Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) Program

Most of the people can’t able to develop the habit of regular workout. All of we know that we should stick to a workout regimen to see results, but our mind convinces us that skipping one more day doesn’t affect anything.

Gaining Strength is the most important need for our body. It doesn’t matter that you are doing it for gaining or to lose weight. Going to gym regularly and hitting an exercise doesn’t help you more in gaining the pure strength, until and unless the workout is well programed. People out there use different types of programs to gain strength like 5/3/1, DUP etc. Few of them make there own program and others work under the trainer.

 In this article we are going to know about one of the best strengths gaining program – DUP (Daily Undulating Periodization).

What is DUP (Daily Undulating Periodization)?

DUP can be used for all experience levels. It is said to be best for athletes and powerlifters. If you are looking for small and steady workout sessions that helps in gaining strength then this might be great for you. So basically, it is a strength gaining program that you do three to four days in a week. Let’s discuss each one separately:

• Daily: Daily training session of the specific exercise.
• Undulating:  It means “to have a continuous up and down movement, like waves on the sea.
• Periodization: It is a form or resistance training (strength training) that we can define as a planned way of specific training sessions. Which help in increasing both volume (which is reps time sets) and intensity (which is the percentage of 1RM) when planning a training program.

Introduction to DUP Workout Program

It is a three to four weeks strength gaining program that help in improving your body strength and it is also very helpful in increasing your muscles. In DUP we look towards both volume and intensity so we start with basic exercises like Bench press, Squats, Deadlift, Overhead press etc. And we change each exercise every day. So that after a week you may increase the weight or reps of every exercise.

These exercise sessions are programed as “Power, Strength & Hypertrophy “. Your one-day program must contain these three. Like if you using Bench press for power then on other two days it must be of strength and Hypertrophy. And on the same day the other two exercises must be of strength and hypertrophy. Change the weights and reps according to these three.

The exercise variations you can choose according to your program that includes Bench press (flat, incline, decline), Deadlift (sumo deadlift, snatch grip deadlift etc.) & Squats (Goblet squats, Glute Bride, Single leg squats). The days between these (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday) are free but you can utilize these days in maintaining a proper diet plan and allow your muscles to rest.

Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) Program

First plan your exercise sessions and your warm up exercises like pullups (3×8), pushups(3×15) etc. And then plan your per day DUP cycle.

So, the DUP program will be like –

Monday: Bench press (5 sets of 3), Deadlift (4 sets of 4), squats (3 sets of 10) progress by adding weight.

Wednesday: Squats (5 sets of 3), Bench press (4 sets of 4) increase weight in every next set, Deadlift (3 sets of 10)

Friday: Deadlift (5 sets of 3), squats (4 sets of 4), Bench press (3 sets of 10), 

This is just the simple programming cycle of DUP to understand easily without any confusions.

Now we look towards Power, Strength and Hypertrophy individually:

Daily Undulating Periodization Program Template

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Now many of you thinking that “What the hell 1RM is?”

What is 1RM?

1RM is defined as one-repetition maximum which means the amount of weight you can lift for only one rep with perfect form of exercise. These are the real 1RM values and it changes day to day and week to week. To follow any strength training program, you must know your 1RMs for your squats, bench press and deadlift.

To find your 1RM for a given lift, use an amount of weight that allows for about 4-6 reps, and use the following equation:

• For your upper body:: (4-6 RM X 1.1307) + 0.6998
• For lower body: (4-6RM x 1.09703) + 14.2546

For example, if you bench press 60 kg for 4 reps, then it looks like:

(60 x 1.1307) + 0.6998 = 68.5418

So, basically when we calculate the round off then it may go down to 65 or goes up to 70 and that’s the simplicity of it.

Like the above calculation, calculate your estimated 1RM for squats, bench press and deadlift. Note down your 1RM of every week and compare it to the next week. You will get your progress report.

DUP Workout Progression

When you are working on anything, progression is the key to success. In DUP program, progression is done in two different ways – first add weight every week and keep sets and rep same and second keep the weights the same and increase sets and reps.

Add 5 lbs to upper body (Bench press and overhead press) every week.

Add 10 lbs to lower body (Squats and Deadlift) every week.

So, now let’s take week by week progression:

First, we see progression by adding weight in bench press

First, we see progression by adding weight in bench press

DUP program progression by adding weight:

Week: 1

• Monday: 150lbs for 5 sets of 3
• Wednesday: 130lbs for 4 sets of 4
• Friday: 130lbs for 3 sets of 10

  Week: 2

• Monday: 155lbs for 5 sets of 3
• Wednesday: 135lbs for 4 sets of 4
• Friday: 135lbs for 3 sets of 10

Week: 3

• Monday: 160lbs for 5 sets of 3
• Wednesday: 140lbs for 4 sets of 4
• Friday: 140lbs for 3 sets of 10

DUP workout progression by adding sets or reps:

Starting from second week as first week is same for both.

