Push Pull Legs: The Complete PPL Program

What is push pull legs?

Push pull legs (PPL) is a training split that organises exercises by movement pattern rather than by body part. Each session has a theme:

• Push days: horizontal and vertical pressing — chest, shoulders, and triceps.
• Pull days: horizontal and vertical pulling — back (lats, rhomboids, traps) and biceps.
• Leg days: lower body — quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.

In the classic 6-day format you run the sequence twice a week — Push A, Pull A, Legs A, Push B, Pull B, Legs B — so every muscle gets trained twice. That twice-weekly frequency is the core advantage: research consistently shows it outperforms once-a-week body-part splits for muscle growth at equal total volume.

Who is PPL for?

PPL is an intermediate program. It works best once you have 3–12+ months of consistent training and have exhausted beginner linear progression — meaning you can no longer add weight to the bar session-to-session on the main lifts.

If you're brand new to lifting, start with a full-body beginner program first. Beginners make faster progress by practising each movement pattern 3× a week than by accumulating high volume on any single muscle group. Once those beginner gains stall, come back to PPL.

Rough strength benchmarks for being ready for PPL (for an 80 kg male — adjust proportionally):

These are rough starting points. The real signal is that session-to-session linear progression has genuinely stalled, not that you hit some abstract number.

The 6-day PPL program

The A and B sessions differ in their primary compound lift and secondary exercises, giving you variation across the week while training each muscle group twice. A sample weekly schedule:

The 3-day PPL option

Can only train 3 days a week? Run one of each session — Push, Pull, Legs — on non-consecutive days (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, Friday). You'll hit each muscle group once a week, which is lower frequency than the 6-day version but still structured and progressive.

On a 3-day PPL, keep the same exercises but increase the sets per movement slightly (add 1 set per exercise) to compensate for the lower frequency. Rotate between the A and B sessions each week so you don't always run the same version.

Note: for 3-day training, a full-body program generally produces faster results for most lifters because of the higher movement-practice frequency. If you're not yet intermediate, consider the 3-day full body routine instead.

How to progress on PPL

Intermediate programs use double progression, not session-to-session linear jumps. The rule is simple:

1. Pick a rep range (e.g. 3 × 8–10). Start at the bottom of that range with a challenging but technically clean weight.
2. Each session, try to get one more rep on at least one set — any improvement counts.
3. When you can hit the top of the rep range on every set (e.g. 3 × 10), add a small increment (2.5 kg for upper body, 5 kg for lower) and start back at the bottom of the range (3 × 8).

This keeps progress measurable and sustainable over weeks or months without forcing a load increase every single session. For a full breakdown of all five progressive overload methods, read the progressive overload guide.

To set sensible starting weights and track percentage-based training, use the 1RM calculator — it estimates your one-rep max from any weight and rep combination so you can work back to appropriate working loads (typically 70–80% 1RM for hypertrophy rep ranges).

Exercise substitutions

The program above assumes access to a full gym. If you don't have certain equipment, these swaps maintain the intent of each slot:

Nutrition for PPL

Six training days creates a meaningful caloric demand. Make sure your intake supports your goal:

• Muscle gain: eat at a modest surplus (200–400 kcal above maintenance) and prioritise protein at 1.6–2.2 g per kg of bodyweight.
• Fat loss: a moderate deficit (400–600 kcal below maintenance) while keeping protein high (2.0–2.4 g/kg) to preserve muscle during the cut.
• Recomposition / maintenance:eat at maintenance with high protein. Slower but works if you're relatively new to training or returning after time off.

Calculate your numbers with the TDEE calculator (daily calorie target) and the macro calculator (protein, fat, and carb split).

Five common PPL mistakes

1. Turning it into a bro split. The whole point of PPL is that push/pull/legs are movement-pattern groupings, not permission to bench press for 45 minutes and ignore the shoulder and tricep work. Follow the structure.
2. Skipping leg days.Leg sessions are the most demanding and the most frequently skipped. They're also half your muscle mass. Two leg days a week is non-negotiable if you're running 6-day PPL — inconsistent legs will eventually show.
3. Not tracking sets and reps. Double progression only works if you know where you were last session. Write down your working weights every session, without exception.
4. Adding too many exercises. More is not more in PPL. 5–6 exercises per session is plenty — adding 3 extra isolation movements will inflate session length and tank recovery without proportionally increasing results.
5. Running PPL too early.If you can still add weight every session on full-body programming, do that. PPL's higher volume is only better than full-body for lifters who have already outgrown session-to-session progression.