PHUL Exercise Routine: The Full Information

PHUL stands for “energy hypertrophy higher decrease” and is a 4-day exercise routine designed that can assist you acquire energy and muscle quick.

In contrast to most energy coaching applications, which focus solely on both energy or measurement, PHUL combines heavy, low-rep compound weightlifting with higher-rep hypertrophy coaching to provide the better of each worlds. 

On this information, you’ll study precisely how the PHUL exercise works, what the total routine appears like, and methods to adapt it to suit your schedule and objectives.

Need to know precisely how it’s best to prepare to succeed in your health objectives? Take our free 60-second coaching quiz and discover out now.

Key Takeaways

• PHUL stands for “energy hypertrophy higher decrease.” It’s a 4-day exercise cut up designed to construct energy and muscle quick.
• On the PHUL exercise program, you prepare every main muscle group twice per week, which analysis exhibits is useful for measurement and energy acquire.
• Every week consists of two exercises centered on energy and two on hypertrophy, supplying you with the most effective of each worlds.
• This system emphasizes compound workouts just like the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press. These workouts ought to all the time be in this system, however you may be extra versatile with the “accent” workouts.
• To speed up your progress on the PHUL exercise program, use a high-quality protein powder to hit your day by day protein goal, creatine to spice up restoration and development, and a pre-workout to reinforce power, focus, and efficiency.
• If you wish to prepare kind of usually, you’ll be able to adapt the PHUL exercise routine to a 3- or 5-day schedule with out sacrificing outcomes.

What Is the PHUL Exercise?

PHUL Exercise Schedule

PHUL Exercise Ideas

Frequency

You prepare every muscle group twice per week on the PHUL exercise cut up. Analysis exhibits this usually helps you acquire muscle and energy sooner than once you prepare much less usually.

The routine additionally provides every muscle group no less than two days to get better whilst you work on others. This minimizes your threat of struggling repetitive pressure accidents and ensures you can provide maximal effort in every exercise, which is necessary for maximizing your progress.

Compound Workouts

PHUL exercises focus on compound workouts like squats, deadlifts, and presses. These actions prepare a number of muscle teams directly, permitting you to carry heavier weights and higher apply progressive overload—the first driver of muscle and energy positive factors.

You additionally do isolation workouts (workouts that prepare one muscle group at a time) to focus on muscle groups that compound workouts prepare much less successfully and to make sure you’re doing sufficient quantity (units) to maximise development with out carrying your self out. 

Energy

In these exercises, you’ll carry heavier weights in decrease rep ranges to enhance your one-rep max energy. That is necessary as a result of getting stronger is significant for maximising muscle acquire.

Hypertrophy

The 4-Day PHUL Exercise Routine

PHUL Exercise 1: Higher Energy

PHUL Exercise 2: Decrease Energy

PHUL Exercise 3: Higher Hypertrophy

PHUL Exercise 4: Decrease Hypertrophy

• Entrance Squat: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Lunge: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Leg Extension: 3-to-4 units | 10-to-15 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Mendacity Leg Curl: 3-to-4 units | 10-to-15 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Dumbbell Facet Lateral Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Seated Calf Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Leg Press Calf Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

Notes on the PHUL Exercise

Units and Reps

Failure

Train Choice

Ab Coaching

PHUL Exercise Train Substitutions

• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: Incline barbell bench press, flat dumbbell bench press, close-grip bench press, dip, or machine chest press
• Barbell Bent-Over Row: One-arm dumbbell row, Meadows row, chest-supported row, seated cable row, or machine row
• Lat Pulldown: Pull-up, chin-up, neutral-grip pull-up, or neutral-grip lat pulldown
• Skullcrusher: Overhead triceps extension, triceps pushdown, JM press, or cable triceps kickback
• Barbell Curl: Dumbbell curl, preacher curl, Bayesian cable curl or incline dumbbell curl
• Leg Press: Hack squat or pendulum squat
• Seated Leg Curl: Mendacity leg curl or Nordic leg curl
• Seated Calf Elevate: Standing calf increase or leg press calf increase
• Incline Barbell Bench Press: Incline dumbbell bench press, flat dumbbell bench press, close-grip bench press, dip, or machine chest press
• Flat Dumbbell Fly: Cable fly or machine fly
• Seated Cable Row: One-arm dumbbell row, Meadows row, chest-supported row, or machine row
• Dumbbell Row: Meadows row, chest-supported row, or machine row
• Dumbbell Facet Lateral Elevate: Upright row or machine facet lateral increase
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: Dumbbell curl, preacher curl, Bayesian cable curl or barbell curl
• Triceps Pushdown: Overhead triceps extension, skullcrusher, JM press, or cable triceps kickback
• Entrance Squat: Hack squat, leg press, or Bulgarian cut up squat
• Lunge: Bulgarian cut up squat, step-up, or reverse lunge
• Leg Extension: Sissy squat
• Mendacity Leg Curl: Seated leg curl or Nordic leg curl
• Leg Press Calf Elevate: Seated or standing calf increase

