Push Pull Legs, usually shortened to PPL, organizes training by movement pattern: pushing muscles, pulling muscles, and the lower body. The main advantage is simple structure. You can run it as three workouts per week or repeat the cycle more often if your recovery and schedule support it.
Quick Answer
For most beginners, a 3-day PPL is the simplest place to start: Push on Monday, Pull on Wednesday, Legs on Friday. A 6-day version is more demanding and is not automatically better.
What Goes on Each PPL Day?
Push Day
Push day covers chest, shoulders and triceps. A simple home version can use a dumbbell chest press, overhead press, lateral raise and one triceps exercise.
- Dumbbell chest or floor press — 3 × 8-12
- Dumbbell overhead press — 3 × 8-12
- Lateral raise — 2-3 × 12-20
- Overhead triceps extension — 2-3 × 10-15
See our dumbbell chest workout and triceps workout for exercise details.
Pull Day
Pull day covers the back and biceps. If you train at home, rows are the easiest movement to build around.
- One-arm dumbbell row — 3 × 8-15 per side
- Another row or pulldown variation — 3 × 8-15
- Dumbbell curl — 3 × 8-12
- Hammer curl — 2-3 × 10-15
For arm work, use our dumbbell biceps guide.
Leg Day
Leg day should include a squat pattern, a hip hinge and a single-leg or calf movement.
- Goblet squat — 3 × 8-12
- Romanian deadlift — 3 × 8-12
- Reverse lunge — 2-3 × 8-12 per side
- Calf raise — 2-3 × 12-20
The exact exercises can change with your equipment. The important part is that each day has a clear purpose and is short enough to repeat consistently.
3-Day PPL Schedule
For most beginners, the easiest version is one push, one pull and one leg workout per week:
- Monday: Push
- Wednesday: Pull
- Friday: Legs
This leaves recovery days between sessions and is easy to fit around work or other activities. If you are completely new to strength training, you can also start with our strength training fundamentals guide before committing to a split.
Optional 6-Day PPL
If you already recover well and genuinely have six training days available, you can repeat the cycle twice:
- Monday: Push
- Tuesday: Pull
- Wednesday: Legs
- Thursday: Push
- Friday: Pull
- Saturday: Legs
- Sunday: Rest
You do not need to make both rounds identical. Keep the same movement patterns, but a second push, pull or leg day can use slightly different exercises or rep ranges. Six days only makes sense when the extra sessions are realistic enough to repeat.
How to Progress on PPL
Keep the exercise list stable long enough to compare sessions. Work within a rep range, add controlled reps first, and increase the weight when you can reach the top of that range without changing the movement. You do not need a new exercise every week or advanced intensity techniques to make the split work.
If a three-day PPL produces workouts that are too long, simplify the exercise list instead of adding more days automatically. A program that fits your week is more useful than a technically perfect split you cannot maintain.