PHUL Logbook Template: Balancing Power and Hypertrophy Tracking

PHUL stands for Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower. It is a 4-day program designed by Brandon Campbell that splits training into two distinct goals across four sessions per week. Monday and Tuesday are power days focused on heavy compound lifts in the 3-5 rep range. Thursday and Friday are hypertrophy days targeting moderate weight with higher reps in the 8-15 range.

The tricky part for logging is that power days and hypertrophy days require different tracking priorities. On power days, you care about absolute load, RPE on heavy sets, and whether your top sets are progressing week to week. On hypertrophy days, you care about total volume, the quality of the contraction, and whether you are adding reps or sets over time. A logbook page that works for one style often feels wrong for the other.

The solution is a template with two distinct page layouts. Same logbook, different structure depending on the training day.

Power days have fewer exercises but heavier loads. Your upper power day typically includes bench press, barbell rows, overhead press, and maybe a couple of accessory movements. Lower power day covers squats, deadlifts, and leg press. Each exercise gets 3-5 working sets in the 3-5 rep range.

Your page layout should prioritize the big lifts. Give bench, squat, deadlift, and OHP the top rows with full tracking columns: weight, sets, reps, and RPE. These are the lifts where 2.5 lbs of progress matters. Below the main lifts, leave a smaller section for accessories where you only need weight and reps. No RPE needed on barbell curls.

Hypertrophy days have more exercises, lighter loads, and the goal shifts from absolute strength to accumulated volume. Upper hypertrophy might include dumbbell bench, incline press, cable rows, lateral raises, curls, and tricep pushdowns. Lower hypertrophy covers front squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg extensions, leg curls, and calf raises.

Your page layout needs more rows for exercises but fewer columns per exercise. Drop the RPE column. Replace it with a column for rep target versus actual reps. This tells you whether to increase weight next week. If your target was 10 reps and you hit 13, bump the weight. If you only hit 7, the weight was too heavy for hypertrophy work.

PHUL uses different progression methods depending on the day type. Power days follow linear progression. Add 5 lbs to upper body lifts and 10 lbs to lower body lifts when you hit all prescribed reps across all sets. If you miss reps, hold the weight. If you miss reps two weeks in a row, deload 10%.

Hypertrophy days follow double progression. Pick a rep range (say 8-12). Start at the bottom of the range with a given weight. Add reps each week until you hit the top of the range across all sets. Then increase weight and drop back to the bottom of the range. Your logbook tracks this by comparing actual reps to target reps week over week.

Keeping both progression methods visible in the same logbook is what makes PHUL tracking feel clean. Label each page clearly as POWER or HYPERTROPHY in the header so you never confuse which progression rule applies.

Monday, upper power: bench 225x5x3 at RPE 8, barbell rows 185x5x3 at RPE 7, OHP 135x5x3 at RPE 8.5, barbell curls 75x10x3, skull crushers 65x10x3. Session RPE: 7.5. Note: bench felt heavy but moved well on the third set.

Tuesday, lower power: squat 315x5x3 at RPE 8, deadlift 365x3x2 at RPE 9, leg press 450x8x3, leg curls 90x10x3. Session RPE: 8. Note: deadlift grip was slipping, use chalk next week.

Thursday, upper hypertrophy: dumbbell bench 70sx12/11/10, incline dumbbell press 55sx10/10/9, seated cable rows 150x12/12/11, lateral raises 20sx15/14/13, hammer curls 30sx12/12/10, rope pushdowns 50x15/14/13. Total sets: 18. Pump rating: 4/5.

Friday, lower hypertrophy: front squat 185x10/10/9, RDL 225x10/10/10, leg extensions 120x12/12/12, leg curls 80x12/11/10, calf raises 200x15/15/14. Total sets: 15. Note: bump RDL to 235 next week, hit all target reps.