Dietary supplements to Maximize Your Outcomes on the PHUL Exercise Routine

• Protein powder: Protein powder, resembling Whey+ (Legion’s whey isolate) or Casein+ (Legion’s micellar casein), offers your physique with the vitamins wanted to construct muscle tissue and get better out of your PHUL exercises. 
• Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and energy acquire, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle harm and soreness out of your exercises. For a pure supply of creatine, strive Legion’s creatine monohydrate, creatine gummies, or post-workout Recharge.
• Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances power, temper, and focus, will increase energy and endurance, and reduces fatigue. For a top-tier pre-workout containing clinically efficient doses of 6 science-backed elements, strive Legion’s Pulse with caffeine or with out.

(When you’d like much more particular recommendation about which dietary supplements it’s best to take to succeed in your well being and health objectives, take the Legion Complement Finder Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know precisely what dietary supplements are best for you.)

Execs and Cons of the PHUL Exercise Routine

Execs

• Stability: You prepare each main muscle group twice per week, which ensures you don’t neglect any a part of your physique and helps you construct a well-rounded, aesthetic physique.
• Selection: Every week consists of each energy and hypertrophy exercises, supplying you with a mixture of heavy energy coaching and high-rep muscle-building work, which can increase your outcomes greater than much less diverse coaching.

• Frequency: Coaching every muscle group twice per week is simpler for gaining muscle and energy than coaching as soon as per week.

• Easy: The PHUL program has a easy construction, which makes it extra satisfying and simpler to stay with long run.

• Excessive-High quality Coaching: As a result of PHUL spreads quantity throughout a number of periods, you keep away from exhausting anybody muscle group in a single exercise. And that reinforces restoration and helps you carry out higher in subsequent exercises.

Cons

3- and 5-Day PHUL Exercise Splits

3-day PHUL Exercise Routine

5-Day PHUL Exercise Routine

The 5-day PHUL cut up separates your upper-body hypertrophy work into push and pull days, successfully turning this system right into a ULPPL cut up. This helps hold every session shorter and ensures you prepare each upper-body muscle totally. 

Since you’re coaching extra usually and doing extra complete work every week, this model is barely appropriate in the event you’re an skilled weightlifter who’s bulking. For many others, it’s doubtless an excessive amount of to get better from.

Exercise 1: Higher Energy

• Barbell Bench Press: 3-to-4 units | 3-to-5 reps | 3-to-5 min relaxation
• Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3-to-4 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Barbell Bent-Over Row: 3-to-4 units | 3-to-5 reps | 3-to-5 min relaxation
• Lat Pulldown: 3-to-4 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Overhead Press: 2-to-3 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Skullcrusher: 2-to-3 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Barbell Curl: 2-to-3 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

Exercise 2: Decrease Energy

• Barbell Again Squat: 3-to-4 units | 3-to-5 reps | 3-to-5 min relaxation
• Barbell Deadlift: 3-to-4 units | 3-to-5 reps | 3-to-5 min relaxation
• Leg Press: 3-to-5 units | 10-to-15 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Seated Leg Curl: 3-to-4 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Seated Calf Elevate: 4 units | 6-to-10 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

Exercise 3: Push Hypertrophy

• Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Flat Dumbbell Fly: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Arnold Press: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Dumbbell Facet Lateral Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Dumbbell Rear Lateral Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Triceps Pushdown: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

Exercise 4: Pull Hypertrophy

• Pull-up: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Seated Cable Row: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Lat Pulldown: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Dumbbell Row: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Preacher Curl: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Incline Dumbbell Curl: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

Exercise 5: Decrease Hypertrophy

• Entrance Squat: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Lunge: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Leg Extension: 3-to-4 units | 10-to-15 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Mendacity Leg Curl: 3-to-4 units | 10-to-15 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Dumbbell Facet Lateral Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Seated Calf Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation
• Leg Press Calf Elevate: 3-to-4 units | 8-to-12 reps | 2-to-3 min relaxation

FAQ #1: Is the PHUL exercise good?

FAQ #2: What’s the distinction between PHAT and PHUL?

FAQ #3: Is the PHUL exercise for newcomers?

No—PHUL is healthier fitted to intermediate and superior weightlifters. Newbies will get higher outcomes from less complicated routines that contain much less quantity, like Larger Leaner Stronger or Thinner Leaner Stronger.