Push Pull Legs
It's the most popular hypertrophy split in lifting. It's also not a program — and almost no guide says so out loud. Here's how PPL actually works, and how to run it without a spreadsheet.
Push Pull Legs (PPL) fills most intermediate lifters' weeks, and the reason is sound: it groups training by movement pattern, so muscles that work together get trained together and recover together. Push day is everything you press. Pull day is everything you row. Leg day is everything below the waist. It's balanced, it's repeatable, and you can run it forever.
Here's the part most guides bury: PPL is a split convention, not an authored program. It tells you how to group the work. It says nothing about how many sets, what reps, or when to add weight. You decide all of that. This guide covers the structure people actually run, the progression that makes it work, and how to drop the spreadsheet.
Try LiftRing free →What is Push Pull Legs (PPL)?
PPL isn't a single document the way StrongLifts 5×5 or 5/3/1 are. It came out of 1960s–70s bodybuilding culture and has been a staple split ever since. There's no canonical "PPL prescription" — no fixed sets, reps, or progression rule that ships with the name. Coaches and communities have each filled in those blanks their own way, the most famous being the Reddit r/Fitness 6-day routine that put the split in front of a lot of lifters.
So when someone searches for "the PPL routine," they're really hunting for one of those fill-ins. The split itself only defines how you carve up the body:
- Push — chest, shoulders, triceps (everything you press).
- Pull — back, rear delts, biceps (everything you row or pull).
- Legs — quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and usually core.
The point is recovery-friendly grouping. Your triceps already get hammered on push day, so hitting them again the next day would just eat into their recovery. PPL keeps the synergists on the same day and gives each pattern a full rest window before it comes back around.
The exact structure (the split, not a rep scheme)
First decision: frequency. Two weekly layouts cover almost everyone.
3-day PPL
Push / Pull / Legs, once each. Each muscle gets trained about once a week. This is the lower-frequency version — a good fit for beginners easing in, busy weeks, or anyone protecting their recovery. Most people run it Mon / Wed / Fri and take the weekend.
6-day PPL
Push / Pull / Legs / Push / Pull / Legs, then a rest day. Each muscle gets trained about twice per week, which lines up with the hypertrophy frequency research most coaches cite as a sweet spot. It's the go-to for intermediates — but it only pays off if your recovery and sleep can carry six sessions.
Inside each session, the structure usually looks like this:
- 1–2 heavy compound lifts in a lower rep range (~5–8 reps) — your bench, overhead press, row, squat, or deadlift.
- Accessory and isolation work at moderate-to-high reps (~8–15) — lateral raises, curls, extensions, leg curls, calves.
- Roughly 3–4 sets per exercise, landing around 10–20 working sets per session.
How progression works on PPL
This is the piece PPL never hands you, so you bring your own. Two methods do most of the work:
- Double progression (the common one). Pick a rep range — say 8–12. Add reps inside that range each week. Once you hit the top on every set, add weight and drop back to the bottom. Repeat. When lifters say "progressive overload on PPL," this is usually what they mean.
- Linear load increase on the main compounds — add a small jump each week as long as you keep hitting your target reps.
| Element | Compound lifts | Accessories / isolation |
|---|---|---|
| Rep range | ~5–8 | ~8–15 |
| Sets | 3–4 | 3–4 |
| Progression | Double progression or linear add | Double progression |
| Example | Bench, OHP, Row, Squat, Deadlift | Lateral raise, curl, leg curl, calf raise |
The honest caveat. Since there's no official PPL document, anyone selling you "the correct PPL sets and reps" is really handing you their version. Take the numbers above as a sensible default, not gospel. The split is the framework; the loading is your call.
Who Push Pull Legs is for
PPL earns its place when your main goal is hypertrophy and you can train 4–6 days a week. That makes it an intermediate-to-advanced staple — enough volume and frequency to grow muscle, enough structure to stay balanced head to toe.
It's a weaker fit for a true beginner. A novice usually gets strong faster on a 3×/week full-body program — a StrongLifts-style 5×5 or Starting-Strength-style 3×5 — because each lift comes around more often while linear progression is still adding weight every session. The usual path: run full body until that stalls, then graduate to PPL.
Common mistakes on PPL
- Expecting it to program for you. It won't tell you sets, reps, or when to add weight — that's the whole "split, not a program" thing. You have to bring (or borrow) the loading scheme.
- Junk volume. Piling on isolation exercises with no progression metric. If you're not tracking reps and weight to add overload, the extra sets are just fatigue.
