Whether you’re busy throughout the week - work, school, family - or just don’t want to spend your whole week in the gym, the PPL split is the answer for a lot of people.
What is PPL?
PPL stands for Push Pull Legs. Each day in the gym is dedicated to a related set of muscle groups and at most, you’ll need to fit 3 days of gym into your week.
The Ideal PPL Week:
Side Note: You’re gonna see some gym math ahead. For example, Bench Press: 3x8 means 3 Sets of Bench Press for around 8 reps in each set.
Day 1 (Monday): Push Here, you’ll be training Push muscles (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps).
Here’s what you could do:
-Bench Press: 3x6 (Strength)
-Incline Dumbbell/Machine Press: 3x10 (Hypertrophy- making the muscle grow)
-Cable Triceps Pushdown: 3x12 (Hypertophy)
-Lateral Raises: 4x12 (Hypertrophy for side delts - for broader shoulders)
-Cable Triceps Overhead Extensions: 3x12 (Hypertrophy)
-Chest Cable Flies: 3x15 (Hypertrophy)
Boom - Day 1 done in an hour.
REST ON TUESDAY
Day 2 (Wednesday): Pull
Today, you’ll be working on Pull muscles (Back, Rear Delts, Biceps).
What you could do:
-Barbell Rows: 3x6 (Strength and thickness of the back)
-Lat Pulldown: 3x10 (Grows the width of the back - a.k.a. Hypertrophy)
-Cable Rows: 3x8 (Hypertrophy for thickness)
-Cable or Dumbbell Bicep curls: 4x12 (Curls for your girl)
-Cable Face Pulls with rope: 4x12 (Hypertrophy for rear rear delts - most neglected shoulder muscle)
Day 2 sorted.
REST ON THURSDAY
Day 3 (Friday): Legs
The toughest day: Leg muscles (Quads, Hamstrings and Calves)
Beware, torture ahead, but worth it:
-Smith Machine or Standard Barbell Squats 3x6 (Leg strength - swap out with Leg Press if you’re not ready for squats yet)
-Lying or Seated Hamstring Curls: 4x10 (The Biceps of the legs)
-Leg extensions: 3x12 (Hypetrophy for Quads)
-Calf Raises: 4x15 (Hopefully your calf genetics aren’t weak like mine)
Note: that is just a template, swap out the hypertrophy exercises for whatever’s available or add in one more exercise for each day in the split. You can even add in a 15 to 30 minute cardio or abs exercise of your choice at the end of each working day.
And that’s your whole week done.