Your Split: Push/Pull/Legs
Verdict
Runner-up: Full Body Split
Why this fits you
- You can train 5-6 days a week, which fits a push/pull/legs rotation naturally
- You have enough training experience to handle a higher weekly training frequency and volume
- Your goal leans toward building muscle size or strength, which benefits from more total weekly volume than a lower-frequency split allows
Your Split: Push/Pull/Legs
Push/pull/legs (PPL) groups training by movement pattern: push day covers chest, shoulders, and triceps; pull day covers back and biceps; leg day covers quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. Run twice through in 6 days, or once through with a rest day worked in for 5, it lets each muscle group get focused, dedicated volume rather than sharing a session with other groups.
A typical 6-day week: push (bench, overhead press, dips, lateral raise), pull (deadlift or row, pull-up, face pull, curl), legs (squat, Romanian deadlift, leg press, calf raise) -- then repeat the cycle for days 4-6. A 5-day version rotates through the same three days but adds one rest day mid-cycle.
PPL rewards consistency and recovery capacity, since it's a higher weekly time commitment than full body or upper/lower. It's a strong fit once you have a couple of years of training experience and can recover well enough between sessions to make the extra frequency pay off in actual progress rather than accumulated fatigue.
Sources: General strength & conditioning programming conventions for push/pull/legs training splits, widely used in intermediate-to-advanced hypertrophy programming.
How Push/Pull/Legs (PPL) compares
| Full Body | Upper/Lower | PPL | Bro Split | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical days/week | 2-3 | 4 | 5-6 | 5-6 |
| Best for | Beginners, limited schedules | Intermediate lifters, balanced focus | Higher-frequency size/strength work | Experienced lifters chasing size |
| Frequency per muscle group | 2-3x/week | 2x/week | 1-2x/week | 1x/week |
* Illustrative figures -- use the calculators below for your exact numbers.
Checklist before you commit
- Run push, pull, and legs in order, with a rest day placed wherever your schedule allows (day 4 for a 6-day cycle)
- Keep an eye on recovery -- 5-6 days is a real time and fatigue commitment
- Vary intensity across the two passes each week if training 6 days, to avoid accumulating fatigue
- Prioritize sleep and protein intake given the higher training frequency
Run the numbers
Frequently asked questions
Is 6 days too much for most people?
It's a real commitment -- a 5-day version (one rest day worked into the rotation) is a common, slightly more sustainable alternative.
Do push and pull days need to be equally hard?
Not necessarily -- some lifters run one heavier push/pull day and one lighter, similar to an upper/lower split's approach.
When would I move to a bro split instead?
If you want even more dedicated volume per individual muscle group and have several years of training experience, a bro split's 1-muscle-group-per-day approach is the next step up in specialization.
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