- Skipping legs and the posterior chain. Tilting every session toward chest and arms is the classic PPL imbalance. Train your legs and back like they matter, because they do.
- Running 6-day frequency on 3-day recovery. The extra frequency only helps if sleep and recovery keep up. If they don't, you stall faster than the 3-day version would have.
Run Push Pull Legs automatically in LiftRing
The thing PPL never fixes on its own is the bookkeeping. A spreadsheet holds your numbers, but it can't decide your next weight, and it sure won't tell you why. That's the gap LiftRing fills.
LiftRing ships two built-in PPL programs — a 3-day Push Pull Legs and a 6-Day PPL — and both run double progression automatically. The app pre-fills your next set's weight and gives you a one-line reason for the change, like "+5 lb — you hit all your reps." You don't program. You don't do the math. You don't keep a spreadsheet open at the rack. You lift, and the program moves you forward.
That "show the why" behavior is what separates LiftRing from a blank logbook. Apps like Strong record whatever you type, cleanly and reliably — but you still pick every weight yourself. LiftRing picks it for you, using the progression baked into the program, and shows the reasoning so you can trust it or override it. Same overload you'd run by hand. It's just already running.
Both PPL programs sit inside LiftRing's library of 15 built-in programs — so if you start on full body and want to graduate to PPL later, you switch in a tap instead of rebuilding a spreadsheet. Everything stays local-first with no account required. Sync is optional through your own private iCloud, and there's no social feed and no tracking.
Honest note on the library. LiftRing's 15 programs include a 5/3/1-inspired AMRAP program — inspired, because it's an AMRAP top set, not literal Wendler 5/3/1. The two PPL programs run straightforward double progression, no asterisk.
Your first 3 workouts are free with every program and feature unlocked. After that, LiftRing Pro is $4.99/month, $44.99/year, or $99.99 once for lifetime access, billed through Apple.
Start free — first 3 workouts unlocked →Frequently asked questions
Is Push Pull Legs good for beginners?
It can work, but a true beginner can do better. PPL is built around hypertrophy and 4–6 sessions a week. A brand-new lifter usually gets stronger faster on a 3×/week full-body novice program like a Starting-Strength-style 3×5 or StrongLifts-style 5×5, because each muscle gets trained more often while you can still add weight every session. Run full body first. Move to PPL once that linear progress dries up. LiftRing ships both, so the switch costs you nothing to rebuild.
Should I run the 3-day or 6-day PPL split?
Run the 3-day version (Push / Pull / Legs once each) if three days is all you've got, or if recovery, age, or a packed schedule is the real constraint — each muscle gets hit about once a week. Run the 6-day version (Push / Pull / Legs / Push / Pull / Legs) if you can show up six times and bounce back between sessions, since it trains each muscle about twice a week, which lines up with the hypertrophy frequency research most coaches cite. The extra frequency only cashes in if your sleep and recovery can pay for it.
How do you progress on Push Pull Legs?
PPL is a split, not a loading scheme. The progression isn't baked in — you pick it. Most lifters use double progression: pick a rep range (say 8–12), add reps inside that range week to week, and once you hit the top on every set, add weight and drop back to the bottom of the range. Your main compounds can also just take a small linear load bump each week. LiftRing's Push Pull Legs programs run double progression for you and pre-fill your next weight, so it never touches paper.
Is there an official PPL spreadsheet or program?
No. Unlike StrongLifts 5×5 or 5/3/1, there's no single authored PPL document with a fixed set/rep and progression prescription. PPL is a split that coaches and communities (like the popular Reddit r/Fitness 6-day routine) have each filled in with their own exercises and rep schemes. That's why everyone ends up copying somebody's spreadsheet. LiftRing replaces it: it picks the exercises, sets the rep targets, and runs the progression for you.
Can LiftRing run Push Pull Legs automatically?
Yes. LiftRing ships a 3-day Push Pull Legs program and a 6-Day PPL program, both built in. Each runs its own double progression: the app pre-fills your next set's weight and gives you a one-line reason for the change, like "+5 lb — you hit all your reps." You don't program, you don't do the math — you lift. Your first 3 workouts are free with every program and feature unlocked, then LiftRing Pro is $4.99/month, $44.99/year, or $99.99 once for lifetime.
Keep exploring
- All 15 LiftRing programs — the full library, from full-body to splits
- StrongLifts 5×5 guide — the full-body program to run before PPL
- LiftRing vs Strong — a logbook vs a logbook that programs for you
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