Week: 2

• Monday: 150lbs for 5 sets of 5
• Wednesday: 135lbs for 4 sets of 6
• Friday: 135lbs for 3 sets of 12

Week: 3

• Monday: 150lbs for 5 sets for7
• Wednesday: 135lbs for 4 sets of 8 or 5 sets of 6
• Friday: 135lbs for 3 sets of 15 or 4 sets of 12

Now, let’s take a look at deadlift and Squats week:

     Week: 2

• Monday: 160lbs for 4 sets of 4 & 8 (Deadlift & Squats respectively).
• Wednesday: 140lbs for 4 sets of 8 & 5 sets of 5.
• Friday: 140lbs for 4 sets of 4 & 5 sets of 3.

 Always focus on the form of exercise, because if you are doing it in the wrong way it will be not helpful that much. And secondly the chances of injury increases.

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Accessory Exercises for Daily Undulating Periodization Program

The different and small exercises and movements you do after your primary workout are known as accessory exercises. These are the exercise were done after the completion of primary exercises like bench press, deadlift, squats, etc. The reason for primary exercises done earlier is that they are the most important exercises in your routine and require your maximum time and strength.

Accessory exercises help you to focus on different muscle groups after your routine primary exercises.

      The best and maximum types of workouts are in order:

• Warm-up
• Primary exercises
• Accessory exercises

There are hundreds of accessory exercises that people do after primary exercises. Some of the best and important accessory exercises are:

• Pendlay Rows
• Dips
• Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
• Glute Bridge
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Clean Pulls and Pulls
• Reverse Band
• Split Squat
• Weighted Push Ups
• Barbell Curls
• Front or Lateral shoulder raises
• Straight Arm Pulldown etc.

So, if your progression is not up to the mark or we can say negligible even after doing these primary exercises and accessory exercises, then surely you are doing different types of mistakes. So, now we talk about some of the common mistakes done by people out there working on their body.

Common Mistakes Stopping Your DUP Workout Progress: 

1. Improper Diet: If you are not taking enough calories then surely the growth will be slow. Your diet plan must consists of proteins, carbs and calories. Add Eggs, Bananas, Rice, Shakes in your daily diet plan.
2. Not Getting Enough Sleep: To grow, your body need rest. So, aim for minimum 7-8 hours of good quality sleep in the night. When you Sleep your body get time to recover, conserve energy, and repair and build up the muscles worked during exercise. You tear muscle fibers and tissues in the gym and grow stronger muscle while you rest. If you are not getting enough sleep, you will reduce testosterone, growth hormones and strength levels.
3. Not Drinking Enough Water: Everyone knows that our body is made up of two thirds water. And out of that 70% of water available in your muscles. So, if you want to gain more you have to increase your water intake. Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day. Also remember one more thing, always bring your water bottle while you work out.
4. Overtraining: Overtraining leads to injuries, increase in stress hormones and it also affect your immune system. Training tear your muscle tissues and need rest to repair. If you are doing over training your body will not be able to support that and you may fall sick.
5. Doing the Wrong Form: We all challenge ourselves with high weight while lifting. But If you are doing with the wrong form of exercise then it is of no use. If the weight is too heavy and your form is sloppy, then surely you will be giving invitation to the different injuries. Always lift the amount of weight that you can control through the reps with good form.

So, these are the few common mistakes people do while different training programs that stops or lowers there muscle growth rate.  

Advantages of Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) Program

• It helps in increasing your muscle size much better and full of strength compare to other forms of training programs.
• It helps in adding more volume per week (Weight or number of rep).
• It helps in increasing training frequency.
• It is a good way to set up an effective recovery pattern.
• 3-4 weeks productive workout program rather than working for months without much gaining.

Scientific Researches on DUP Workout Program

• Modified Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) Project/Model Produces Greater Performance Than a Traditional Configuration in Lifters. (Zourdos MC, Jo E, Khamoui AV, Lee SR, Park BS, Ormsbee MJ, Panton LB, Contreras RJ, Kim JS – March 2016)

Conclusion: The HPS (Hypertrophy, Power, Strength) configuration of DUP has enhanced performance benefits compared with HSP (Hypertrophy, Strength, Power).

• A comparison of linear and daily undulating periodized (DUP) programs with equated volume and intensity for strength. (Rhea MR, Ball SD, Phillips WT, Burkett LN – May 2002)

Conclusion: After Analysis of variance with repeated measures revealed statistically significant differences favoring the DUP group between T1 to T2 and T1 to T3. So which means making of training program on alternate days for daily basis was more effective in getting or gaining strength than the training program of four weeks.

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Wrapping Up DUP

Follow Daily Undulating Periodization (DUP) program to gain strength, muscle growth and great increase in volume & intensity. Work hard and smartly and train with the purpose to achieve great strength. Make your training schedule before every week and check your progress weekly.  And when you are adapting daily undulating periodization, make sure that you do not take a week gap in between these four to five weeks of training program. Follow proper diet, take enough amount of protein, carbs & calories in your daily diet and try to avoid common mistakes that may stop your growth.