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“Push Pull Legs” Workout Challenge

What is Push-Pull-Legs (or PPL), why is it so popular and how can you use it? As a personal trainer, I get asked all the time, “Which workout split, routine or plan should I use?” I can confidently say that PPL is a proven workout plan used by everyone from the most accomplished bodybuilders to the mamas trying to stay strong enough to keep up with their littles. In short, PPL organizes exercises by movement pattern, grouping related muscle groups rather than isolating a single muscle group per workout. In this article, I’ll break down how PPL works, who it’s best for and how to build a Push Pull Legs workout plan that fits your goals and schedule. 

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The PPL Split Explained

A traditional Push-Pull-Legs (PPL) split divides strength training into 3 categories. These categories are based on different movement patterns and how the muscles work together during exercise. Push day focuses on exercises and movements that push resistance away from the body, while pull day is the opposite. Push exercises primarily work the chest, shoulders and triceps. On pull day, you can expect to hit your back, biceps and rear delts. Leg day focuses on the muscle groups found in the lower body, like the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. 

Push

Pushing exercises focus most of their effort on moving resistance away from the body and allow you to split the upper-body muscle groups into 2 distinct workouts effectively. 

• Chest (pectorals): The majority of push days start with the chest because of the demand. The chest takes on a lot of work during pushing movements, and starting with larger, more demanding exercises allows you to perform them with the most energy and focus. The bench press, incline dumbbell press, dips and push-ups are your go-to movements for building chest strength and muscle.
• Shoulders (deltoids): Your shoulders are already involved in many chest pressing movements, so exercises that more directly target the deltoids can build on that work. The overhead press, dumbbell shoulder press and lateral raises are great options for targeting the shoulders and focusing on the front and lateral deltoids. Both contribute to overall shoulder strength and stability.   
• Triceps: The triceps assist with nearly every pressing movement on push day! Putting in a little focus work to finish your push day with exercises that directly target the triceps, like triceps pushdowns, overhead triceps extensions and dips, will help your overall strength gains for your next push day. 

Pull 

Pulling exercises focus most of their effort on bringing resistance toward the body and allow you to effectively train the upper-body muscles that work opposite the push muscles.

• Back: Pull day starts with the back because it targets some of the largest muscle groups in the upper body and does a lot of work during compound lifts. Pull-ups, lat pulldowns, barbell rows, dumbbell rows and cable rows are great options for building back strength and muscle growth. These compound exercises can also engage the traps and rear delts while building overall upper-body strength.
• Biceps: Your biceps assist with nearly every pulling movement on pull day, making them an easy muscle group to finish with some focused work. Barbell curls, biceps curls and hammer curls are great isolation exercises for directly targeting the biceps after your larger back movements. Keeping these exercises controlled and focusing on a full range of motion can help build biceps strength and muscle.
• Rear Delts: The rear delts help support shoulder movement and stability and are involved in many pulling exercises. Face pulls, dumbbell rows and barbell rows can all involve the rear delts, with face pulls providing a more direct way to target this often-overlooked muscle group. A little focused rear-delt work can help round out your pull workout and support balanced upper-body strength.

Legs

Leg exercises focus on the muscles of the lower body, with leg day typically combining compound lifts and isolation exercises to target the major muscle groups from multiple angles.

• Quads: Your quads do a lot of the work during exercises that require you to extend the knee, making them a major focus of any leg day. Squats, front squats, leg press, lunges and leg extensions are great options for building quad strength and supporting overall lower-body strength.
• Hamstrings: The hamstrings work alongside the glutes during many lower-body movements and are responsible for bending the knee and helping extend the hip. Romanian deadlifts, leg curls and lying leg curls are great options for targeting the hamstrings, while compound movements like deadlifts can train the hamstrings alongside other lower-body muscle groups.
• Glutes and Calves: Your glutes are involved in many of the biggest compound movements on leg day, including squats, lunges and Romanian deadlifts. The calves can be trained more directly with calf raises, making them an easy addition to the end of your legs workout. Training both muscle groups helps create a more complete lower-body workout while supporting strength and stability.

Who a Push Pull Legs Split Is Ideal For

• For beginners seeking structure, PPL provides a simple, organized workout routine that takes the guesswork out of choosing which muscle groups to train each day.
• Intermediate lifters focused on finding balance can use PPL to find stability in their strength training, training volume and recovery across the week.
• Advanced lifters handling volume can use PPL to distribute higher training volume across multiple workouts while allowing for recovery in targeted muscle groups.
• Anyone training 3 to 6 days per week can adapt a PPL split to both a 3-day and 6-day schedule, making it a flexible workout split.

3-Day Version

Day 1: Upper Body Push

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-25 lbs. Optional box/bench.
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Push Day: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps 

Day 2: Rest

Rest days are part of the Push Pull Legs workout plan, not a break from making progress. Use rest days in these programs to prioritize recovery, hydration and adequate nutrition while giving your muscles time to adapt to your strength training. Light walking, mobility work, yoga, Pilates, barre or gentle stretching are great options if you want to stay active without adding significant training volume. Here are some example workouts to try. 

• 10-Minute Active Recovery Yoga
• 10-Minute Full-Body Stretch Routine 

Day 3: Upper Body Pull

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-30 lbs. Optional bench, pull-up bar and long loop resistance band if needed (discount code: NML).
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Back and Bicep Pull Workout

Day 4: Rest

• Mobility and Recovery Exercises (10 Minutes)
• 15-Minute Mobility Workout
• 8 Best Foam Roller Exercises 

Day 5: Legs

• Workout Time: 35 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 20-30 lbs. Optional glute band.
• YouTube Link: 7 Best Compound Leg Exercises 

Day 6: Rest

• Mobility and Recovery Exercises (10 Minutes)
• 8 Best Foam Roller Exercises 

Day 7: Rest

• 10-Minute Active Recovery Yoga
• 15-Minute Mobility Workout
• 10-Minute Full-Body Stretch Routine

6-Day Version

Day 1: Upper Body Push

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-25 lbs. Optional box/bench.
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Push Day: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps 

Day 2: Upper Body Pull

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-30 lbs. Optional bench, pull-up bar and long loop resistance band if needed (discount code: NML).
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Back and Bicep Pull Workout   

Day 3: Legs

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-30 lbs. Option to add a bench and a weight plate or book.
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Quad and Glute Workouts  

Day 4: Rest

• Mobility and Recovery Exercises (10 Minutes)
• 8 Best Foam Roller Exercises 
• 10-Minute Full-Body Stretch Routine 

Day 5: Upper Body Push

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 5-20 lbs. Optional bench.
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Chest, Shoulders + Triceps Workout  

Day 6: Upper Body Pull

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 15-30 lbs. Optional bench, pull-up bar and long loop resistance band if needed (discount code: NML).
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Back and Bicep Workout   

Day 7: Legs

• Workout Time: 30 Minutes
• Equipment: Medium-to-heavy set of dumbbells. I’m using 20-25 lbs.
• YouTube Link: 30-Minute Glute and Hamstring Overload Workout

FAQs

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