3-Day Push, Pull, & Legs Split Workout Routine

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This advanced variation cranks up the training volume and intensity, allowing you to overload your muscles in a strategic way. The upper-lower workout split follows one day where you train the upper body muscles (i.e. chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps) and the next lower body muscles (i.e. glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves). This gives plenty of time in each session to focus on heavy compound exercises combined with lighter accessory work. A workout split is a way of organizing your strength training into an effective, time-efficient program. Not only does it ensure no muscle goes untouched, but it also gives you structure to track your progress week-on-week to implement progressive overload (i.e. increasing the load each week).

  • That’s because it outperforms other common back exercises in terms of activation of these areas.Therefore, we’ll be using them here to compliment the pull-ups done earlier to now focus more on our back thickness.
  • Training a body part or muscle group every 5-7 days is the best balance between volume and frequency.
  • But in this version, each body part is being trained every 5th day (so three times every two weeks).
  • The PPL routine is incredibly versatile—you can adjust it to suit any goal or schedule.
  • The primary difference is how upper-body training is organized.
  • Knowing your body to that extent will come in time, but it’s probably best to stick to a sample workout program to start, and then personalize as you gain muscle and experience.

How Many Days a Week

The best repetition selection will of course depend on your goals. Training for strength, it is best to use weights that are 70%-90% of your one-rep max and keep the reps at 4-6 reps for 3 to five sets each. The “5×5” set/rep scheme however is a tried and true one with proven results.

FAQ #4: Push pull legs vs. Upper lower: Which is better?

It is a mix of Upper/Lower and Push/Push/Legs, to ensure you hit the same muscle twice per week.All sets are 3×12 because they focus on Hypertrophy. Ultimately, the style of training you decide to follow is dependent on you and your lifestyle. You might already be following one of these splits (whether you realize it or not), but ensuring you are on the right workout split for your level and goals is essential. Here’s our guide to the best workout splits, and how you can choose the right one for you. Splits can come in 2, 3, 4, and 5 day workout splits (or even more in some cases!), and there’s a variety of ways to implement a workout split (this is where things get a little complicated, but we’ll break it down for you).

FAQ #1: Is push pull legs effective?

It’s simplicity also makes it a flexible routine, making it easy to adjust based on your recovery needs and weekly schedule. I’d recommend that novice lifters stay on the lower end of the volume requirements. Whereas more experienced lifters can opt for the higher recommendation of sets.

How To Perform The Glute Ham Raise

While there are several ways you can split workouts on a push-pull-legs routine, the most common approach for beginner and intermediate lifters is to train three or four days per week. Advanced trainees may hit the gym six days per week if they can handle the demands of training muscle groups that frequently. Your core muscles (e.g. abdominals, obliques, and spinal erectors) are also used in both pushing and pulling exercises, so they are typically trained on leg days of a PPL split. Designing an effective push-pull-legs workout from the ground up takes some planning and strategy, regardless of prior lifting experience. Thankfully, the routine is fairly straightforward, with training sessions that are easy to follow for just about any gym-goer, athlete, or bodybuilder who wants to gain muscle mass and increase strength.

Tips for More Effective Push Pull Legs Workouts

push pull legs workout routine

Over time, you may need to increase volume or switch to a more advanced program, but this routine will help you establish a solid foundation and see noticeable improvements. Ensure you train safely, preferably with a spotter when needed. The exercises selected in this program offer maximum impact, but if you wish to swap an exercise, visit our Exercises section for suitable alternatives. Training a body part or muscle group every 5-7 days is the best balance between volume and frequency. (Volume and frequency have an inverse relationship. It is critical to experiment for yourself to find the best balance, depending on your recovery ability, progress, injuries, age etc).

Volume Adjustment

Significant muscle soreness, particularly when first adopting a higher volume approach, is also common. Likewise, your big lifts, that should be the bedrock of your program, are built into the structure. “The split insures that you train multi-joint patterns (deadlifts, rows, pullups, presses and pushups, etc.) every single day,” says Samuel. “These moves are critical to building muscle and strength and also ready the body for real-life situations.” With these three exercises, you’re hitting more or less all the major muscle groups in the body through an upper body pushing exercise (push-ups), an upper body pull (rows) and a compound leg movement (lunges/step-ups).

Version #1: The 3-Day Push/Pull/Legs Split

The PPL routine circumvents overtraining because you’re training agonists/antagonists on separate days. The bro-split has been rightfully questioned for usually only training one muscle group per week, which isn’t usually enough for most people, simply because they don’t mad muscles app review with enough intensity to trigger muscular adaptations. The most important thing is to strive for progressive overload.