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Push pull legs routine
A push pull legs (PPL) routine splits training into push days (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull days (back, biceps, rear shoulders) and leg days. Run it three days a week to train each muscle once, or six days a week to train each muscle twice, which suits most people chasing muscle. Use 3-4 sets per exercise in the 5-15 rep range, stop 1-3 reps short of failure, and add reps before you add weight.
What a push pull legs split is
Push pull legs (PPL) groups muscles by the job they do, so each session trains muscles that work together:
- Push: chest, shoulders and triceps. Bench press, overhead press, incline press, flyes, lateral raises, triceps work.
- Pull: back, rear shoulders and biceps. Rows, pull-ups, pulldowns, face pulls, curls. Deadlifts often go here.
- Legs: quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg press, leg curls, calf raises.
Because the muscles trained on one day get a rest on the next two, you can train on back-to-back days without the same muscles taking a beating twice in a row.
3-day or 6-day PPL?
| 3-day PPL | 6-day PPL | |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule | Push, pull, legs once a week | Push, pull, legs twice a week |
| Each muscle trained | Once a week | Twice a week |
| Hard sets per muscle | About 6-12 a week | About 10-20 a week |
| Session length | 60-75 minutes | 50-70 minutes |
| Best for | Busy weeks, beginners, people adding sport | Intermediate lifters who recover well and want size |
Research on training frequency suggests that when weekly sets are the same, training a muscle once or several times a week gives similar growth (Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger, 2019). In practice, though, it is hard to fit 15 good sets for one muscle into a single session, so the 6-day version makes high weekly volume much easier to do well. If you can only train three days, a four-day upper/lower or a full-body plan will usually beat 3-day PPL for muscle, because each muscle gets trained more often.
3-day PPL sample week
This is the same layout as the Push Pull Legs plan in Lift Proven. Rep ranges mean you add reps first, then weight.
Day 1: Push
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Bench press | 4 x 5-8 |
| Overhead press | 3 x 6-10 |
| Dumbbell incline press | 3 x 8-12 |
| Cable fly | 2 x 12-15 |
| Dumbbell lateral raise | 4 x 12-15 |
| Triceps pushdown | 3 x 10-15 |
Day 2: Pull
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Barbell row | 4 x 6-8 |
| Lat pulldown | 3 x 8-12 |
| Seated cable row | 3 x 10-12 |
| Face pull | 3 x 12-15 |
| Dumbbell curl | 3 x 10-12 |
Day 3: Legs
| Exercise | Sets x reps |
|---|---|
| Back squat | 4 x 5-8 |
| Romanian deadlift | 4 x 8-10 |
| Leg press | 3 x 10-15 |
| Bulgarian split squat | 2 x 8-12 each leg |
| Lying leg curl | 3 x 10-15 |
| Calf raise | 4 x 10-15 |
Run it Monday, Wednesday and Friday, or any three days with at least one rest day somewhere in the week.
6-day PPL sample week
The six-day version, like Lift Proven's Push Pull Legs x2 plan, uses a heavier and a lighter version of each day. The heavy days build strength on the big lifts with lower reps; the volume days add more sets in higher rep ranges with dumbbells, cables and machines, which are easier to recover from.
