How To Use DUP

Today we are going to talk more about DUP or known as Daily undulating Periodization. Theres honestly so much to cover with it that I could go on and on. But seeing as DUP has been in the media a lot lately it has also caused a lot of misconceptions that need to be cleared up. Today im gonna give you a brief explanation of DUP,  who is DUP for and who benefits the most out of it. I’m also going to Explain how DUP is not just for powerlifters and truly anybody can benefit from it.

 

What is DUP?

The very first thing you must know about DUP is that there is no DUP, DUP is not a set program but a method used and layout used to program your workouts. I get asked a lot for the DUP schedule and while that would be cool there is no such thing.

DUP or Daily undulating Periodization is the undulating of sets and reps throughout the week (mixing up sets and reps in a week) DUP is the process of training a muscle multiple times throughout the week with different intensities (weight lifted) and also different reps. DUP is set up in many ways but i typically program in 12 weeks split with 4 week blocks and a 13th week of a taper. A DUP block is set up usually like this

1st Month – Volume Block (High Volume) (Low Intensity)

2nd Month – Adaptation and Strength Block (Med Volume, Med Intensity)

4th Month - Intensity and Overreaching Block (Volume Grows each week along with intensity each week which leads you into overreaching, then you taper, then that creates a short period of supercompensation and then you test.

 

A Basic DUP Schedule

Monday (Light Day) (Squat, Bench, Deadlift)

Tuesday (Upper Hypertrophy Day)

Wednesday (Medium Day) (Squat, Bench)

Thursday (Rest)

Friday (Heavy Day) (Deadlift, Bench)

Saturday (Heavy Day) (Squats)

Sunday (Rest)

 

How Do You Program Sets and Reps

The Point of DUP is to build volume overtime (reps x sets x weight lifted) So the cool thing about DUP is you can use any rep ranges you want. for example you could do 9/7/5, (light, medium, heavy days) or 10/8/6, or 7/5/3. you can use any rep scheme you want! the weight you lift on those days will vary on the phase of training your in but an example would be for light, medium, heavy - 72.5%, 77.5%, 82.5% remember this can vary greatly depending on if you are in a volume block of training or strength or overreaching, to get a periodization block built custom for you check out my coaching or Get on Layne Norton's PH3 Program from Bodybuilding.com. My reviews of that program can be found here

  

Remember this is one of many ways to program with DUP.

 

Now since I know im gonna get a ton of questions im going to try and answer the common ones right now.

Q&A

Is DUP just for getting stronger or can you use it to get bigger? Any goals can be achieved with DUP if you’re a bodybuilder you could take away the speed day if you wanted and add in another hypertrophy day but I still recommend the speed work to build your power output. If you want to get stronger DUP will work. If you’re bulking DUP will work, If your cutting DUP will work. Heck if you’re a marathon runner you can use a process of undulating workouts through the week to get better, DUP WILL WORK FOR ANYONE AND ANY GOAL.

Can I use DUP on my arms if im trying to build bigger arms? and can I do it in only 2 days? instead of 3 days? yes! DUP does not have to be 3 days, it can be 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days – I think you get the point – you literally can build your block with as many training days as you want. Just undulate the reps appropriately through the week. Also yes DUP will work great for arms! i literally added over an inch to my arms using DUP this last year. A good way to set up a bicep DUP for example would be

mon- 3×6 (heavy)

Wed- 4×8 (hypertrophy)

you could even add more days too like a day for occlusion work, the opportunities are endless with DUP.

Can DUP work with an RPE style of traininginstead of percentages? Yes it can be, that’s how I started initially but with that said I also have found more gains have come from working out percentages.

