Tip The PPL Training Split Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The PPL Training Split If your goal is hypertrophy this is one of the smartest splits to follow Here' s why and how to set it up by Pratik Thakkar December 17, 2017April 4, 2022 Tags Bodybuilding, Tips, Training The PPL Split After the newbie phase, where gains come quickly and easily, most lifters with size goals adopt a training split. One of the most effective is the PPL split: push, pull, and legs. Basically, you split your upper body movements into a day for pushing exercises and a day for pulling exercises, then you have a lower body day: Push Day: An upper body day for training muscles that help you push, like the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pull Day: Another upper body day for training muscles that help you pull, like the back and biceps. Leg Day: A lower body day for the quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The next step is to decide how often you're willing to hit the gym. One caveat: this isn't the right split for you if you only want to lift three days per week. This frequency isn't optimal for growth. Here are some better options: 1 Training 6 days per week Day 1: Push Day 2: Pull Day 3: Legs Day 4: Push Day 5: Pull Day 6: Legs Day 7: Off 2 Training 4 days per week Day 1: Push Day 2: Off Day 3: Pull Day 4: Off Day 5: Legs Day 6: Off Day 7: Push 3 Training 5 days per week Day 1: Push Day 2: Pull Day 3: Off Day 4: Legs Day 5: Off Day 6: Push Day 7: Pull In the examples 2 and 3, you need flexible schedules because the training days won't be fixed and you won't follow the "Monday is International Chest Day" kinda protocol. You hit the overlapping muscles in one workout. You won't face the problem of "I can't train chest today because my delts are sore from yesterday's shoulder session." Suppose you're hitting the bench press on a chest day. You're going to work your anterior deltoids and triceps by default. By adding an overhead press in the same workout, you finish the work on your delts and triceps, which have already been fired up from benching. You also reduce the chances of decreased performance and injuries. Push Day Flat Chest Press: 3 x 6-8 Overhead Press: 3 x 6-8 Incline Chest Press: 2 x 8-12 Cable Lateral Raise: 2 x 10-12 Tricep Rope Pushdown: 3 x 12-15 Incline Bench Skullcrusher: 3 x 8-12 Pull Day Seated Row: 3 x 6-8 Neutral Lat Pulldown: 3 x 8-10 Dumbbell Shrug: 2 x 12-15 Face Pull: 2 x 8-12 Dumbbell Curl: 3 x 8-12 Hammer Curl: 3 x 12-15 Leg Day Barbell Squat: 3 x 6-8 Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 8-10 Leg Press: 2 x 8-10 Leg Curl: 3 x 20 Calf Jumps: 4 x 8-12 Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Workouts Compound EDT Get your mind on the weight and on the clock. This training strategy will help you get more done in less time. Powerlifting & Strength, Training Charles Staley May 16 Training Iron Evolution Reflections – Part 2 Dave Tate talks about injuries, nutrition, technique, peri-workout nutrition, and in general, busting your balls in the gym. Motivation, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Dave Tate October 8 Training 7 Things I Learned in 2011 How to make sweet, sweet, love to a ball and other wonderful lessons learned by Eric Cressey in the past year. Training Eric Cressey February 17 Training Tip The Truth About Cryotherapy Will cryotherapy make you recover faster, lose fat, and improve sleep? Or does it slow your muscle gains? Here's what you need to know. Bodybuilding, Tips, Training TC Luoma March 16