Push Pull Legs Split: A Complete Guide
Push/pull/legs (PPL) is a training split that groups exercises by movement pattern: one day for pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps), one for pulling muscles (back, rear delts, biceps), and one for the lower body. Run twice through the week it trains every muscle twice, which is the frequency most evidence points to as the practical sweet spot for growth. It's one of the most popular splits in the world because it's simple, scales well with volume, and makes each session feel focused. Here's how to set it up properly, how many days to run it, and a complete sample week.
How the push/pull/legs split works
The logic is muscle overlap. Every pressing exercise, whether it's a bench press or an overhead press, works the triceps and front delts. Every rowing or pulling movement, from a pull-up to a cable row, works the biceps and rear delts. Grouping those exercises on the same day means the small muscles get trained hard once, then get a full rest while you train something else.
Compare that with a body-part split where you do chest on Monday, shoulders on Tuesday, and triceps on Thursday: your triceps get hit three days out of four, never fully recover, and never get a truly hard session of their own. PPL avoids that entirely.
The other advantage is focus. A push day is four to six exercises that all point in the same direction. There's no energy split between a heavy squat and a heavy row in the same hour.
What goes on each day
| Day | Primary muscles | Movement patterns | Example exercises |
|---|---|---|---|
| Push | Chest, front and side delts, triceps | Horizontal press, vertical press, fly, extension | Bench press, overhead press, incline dumbbell press, lateral raise, triceps pushdown |
| Pull | Lats, upper back, rear delts, biceps, forearms | Vertical pull, horizontal pull, face pull, curl | Pull-up, bent-over row, seated cable row, face pull, barbell curl |
| Legs | Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, core | Squat, hinge, single-leg, knee flexion, calf raise | Barbell squat, Romanian deadlift, leg press, lying leg curl, standing calf raise |
Deadlifts are the one exercise people argue about. They're a hinge, so they belong on leg day by movement pattern, but they tax the whole back heavily. Either placement works. The practical rule: if you deadlift heavy, put it on leg day and keep the following pull day's rowing volume moderate, or place it first on pull day and treat it as the main lift of that session.
How many days a week to run PPL
The split is a three-day cycle, but how often you run that cycle determines how well it works.
| Schedule | Pattern | Sessions per muscle per week | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days | Push, pull, legs, then four days off | 1x | Too little frequency for most lifters |
| 4 days (rotating) | Push, pull, legs, push, then pull, legs, push, pull the next week | About 1.3x | Workable, but the week never repeats |
| 5 days (hybrid) | Upper, lower, rest, push, pull, legs, rest | 2x | Excellent compromise |
| 6 days | Push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, rest | 2x | The classic version |
The six-day version is what PPL was built for. A 2016 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found that training a muscle twice a week produced more growth than once a week, and while later analyses showed the gap narrows when total weekly sets are matched, higher frequency still makes it far easier to actually complete those sets with good quality. Three days of PPL leaves every muscle sitting idle for six days, which throws away the split's main advantage.
If you can only train three or four days, you're usually better served by full-body training or an upper/lower split. If you have five, the hybrid above is one of the best weeks in existence. The direct comparison is covered in push/pull/legs vs upper/lower.
A complete 6-day push/pull/legs program
Two versions of each day, A and B, so the week has variety without becoming random. Run A on the first pass through the cycle and B on the second. Rest 2–3 minutes on the first two exercises of each day and 60–90 seconds on everything else.
Push day
| Push A | Sets x Reps | Push B | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell bench press | 4 x 5–8 | Overhead press | 4 x 5–8 |
| Seated dumbbell shoulder press | 3 x 8–10 | Incline dumbbell press | 3 x 8–12 |
| Incline dumbbell press | 3 x 10–12 | Machine or cable chest fly | 3 x 12–15 |
| Lateral raise | 3 x 12–15 | Lateral raise | 4 x 12–20 |
| Triceps pushdown | 3 x 10–15 | Overhead dumbbell extension | 3 x 10–12 |
Pull day
| Pull A | Sets x Reps | Pull B | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pull-up (or lat pulldown) | 4 x 6–10 | Bent-over barbell row | 4 x 6–8 |
| Bent-over barbell row | 3 x 8–10 | Chin-up (or lat pulldown) | 3 x 8–12 |
| Seated cable row | 3 x 10–12 | Single-arm dumbbell row | 3 x 10–12 |
| Face pull | 3 x 15–20 | Face pull | 3 x 15–20 |
| Barbell curl | 3 x 8–12 | Dumbbell hammer curl | 3 x 10–15 |
Leg day
| Legs A | Sets x Reps | Legs B | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell squat | 4 x 5–8 | Romanian deadlift | 4 x 6–8 |
| Romanian deadlift | 3 x 8–10 | Leg press | 3 x 10–15 |
| Leg press | 3 x 10–12 | Walking lunge | 3 x 10–12 per leg |
| Lying leg curl | 3 x 10–15 | Lying leg curl | 3 x 12–15 |
| Standing calf raise | 4 x 10–15 | Standing calf raise | 4 x 12–20 |
Add a core exercise such as a plank or hanging leg raise to the end of two or three sessions.