For the big 3 lifts and using DUP do you recommend undulating days like monday being a strength day for all 3 big lifts, then Wednesday being a speed day and friday being a hypertrophy day? Well you could do it like that but when i tried it like that i was totally burnt out. If you do all your strength work for all big 3 lifts in one day you are going to be seriously taxed and you wont be able to lift as heavy as the exercises progress. I recommend setting it up with a rotation for example you could use

monday

Squat 5×5

Bench 6×3

Deadlift 4×8

Wednesday

Bench 5×5

Daedlift 6×3

Squat 4×8

Friday

Deadlift 5×5

Squat 6×3

Bench 4×8

as you see it always goes in the order of strength work, then speed work, then hypertrophy work.. This has been the layout that has worked best for me and my clients. Look up Brandon Lillys cube method to get a better idea on this as DUP is very similar to the CUBE.

Can any reps work with DUP? Yes you  can literally choose any sets and reps you want just make sure there’s enough variance from each day, don’t just do all your days with the same weight – you will get injured – some days are meant to be easier and feel like recovery (the 6×3 day as an example)

What rep ranges can we do speed work in? The point of speed work is to move a weight that you usually could move for 8-10 reps as fast as possible but not for many reps so with that I could recommend using speed sets in a rep range from as low as 1 rep to 3 reps. never go more than 3 reps on your speed day is a great rule to follow.

As the weeks go on in a block do the sets and reps change? its up to you I generally plan each week one at a time but I also have done each block with the same sets and reps and both methods worked well. For me I might change-up a 5×5 with a 6×4 or a 4×6 for example but the total reps is just about the same (25 compared to 24 total reps)

Ok say I wanted to train 5 days a week but I don’t want to use DUP every day how could I do this with a basic bodybuilding split?

try this

monday – DUP set routine

Tuesday- Back/Shoulders Hypertrophy

Wed- DUP set routine

Thursday- Chest/Arms Hypertrophy

Friday- DUP set routine

BOOM – GAIN CITY!

Can you use DUP for a contest prep? yes for sure! DUP will allow you to keep frequency and volume high – both of which will shred fat and also cause you to hold onto more hard-earned muscle. The weeks close to a contest you might start to really fall apart on a DUP split since it is so taxing but you can easily undulate the volume to compensate for this.

can I train a dup split all 3 days in a row with no rest day? I would highly not recommend it. Training DUP in a row you would simply not recover from. Trust me I have tried a lot of different DUP cycles and one thing you will want on this is to allow for plenty of recovery, you are going to be sleeping like a baby every night.

How long do the workouts typically last? it can vary greatly usually I tell people it will take about 1:30 that’s with warm ups, cool down and also accessory work. Sometimes my heavy squat and deadlift days will take me 2 hours but for the most part around 1:30

Do I have to bench squat and deadlift for DUP to work? No you don’t, but I believe everyone would benefit from the big 3 lifts. But to answer your question- no you can use DUP with any training program. I recently used it with my biceps and have had great progress!

Could you give me a layout for DUP if I wanted to hit each lift 2 times a week instead of 3 times and also what if I don’t want to do all 3 lifts on the same day?

that’s cool – try this

monday

bench 5×5

Upper Accessory work

Tuesday

Squat 5×5

Deadlift 4×8

Lower Accessory work

Wednesday

Rest

Thursday

Bench 4×8

Upper Accessory work

Friday

Squat 4×8

Deadlift 5×5

Lower Accessory work

For any other questions please comment or just contact me personally and I can answer them. If your looking for an already made DUP workout program check out SHDUPA my very first and complete training program in the store tab or click here!

That’s pretty much what I wanted to cover today. DUP really is a great way to train and has many benefits. I recommend you at least try training like this and see if you like it. I know a lot of people who did not even want to do it or try it but once they did they found they were addicted to it! DUP might be confusing and really challenging to figure out at first but if you keep with it I  think you will really find you enjoy training this way.

For anyone Interested in my coaching programs feel free to Submit a Consultation and I will get you set up on a custom program that will work best for you and your goals. Hope you enjoyed this blog! let me know in the comments if u have tried DUP and if you liked it. Till next time guys

Stay Strong,