertrophy program. PHUL is most coherent when both types of session serve goals you actually care about.

Understand the weekly arrangement

Campbell’s public schedule places upper power and lower power first, takes a rest day, then uses upper hypertrophy and lower hypertrophy sessions before two more rest days. Its exercise tables include different rep ranges within each day; the word power does not turn every accessory into a three-rep lift. See the original schedule.

The weekday labels can shift while preserving a coherent order and recovery. If your four available slots are scattered unpredictably, plan the sequence explicitly. An upper/lower split still requires attention when two demanding lower sessions become adjacent because of a busy week.

Start at the manageable end of the ranges

The author recommends beginning with less total volume while adapting to the workload and keeping at least one rep available rather than repeatedly reaching failure. The article also keeps main compound choices stable while allowing similar substitutions. These instructions matter when interpreting the set and rep ranges in the public tables. Read Campbell’s program notes.

Choosing the top of every set range on day one is a substantial decision, not a neutral default. A range gives you room to begin with a smaller commitment. Record which option you selected so a later increase in sets does not disappear inside an unchanged exercise name.

For an editorial first-block workflow, hold the chosen set count steady while learning what the sessions demand. If the plan calls for a range of sets, write your selected number beside the exercise before training. You can then compare like with like instead of mistaking a larger workload for weaker performance.

Moving from three sets to four adds one-third more sets for that exercise. If you make that choice across several movements at once, the total change can be substantial even though each individual row looks only slightly different. Count the change before judging its effect.

Choose loads from the assigned task

Select a load you can use for all planned sets within the relevant range and effort target. A weight that permits one impressive first set but leaves later sets below the minimum is not yet a good working load for the full task. Your strongest isolated set and your repeatable multi-set load answer different questions.

For a concrete example, suppose you choose three work sets in a three-to-five-rep range. A first attempt at 60 kg produces 5, 4 and 3 reps with the intended technique and effort. All sets are inside the selected range. That provides a useful baseline. It does not require an automatic increase, nor does it mean you failed because all sets were not fives.

For another exercise in an eight-to-twelve range, start from that exercise’s own performance. Do not calculate a machine row from your barbell-row load or a dumbbell press from the total weight of a barbell press. The movement, equipment and loading convention must be identifiable.

Use double progression as an optional companion

The following is an editorial companion rule, not a verified automatic progression algorithm from Campbell’s article: keep the load while adding reps within your selected range; consider the smallest practical increase after every planned set reaches the upper end at the intended effort.

Here is an example for three sets of an exercise with an eight-to-twelve range. Assume 20 kg per dumbbell and a possible next pair of 22 kg dumbbells. The table uses invented training entries to demonstrate the decision.

The next available dumbbell jump is 10% in this example. That is larger than it may look on a rack label. If 22 kg pushes later sets below the range, return to a workable load or use a suitable equipment option. The companion should reveal the trade-off, not force an increase because a threshold was reached.

Keep effort and repetition quality visible

A rep count without an execution standard can become misleading. Decide what counts as a completed rep for the exercise: the intended range of motion, a repeatable setup and the same loading convention. If the final reps change substantially, describe the change rather than hiding it inside a higher total.

Reps in reserve is an estimate of how many more comparable reps you believe were available. It is useful context, not a perfectly measured sensor. A log entry such as eleven reps, approximately one in reserve, same range of motion gives the next session more information than eleven alone.

On machines, note the seat position and relevant settings. With dumbbells, state whether the recorded weight is per hand. On unilateral exercises, distinguish reps per side from a combined total. These small conventions prevent many apparent plateaus and personal records from being bookkeeping changes.

When lower power becomes too expensive

The demanding part of PHUL for some lifters is fitting heavier squat and hinge work into one session while preserving later lower-body training. Begin by looking at the actual sets chosen from the source ranges, the rest periods and the order you followed. A maximum-set interpretation of every movement can create a very different day from a conservative start.

