Push Pull Legs (PPL): The Complete Guide to the Best Training Split

Push Pull Legs (PPL) is arguably the most popular and effective training split for building muscle. It groups exercises by movement pattern — pushing, pulling, and leg work — which optimizes recovery and allows you to train each muscle group twice per week.

Whether you're running a 3-day rotation or a full 6-day program, PPL offers the perfect balance of volume, frequency, and recovery. Here's everything you need to know to set it up and run it effectively.

What Is Push Pull Legs?

PPL divides your training into three workout types:

Push Day: Chest, front and side delts, triceps

• All pressing movements (bench press, overhead press, dips)
• Flies and lateral raises
• Tricep isolation work

Pull Day: Back, rear delts, biceps

• All rowing and pulling movements (rows, pull-ups, pulldowns)
• Rear delt work
• Bicep curls

Leg Day: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves

• Squats and leg press
• Hip hinges (Romanian deadlifts, good mornings)
• Leg curls, extensions, calf raises

This grouping works because you're training muscles that work together. When you bench press, your chest, front delts, and triceps all contribute. By training them on the same day, you hit them hard once, then give them complete rest.

Why PPL Works So Well

Optimal Frequency

Research by Schoenfeld et al., 2016 found that training each muscle group at least twice per week produces superior hypertrophy compared to once-weekly training. PPL naturally accomplishes this on a 6-day schedule (P-P-L-P-P-L-rest) or even a rotating schedule that averages roughly 2x frequency.

Intelligent Recovery

Muscles that work together on Monday have until Thursday (or later) to recover before being trained again. Meanwhile, you're still in the gym training different muscles — maximizing your time without compromising recovery.

Easy Volume Management

PPL makes it simple to track and manage volume. You know exactly how many sets per muscle group you're doing each week, making it easy to stay within your MEV to MRV range.

Flexibility

PPL scales from 3 to 6 days per week. Busy week? Run it as a 3-day rotation. Ready to grow? Run it 6 days. The structure stays the same.

Iridium can generate PPL workouts automatically based on your available days and equipment. Tell it you want to run push-pull-legs, and the AI builds balanced programs with proper volume distribution across all muscle groups.

6-Day PPL Program (Intermediate)

This is the classic PPL setup for serious muscle building:

Push Day A (Chest Focus)

Pull Day A (Width Focus)

Leg Day A (Quad Focus)

Push Day B (Shoulder Focus)

Pull Day B (Thickness Focus)

Leg Day B (Hamstring Focus)

3-Day PPL for Beginners

If you can only train 3 days per week, run one of each session per week. This still hits each muscle 1x per week — not optimal, but effective for beginners.

A better approach: run PPL as a continuous rotation regardless of the calendar. Week 1 might be P-P-L, week 2 is P-P-L starting with Push B. This averages out to roughly 1.5x frequency per muscle.

Progression Strategy

For compound lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, rows, overhead press):

• Use progressive overload: work up to the top of your rep range, then add weight
• Aim to add 5 lbs to upper body and 10 lbs to lower body when you hit rep targets

For isolation movements:

• Focus on the muscle, not the weight
• Progress when you can hit the top of your rep range with good form for all sets

Common PPL Mistakes

1. Too Much Volume

PPL already has substantial volume built in. Adding extra work on top often leads to spinning your wheels. If you're not progressing, the answer is usually better recovery, not more sets.

2. Neglecting Rear Delts

Push days hit front and side delts hard. Many lifters under-train rear delts, creating imbalances. Include face pulls or rear delt flies on every pull day.

3. Treating Every Day the Same

The A/B structure exists for a reason. Vary your rep ranges, exercise selection, and emphasis between days to hit muscles from different angles and rep ranges.

4. Skipping Leg Days

Two leg days per week is non-negotiable in proper PPL. If you're only training legs once, you're not running PPL — you're running a bro split with extra steps.

Tracking Your PPL Progress

PPL generates a lot of data — exercises, sets, reps, weights across 6 different workouts. Tracking this manually is tedious and error-prone.

Iridium makes it simple. Log your workout, and the app automatically tracks your volume per muscle group, shows you when you've hit your targets, and suggests when to increase weight. You can see at a glance whether your pushing muscles are getting more work than your pulling muscles, helping you maintain balance.

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Ready to run PPL properly? Download Iridium and let the app handle the tracking while you focus on lifting.