| Day | Session | Exercises (sets x reps) |
|---|---|---|
| Mon | Push Heavy | Bench 4 x 4-6, overhead press 3 x 6-8, DB incline 3 x 8-12, cable lateral raise 3 x 12-15, close-grip bench 3 x 6-10 |
| Tue | Pull Heavy | Deadlift 3 x 3-5, barbell row 4 x 6-8, pull-up 3 x 6-10, face pull 3 x 12-15, barbell curl 3 x 8-12 |
| Wed | Legs Heavy | Squat 4 x 4-6, Romanian deadlift 3 x 6-10, leg press 3 x 10-12, lying leg curl 3 x 10-12, calf raise 4 x 8-12 |
| Thu | Push Volume | DB shoulder press 3 x 8-12, machine chest press 3 x 10-12, cable fly 3 x 12-15, DB lateral raise 4 x 12-20, pushdown 3 x 10-15 |
| Fri | Pull Volume | Lat pulldown 4 x 8-12, chest-supported row 3 x 10-12, DB row 3 x 10-12, rear delt fly 3 x 12-20, hammer curl 3 x 10-15 |
| Sat | Legs Volume | Hack squat 3 x 8-12, hip thrust 3 x 8-12, leg extension 3 x 12-15, seated leg curl 3 x 10-15, seated calf raise 4 x 12-15 |
| Sun | Rest |
That gives these direct hard sets per muscle each week, before counting the overlap from compound lifts (pressing also works triceps, rows also work biceps):
| Muscle | Direct sets per week |
|---|---|
| Chest | 13 |
| Back (lats and upper back) | 17, plus deadlifts |
| Quads | 13 |
| Hamstrings | 9, plus deadlifts |
| Side delts | 7, plus pressing |
| Rear delts | 6 |
| Biceps | 6, plus rows and pull-ups |
| Triceps | 6, plus pressing |
| Calves | 8 |
Those numbers sit inside the 10-20 sets per muscle range that the hypertrophy research supports for most lifters.
Other ways to schedule it
- Push, pull, legs, rest, repeat. Six sessions every eight days. More recovery, but your training days move around the calendar.
- Five days. Do upper and lower strength days early in the week, then push, pull and legs, as in Lift Proven's Upper Lower + Push Pull Legs plan.
How to progress on PPL
Use double progression: keep the weight the same and add reps until you reach the top of the range on every set, then add weight and drop back to the bottom of the range.
| Session | Lat pulldown, 3 x 8-12 | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 kg: 10, 9, 8 | Same weight |
| 2 | 60 kg: 11, 10, 9 | Same weight |
| 3 | 60 kg: 12, 12, 12 | Add weight |
| 4 | 65 kg: 9, 8, 8 | Same weight, build reps again |
On the big barbell lifts, add 2.5 kg (5 lb) when you hit the top of the range on all sets. On small isolation moves like lateral raises, the jumps between dumbbells are large in percentage terms, so expect to spend longer building reps at each weight.
Effort matters as much as the numbers. Stop most sets about 1-3 reps short of failure: close enough that the last rep is a real effort, not so close that form breaks down. Keep this honest and the reps will tell you when to add weight.
Common PPL mistakes
- Too many exercises. Eight or nine movements per day usually means low effort on each. Five or six, done hard, is plenty.
- Neglecting hamstrings and back thickness. Leg day becomes "squats and leg press". Keep a hinge and a leg curl in every leg day.
- Running 6-day PPL with poor recovery. If sleep, food or stress are not in order, four days of upper/lower will build more muscle than six tired days.
- Changing exercises every week. You cannot see progression on a lift you only do twice.
- No lighter weeks. If your reps drop across the board for a week or two, take a lighter week before pushing again.
Let Lift Proven set your PPL weights
Pick Push Pull Legs or Push Pull Legs x2 and the coach sets every weight, set and rep, then moves you on when you hit your reps. Short on time? Tell it 30, 45 or 60 minutes and the session fits.
Questions
- Is push pull legs good for beginners?
- Three-day PPL can work for beginners, but each muscle is only trained once a week. Most beginners do better on a full-body or upper/lower plan that trains each muscle two or three times a week, then move to 6-day PPL once they need more volume.
- Is a 3-day push pull legs split enough to build muscle?
- Yes, if each session is hard and you progress. But because each muscle is trained once a week, it is harder to reach 10 or more good sets per muscle, so a 4-day upper/lower or 6-day PPL usually builds more.
- Is PPL better than upper/lower?
- Neither is better in itself. With the same weekly sets per muscle, results are similar. Choose PPL if you can train six days, and upper/lower if you can train four.
- How long should a push pull legs workout take?
- About 50 to 75 minutes including warm-ups, with 2-3 minutes rest on big compound lifts and 1-2 minutes on isolation exercises.
- Where do deadlifts go in a PPL split?
- Most PPL plans put deadlifts at the start of pull day, as in the heavy pull day here, and use Romanian deadlifts on leg day for the hamstrings.
- Can you do push pull legs 5 days a week?
- Yes. Either rotate push, pull, legs continuously so the days move through the week, or combine an upper and lower strength day with one push, pull and legs day.