Push Pull Legs (PPL) Explained: The Ultimate Split
A complete guide to the Push Pull Legs split: what PPL means, the 3-day and 6-day versions, full example workouts for each day, who it suits, and how to recover.
- PPL groups training by movement: push (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull (back, biceps) and legs.
- Run it 3 days a week (each muscle once) or 6 days a week (each muscle twice) for more growth.
- Muscles that assist each other train together, so the split is efficient and recovery-friendly.
- The 6-day version is excellent for intermediates; true beginners usually grow faster on full-body first.
- The more days you train, the more sleep, protein and rest days matter.
Push Pull Legs — almost always shortened to PPL — is one of the most popular training splits in the gym, and for good reason. It is logical, scalable, and it organises your week around movement patterns rather than arbitrary body parts. Once you understand the idea, you can run it as a compact three-day plan or a high-volume six-day programme, and everything in between.
This guide explains exactly what PPL is, gives you complete example days with real exercises, and helps you decide whether it is the right split for you right now — or whether you should stick with full-body a little longer.
What "Push, Pull, Legs" actually means
The split groups exercises by the type of movement your muscles perform:
- Push day trains everything that pushes weight away from you: chest, shoulders and triceps. Think bench press, overhead press, dips and pressdowns.
- Pull day trains everything that pulls weight toward you: back and biceps. Think rows, pulldowns, pull-ups and curls.
- Leg day trains the entire lower body: quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Think squats, deadlifts, lunges and leg curls.
The elegance is that muscles which work together get trained together. On push day your triceps assist every chest and shoulder press anyway, so training them in the same session is efficient and lets the next day's pulling muscles stay fresh. The grid below shows the six-day version at a glance.
The 3-day and 6-day versions
3-day PPL (one rotation a week)
Train Monday (Push), Wednesday (Pull), Friday (Legs), resting in between. This is the beginner-friendly version: each muscle is trained once a week, but with high quality and full recovery. It is essentially a body-part split with sane organisation, and it is a gentle on-ramp to the split world.
6-day PPL (two rotations a week)
Run Push/Pull/Legs twice over six days, taking the seventh off (or one rest day mid-week). Now each muscle is trained twice a week, which research consistently links to better muscle growth than once-weekly training. This is the version experienced lifters love — but it demands real recovery capacity, good sleep and solid nutrition. Do not jump to six days until your body is ready for the volume.
Short on time some weeks? Run PPL as a "rolling" split — simply do Push, then Pull, then Legs, then rest, on whatever days you can train. Over a fortnight it self-balances. It is one of PPL's best features.
A full PPL example, day by day
Here is a complete, balanced template. Keep most sets in the 6–12 rep range, leave a rep or two in reserve, and rest 60–120 seconds between sets.
Push day
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Barbell bench press | 3 × 6–8 |
| Overhead press | 3 × 8–10 |
| Incline dumbbell press | 3 × 10–12 |
| Lateral raise | 3 × 12–15 |
| Triceps pushdown | 3 × 12–15 |
For the best chest movements and angles to rotate in, see the best exercises for chest.
Pull day
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Deadlift (or rack pull) | 3 × 5 |
| Pull-up or lat pulldown | 3 × 8–10 |
| Seated cable row | 3 × 10–12 |
| Face pull | 3 × 15 |
| Biceps curl | 3 × 12 |
Want more pulling variety and a stronger back? Our guide to the best exercises for back has you covered.
Leg day
| Exercise | Sets × reps |
|---|---|
| Back squat | 3 × 6–8 |
| Romanian deadlift | 3 × 8–10 |
| Leg press | 3 × 10–12 |
| Leg curl | 3 × 12–15 |
| Standing calf raise | 4 × 15–20 |
For more lower-body options and how to bias quads versus glutes, see the best exercises for legs.
Who PPL is for — and who should wait
PPL shines for lifters who can commit to a consistent schedule and want a clear, repeatable structure. The six-day version is genuinely one of the best ways to build muscle once you have a year or so of training behind you — it is a proven framework for building muscle.
If you are a true beginner, though, you will usually grow faster on a full-body routine. Training each muscle three times a week (as in our full-body routine) beats once a week, and you will learn the lifts more quickly by practising them more often. A sensible path is: full-body for three to six months, then 6-day PPL when you crave more volume and variety.
Recovery on a PPL split
The faster you cycle through the week, the more recovery matters. On a six-day split you are training near-daily, so sleep, protein and stress management become the limiting factors. Build in at least one full rest day, and do not be a hero — if a muscle is still sore from last rotation, train it lighter. Our guide to rest days explains how to read your own recovery. Listen to your body, progress the weights patiently, and see a doctor before starting if you have any underlying health concerns.
Sources & further reading
- Schoenfeld BJ et al., training frequency and muscle hypertrophy — systematic review (PubMed).
- National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) — programme-design articles.
- American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) — resistance-training resources.
External links are provided for reference and do not imply endorsement. arsenal.fit is an independent publisher and is not affiliated with any cited organisation.