What Is a Push Pull Legs Routine and How Do You Build One?
Push pull legs (PPL) groups muscles by movement pattern across three training days. It trains each muscle group roughly twice per week, suits intermediate lifters well, and pairs naturally with progressive overload.
Why PPL is popular
PPL is popular because it balances training frequency and volume efficiently. Each muscle group gets trained twice per week in a 6-day version, which is more than a bro split but less recovery-intensive than training everything daily. The movement-pattern grouping means muscles that assist in one pattern (triceps on push, biceps on pull) get extra volume without overloading any single day.
The three days and what they train
- Push day: chest (bench press, dumbbell press, flies), shoulders (overhead press, lateral raises), triceps (skull crushers, pushdowns).
- Pull day: back and lats (barbell row, pull-ups, cable row), biceps (curls), rear delts (face pulls).
- Legs day: quads (squat, leg press), hamstrings (Romanian deadlift, leg curl), glutes, calves.
3-day vs 6-day PPL
In a 3-day split each muscle group is trained once per week: push Monday, pull Wednesday, legs Friday. In a 6-day split the cycle repeats: push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, rest. The 6-day version roughly doubles weekly volume per muscle group and is better for intermediates. If recovery is a limiting factor, three days or a 4-day variant (omitting one day) works well.
Example exercises per session
- Push: flat barbell bench press, incline dumbbell press, overhead press, lateral raise, tricep pushdown.
- Pull: barbell bent-over row, pull-up or lat pulldown, cable row, face pull, barbell or dumbbell curl.
- Legs: barbell back squat, Romanian deadlift, leg press, leg curl, calf raise.
Applying progressive overload in a PPL split
Track each lift and aim to add a small amount of weight or one additional rep from session to session for each movement. Because push and pull days repeat twice in the 6-day version, you get two chances per week to progress each lift. When a lift stalls, check sleep, calorie intake and whether volume is too high before changing the program.
Progressive Overloader tracks your sets, reps and weights for each lift so you always know exactly what to beat next session. For guidance on structuring weekly volume, see the article on how many sets per week to do.
Common questions
- Is PPL good for beginners?
- PPL suits early-to-mid intermediates (roughly 6 or more months of consistent training). True beginners recover fast enough to train the whole body multiple times per week and often progress faster on a full-body routine before transitioning to a split.
- How long should a PPL session take?
- Roughly 45 to 70 minutes depending on volume, rest times and whether you include isolation work. Keeping rest between compound sets to 2 to 3 minutes and between isolation sets to 60 to 90 seconds keeps sessions efficient.
- Can I do PPL 3 days a week?
- Yes. A 3-day PPL trains each muscle group once per week, which is enough to progress for many people. For twice-per-week frequency, run all 6 days or use a rotating schedule where you do more than 3 sessions in some weeks.
- Do I need to change PPL exercises to keep progressing?
- Not frequently. Progress comes from adding weight or reps, not from swapping exercises. Exercise selection can be refined over months, but frequent changes make it harder to track whether you are progressing.