If the first compound improves but the later one repeatedly collapses, do not immediately conclude that the second exercise needs more work. Check whether its starting load reflects performance after the earlier exercise. Compare the same order across sessions before drawing conclusions.

Review squat form and the Romanian deadlift guide when those movements are part of your plan. A technique reference can clarify the task; it cannot select your recoverable workload. Persistent discomfort or a concerning symptom needs individual attention rather than another automated progression decision.

What a stall actually looks like

One set missing one planned rep is a result to record, not a complete diagnosis. Start with the narrow question: did performance change under comparable conditions? Different rest periods, exercise order, equipment or set count can explain why two entries are not measuring the same task.

For this companion workflow, keep an exercise at its current load when only some sets reach the top of the range. If repeated comparable exposures stop improving, review the increment, effort, technique and surrounding workload. Then change one relevant variable and write down the reason.

Campbell’s public article does not establish a universal three-failure reset, a fixed percentage deload, or an exact calendar for every lifter. Do not attach those rules to PHUL without identifying another source or coach. A deliberate reduction may be useful, but the record should say what you reduced and why rather than presenting it as an original mandatory step.

Deloads and missed workouts

If several exercises deteriorate together and ordinary sessions become unusually difficult, pause automatic increases. A lighter period can be described precisely by reducing selected loads, set counts or training demands. Keep the adjustment visible so the following week is compared against the correct reference.

For a missed upper session, do not combine its complete workload with the next upper session simply to erase the gap. Resume a sensible sequence and preserve recovery around demanding work. If absences recur, reconsider the four-day commitment before making the workouts even larger.

A travel week might be recorded as three completed sessions, one omitted session and no automatic load increases on unperformed exercises. That is a more useful record than marking the entire week complete. After a longer break, use current performance to re-establish working loads instead of assuming the previous targets still fit.

Substitute by purpose and track the new task

Start with the source routine and use a consistent alternative when equipment or suitability requires one. A replacement should preserve the intended training role as closely as practical, while acknowledging that the new exercise will need its own load and performance history.

For example, replacing a cable row with another row can preserve a pulling slot, but the stack number is not transferable. Record the actual movement, handle, machine and support position. If you switch back, resume the appropriate history rather than merging both exercises into one graph.

Temporary gym congestion and permanent equipment access deserve different decisions. A one-day replacement can remain an exception. A home-gym conversion should be planned across the whole week so several individual substitutions do not unintentionally duplicate the same movement while dropping another role.

Review an illustrative before-and-after record

This illustrative training record is invented to show useful measurements. It is not a testimonial, a real person’s transformation, or a promise of results over a particular number of weeks.

The first two rows describe performance changes. They do not measure muscle gain directly. If physique change is your goal, choose consistent, private measurements and a sensible review interval; avoid treating a better pump, lighting change or one photograph as proof that the routine produced a specific transformation.

Compare PHUL with nearby options

PHAT expands the power-and-hypertrophy approach into a five-day structure with its own public speed-work instructions. It is a larger scheduling commitment, not simply PHUL with a more advanced name. Compare the actual visits and workload before moving between them.

Jeff Nippard Fundamentals offers paid, structured split choices for lifters who want more detailed program material. Pure Bodybuilding is a different, more specifically hypertrophy-focused product. Texas Method may appeal when weekly barbell performance is the clearer priority.

Keep PHUL when you value both session types and the workload remains productive. Change when your goal, equipment or dependable schedule changes, or when a carefully reviewed block is no longer serving you. Retain the exercise log so the next plan begins from the work you actually completed.

Take the guide into the gym

Use the PHUL planner for your chosen exercise, set targets, actual reps and effort notes. Export the calculated companion plan to CSV for Excel or Google Sheets, or print it. The plate calculator and warm-up calculator can support the barbell parts of the session.

For the full routine, exercise tables and author instructions, visit Brandon Campbell’s original PHUL page. The source was checked on 15 October 2026. Our load examples, review questions and optional progression workflow are independent editorial tools.