18 reviews for Fazlifts Upper Lower (The Barbarian)
This routine is the correct way to program an Upper/Lower for beginners and early intermediates primarily interested in hypertrophy, with a secondary focus on strength. The core principle of hypertrophy is progressive poundages, in standardised form for medium to high reps. That is the basis by which all my routines are written, and that is the key to hypertrophy.
Upper Days - These days will cover the chest, upper back, delts, biceps and triceps. I show you how best to program this to accomplish the core principles we follow for increased muscle mass. At this stage volume should remain low to moderate and effort should be encouraged. Direct volume for the biceps and triceps is lower, as they will receive indirect loading from the heavy chest and back work. Too much can be not only detrimental for growth at this stage, but can also lead to tendinitis in some. Additional work for neck/forearms is not included, as experience has shown me their inclusion is unneccessary in most people, however that can be added per preference.
Lower Days - These days will cover the quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. These days also follow the core principles, and I include a reasonable degree of variety within that framework for balance. Programmed correctly the volume on this day should perfectly mirror that of the upper days.
Progression
At this stage, it is super simple and you should expect to make progress every single time you come to repeat a session, that is assuming two major things:
1. You actually trained hard enough the previous session
2. You ate and rested well
That’s your first point of call, if you ever feel progression has stalled. It’s not a routine change or moving to stage 2, no if you didn’t progress at this stage it’s more than likely an effort or R&R and nutrition issue. So sort that out first or no routine will ever work. Eventually of course you will outgrow this basic stage, but it’s unlikely that will be the first resort. Or even the second, or third. You are going to progress with either weight or reps using a very simple double progression scheme. This means adding reps until you hit the top of the rep range, and then adding weight. For example:
Session 1: 60 x 5, 4
(This means you performed a set of 5 and a set of 4 with 60kg)
Session 2: 60 x 6, 5
Session 3: 60 x 6, 6
(You hit the top of the rep range for both sets and that only took 2 weeks, nice. Go up next time)
Session 4: 65 x 5, 4
(You added 5kg and your reps dropped, so now build this back up)
Session 5: 65 x 6, 5
And so on…
Very simple.
For more information
To get indepth more about the routine, get Fazlifts' The Barbarian ebook here.
To inquire online personalized coaching from Fazlifts, apply here.
Max F.
Man, 335 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Very good basic outline to follow. I liked the simplicity. I did need to make modifications based on what I wanted to work on. For example, I felt like there wasn’t enough chest work, so I added flys. There wasn’t any variety with arms, so I switched it up from week to week. Overall, it’s a solid foundation to build your own goals into.
Cody G.
Man, 323 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
On my second run-through of this program so far, really solid upper/lower routine. Tried a lot of different higher volume routines over the years. Most of them had my joints ache and left me with an injury. So I figured I would get back to basics and run with the early intermediate version of this program. This has all the basic lifts you need without any junk volume, which has really helped me to just focus on pushing intensity and getting plus ones when they're there. Weight on the scale and bar has been moving slow and steady, can't ask for much more than that. Once I'm done this run-through, I plan to either do the program again or move on to Faz's "Jacked Intellectual" program.
Connor Vickery
Man, 327 weeks complete
1 year of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
Faz has absolutely skyrocketed my results. I was training 6 days a week and felt completely exhausted. I wasn’t making any progression and I was beginning to develop joint problems from spending an hour and a half in the gym every day. Started watching Faz on YouTube and decided to give his advice a go. I’ve taken my days down to four days a week, reduced my volume and upped my progression. Genuinely changed my life. I’m 31 now and I’m upset that I didn’t discover him earlier frankly. I’m going to stay on Faz’s upper lower split for at least a year and couldn’t recommend him enough to others!
JASON S.
Man, 483 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Love faz lifts and his programs. His YouTube channel is a wealth of information, especially for someone in their forties.
Marko Bojkovic
Man, 303 weeks complete
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Gained almost 10kg, minimal/no fat
Jeremiah F.
Man, 423 weeks complete
7 years of prior experience
Less than expected strength gains
Less than expected muscle gains
Definitely a good mix of workouts covering most of the muscle groups.
Zach B.
Man3 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
I’m an experienced lifter who has taken a year or so off. I entered my way back into the gym with one of Alex Bromleys programs. They were decent at first but I felt it had a lot of junk volume. I started this program and have enjoyed every session. My strength has increased and my muscles have developed. I will stay on this program till summer is over.
Andrew Gorny
Man, 4212 weeks complete
2 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
I started this program as intended and realized I was way too inexperienced to execute this program on my own, so I opted for basically double the rep ranges and aimed for failure at the last set of each exercise. I still made great progress, hitting PRs once every 1-2 weeks. I'd like to give this another go as intended. I also added Ab/dductor exercises to leg day and alternated them with calf/hamstring exercises to keep the pain balanced. I saw some people do a 1-1-2 schedule with this as opposed to 2-2, and I think I'd like to try that. The two days rest didn't seem to have a significant benefit for me after the first 6 weeks so the other half I just took one day off in between the two work days for the second half of the program. I'd like to try the 1-1-2 next time. I'm 41 and pretty out of shape, so I'm guessing no matter what I do it will benefit me! Thanks Faz
Michael G.
Man, 473 weeks complete
8 years of prior experience
As expected strength gains
As expected muscle gains
Victor T.
Man6 years of prior experience
More than expected strength gains
More than expected muscle gains
I’ve been following the program from his ebook, currently still making progress with Phase 1. I didn’t realize I still had a lot of noob gains, and the simplicity and straightforward structure of the Barbarian is helping me get strong and big faster than any other program i’ve done so far. Can’t recommend Faz enough.