Checking the weekly volume
Add it up and the program lands at roughly 12–18 hard sets per muscle per week, which sits comfortably inside the range most research supports for growth. If you're newer to lifting, drop a set from each exercise and start nearer 10–12; you can add sets back as you adapt. How many sets per muscle per week covers how to find your own number.
How to progress on PPL
Use double progression. Each exercise has a rep range. Start at the bottom of the range with a weight that leaves two or three reps in reserve. Every session, try to add a rep somewhere. When every set hits the top of the range, add weight (2.5 kg on upper-body lifts, 5 kg on lower-body lifts) and drop back to the bottom. The progressive overload guide goes deeper, but that one rule will carry you a long way.
Write every set down. Six sessions a week is too many to keep in your head, and a set you don't log is a set you can't beat.
Recovery: the cost of six days
Six sessions a week means fatigue builds faster than on a four-day split. Three habits keep it in check:
- Take a deload every 5–8 weeks. Halve your sets for a week, or drop weights by 10–15 percent. Deload weeks explains how to time it.
- Don't create a rest day by skipping legs. If you need a day off, take it and shift the rotation, or move to the five-day hybrid permanently.
- Sleep and eat for six sessions. Under-eating on a six-day split is the fastest way to stall. If you're bulking, how many calories to build muscle gives you a starting number.
Muscle soreness two days after a session is normal at first; soreness that never clears, or joints that ache more each week, means volume or frequency is too high for your current recovery. Muscle recovery time covers the signals.
Common PPL mistakes
- Running the three-day version and wondering why progress is slow. Frequency is the whole point.
- Turning push day into chest day. Shoulders and triceps need direct work, not just leftovers from pressing.
- Skipping the second leg day. The rotation only works if legs actually happen twice.
- Too many exercises. Five or six per session, done hard and progressed, beats nine done half-heartedly.
- Copying a competitor's PPL with 25 sets per session. Volume has to match your recovery, not theirs.
Who should not run PPL
Complete beginners should start with a full-body routine. They need practice on the main lifts more than they need volume, and three full-body days give them that practice three times a week. Anyone who can't reliably train five or six days a week should pick a split built for the days they actually have. And lifters who find their motivation drops after four gym days in a row should be honest about that: the six-day split you dread is worse than the four-day split you enjoy. Choosing a split for your goal covers the alternatives.
Let the plan adapt with you
The hardest part of PPL isn't the structure, it's keeping it consistent for months: knowing what weight to use on the second pull day, whether last week's missed leg session means today should be legs, and when the fatigue you feel means a deload rather than a harder push. Gimmy builds a push/pull/legs plan around the days you can train, logs every set, and adjusts the next session based on what you actually did, so the split stays on track even when the week doesn't.
Frequently asked questions
Is push/pull/legs good for beginners?
It can work, but most beginners do better on a full-body routine three days a week. PPL asks for five or six days and a fair amount of volume per session, and beginners progress fastest by practising the main lifts frequently with fewer total sets. Move to PPL once full-body sessions run too long.
Can you do push/pull/legs 3 days a week?
You can, but each muscle is trained only once every seven days, which most research suggests is less effective than twice. If three days is your limit, full-body training or an upper/lower/full-body rotation will produce better results.
Should I do push, pull, then legs, or legs first?
Any order works as long as you are consistent. Legs, push, pull is popular because heavy squats happen when you are freshest, and the push day's pressing does not interfere with the next day's pulling. Avoid putting heavy deadlifts and heavy rows on consecutive days.
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