Push Pull Legs (PPL)
A six-day per week split grouping muscles by movement pattern: pushing muscles (chest, shoulders, triceps) train together, pulling muscles (back, biceps, rear delts) train together, and legs (quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves) train together. Each group is hit twice per week.
Design Philosophy — Why Push/Pull/Legs
PPL is the most popular intermediate bodybuilding split for two reasons:
Muscle group frequency: Each muscle group is trained twice per week. Schoenfeld et al. (2016, meta-analysis) found that training a muscle 2×/week produces significantly more hypertrophy than 1×/week at the same total volume. PPL achieves this naturally — Push A on Monday trains chest, then Push B on Thursday trains it again.
Minimal overlap fatigue: By grouping muscles that work together (chest + shoulders + triceps all push; back + biceps both pull), each session avoids pre-fatiguing muscles needed for the next day. After a Pull day, your pushing muscles are fully recovered for Push day the next morning. Compare this to a full-body program where every session fatigues everything, or an upper/lower split where bench press fatigues triceps before overhead press.
Why 6 days, not 3? A 3-day PPL (Push-Pull-Legs once each) only hits each muscle once per week — below the optimal frequency. The 6-day version doubles the frequency, which is where the hypertrophy advantage emerges. If you can only train 3–4 days, an upper/lower split is a better choice for the same reason.
Why it works for intermediates but not beginners: PPL distributes 18+ exercises across 6 sessions. A beginner doesn't need this volume — they grow on 10–12 exercises at 3 sessions/week. PPL becomes appropriate when a beginner's full-body program stalls and more volume per muscle group is needed to continue progressing.
Weekly Schedule
| Day | Session |
|---|---|
| Monday | Push A (heavy — 4-6 reps on compounds) |
| Tuesday | Pull A (heavy) |
| Wednesday | Legs A (heavy) |
| Thursday | Push B (moderate — 8-12 reps) |
| Friday | Pull B (moderate) |
| Saturday | Legs B (moderate) |
| Sunday | Rest |
Push Day A (Heavy)
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Bench Press | 4 × 4-6 |
| Overhead Press | 3 × 8-12 |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 × 8-12 |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 3 × 10-15 |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 × 10-15 |
| Overhead Triceps Extension | 2 × 10-15 |
Pull Day A (Heavy)
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Bent Over Barbell Row | 4 × 4-6 |
| Weighted Pull-ups | 3 × 8-12 |
| Face Pull | 3 × 10-15 |
| Barbell Curl | 3 × 8-12 |
| Hammer Curl | 2 × 10-15 |
Legs Day A (Heavy)
| Exercise | Sets × Reps |
|---|---|
| Back Squat | 4 × 4-6 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 × 8-12 |
| Leg Press | 3 × 10-15 |
| Leg Curl | 3 × 10-15 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 × 8-12 |
Push/Pull/Legs B Days
B days mirror the A-day movement patterns at 8-12 or 10-15 reps, using variations:
- Push B: Incline barbell, seated OHP, dumbbell fly, cable lateral raise, skull crusher
- Pull B: Chest-supported row, lat pulldown, cable row, preacher curl, face pull
- Legs B: Front squat or hack squat, single-leg RDL, leg extension, leg curl, seated calf raise
Progression
- Double-progression: reach top of rep range for all sets, add 2.5 kg (upper) / 5 kg (lower)
- Start next session at bottom of rep range with new weight
- If unable to complete minimum reps: reduce load 5-10%, rebuild
3-Day Variant
Run Push/Pull/Legs once per week (Mon/Wed/Fri) for lower-frequency hypertrophy training.
Each muscle group trained 2x/week. For autoregulated volume, see
rp_hypertrophy. For power-hypertrophy blend, seephul.