Push Pull Legs (PPL): How the Split Works

Push pull legs, usually called PPL, is one of the most popular ways to organize a weekly training plan. It is simple to understand, flexible, and lets you train every muscle with a clear structure. This guide explains how the split works, how to set it up and who benefits most.

What PPL means

PPL divides the body into 3 groups based on the type of movement.

• Push: chest, shoulders and triceps. These muscles work when you push a weight away from your body, such as in a bench press or shoulder press.
• Pull: back, rear shoulders and biceps. These muscles work when you pull a weight toward you, such as in a row or a lat pulldown.
• Legs: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves, with or without abs.

Each group gets its own session. The idea is that muscles that work together are trained together, so a push day does not overlap with a pull day.

Why people like it

• Clear structure: you always know what today's session is.
• Recovery: the muscles trained in one session get several days of rest before they come back.
• Volume per muscle: because each session focuses on a few muscles, you can do enough sets for each one.
• Flexibility: it works with 3, 4, 5 or 6 days a week.

The 3-day version

If you train 3 days a week, you run PPL once. For example Monday for push, Wednesday for pull and Friday for legs. Each muscle is trained once a week.

This is a simple and sustainable option, but each muscle gets only one session per week. For many people, training each muscle twice a week works better, which brings us to the next version.

The 6-day version

The classic way to get twice-a-week frequency is to run PPL two times in a week, for 6 training days and 1 rest day.

• Monday: Push
• Tuesday: Pull
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: Push
• Friday: Pull
• Saturday: Legs
• Sunday: Rest

You can also run it as 5 days by dropping the last day, or as 4 days by alternating the order from week to week. The right choice depends on your schedule and how well you recover.

Sample sessions

These are examples with 3 or 4 exercises each. Adjust to your equipment.

• Push: bench press, shoulder press, lateral raise, triceps pushdown.
• Pull: lat pulldown, seated row, rear delt fly, biceps curl.
• Legs: squat or leg press, Romanian deadlift, leg extension, calf raise.

Use a rep range of 6 to 10 for the first compound exercise of each session, and 10 to 15 for the rest. Start with 2 or 3 sets per exercise and build up as you recover.

A good PPL plan has a clear order inside each session. Start with the heaviest compound exercise while you are fresh, then move to machine or cable work, and finish with small isolation exercises like lateral raises or curls.

Remember that some muscles work on more than one day. Your triceps help in every pressing movement and your biceps help in every row, so you do not need many extra sets for the arms. Two or three well-chosen exercises are usually enough.

Who PPL suits

PPL is a good choice if you can train at least 4 days a week and enjoy longer weekly volume. It is less ideal for a true beginner with limited time, because a full body plan or an upper and lower split gives similar results with fewer sessions.

If you can only train 3 days, consider a full body routine or an upper and lower plan with an extra day. The best split is the one you will follow consistently.

PPL is also easy to adapt to your life. If a week gets busy, you can run just push, pull and legs once and still cover every muscle. Missing a Thursday does not break the plan, you simply continue with the next session in the cycle.

Common mistakes

• Training 6 days a week without enough sleep and food. More days do not help if you cannot recover.
• Doing too many sets in a single session. Quality drops after the first few hard sets for a muscle.
• Repeating the same exercises forever with no progression. Use double progression to keep moving.
• Skipping leg day. Legs are the biggest muscles in your body and deserve a full session.
• Putting too many pushing exercises on the same day with no priority. Start with the most important movement while you are fresh.

How to progress on PPL

Pick a rep range for each exercise, such as 8 to 12. When you reach the top of the range on every set, add a small amount of weight. Because you train each muscle at most twice a week, you can log the same exercise twice and compare week to week.

If you feel worn down after 6 weeks or more, take a lighter week. Fewer sets or lighter weights for 1 week often brings you back fresh.

Keep notes on how each session felt. On a 6-day plan, fatigue can build quietly, so a short comment about sleep, energy and sore joints helps you decide when to push and when to ease off.

Run your PPL with eBolts

A split works best when you do not have to think about it in the gym. In eBolts you save your push, pull and legs routines, log load and reps for each set and see your previous session while you train. That makes it easy to follow the plan and to see which exercises are really progressing.