Push pull legs routine: 3 days or 6 days a week?

Once you train more days a week, there comes a point where a full body session no longer fits in one day. This article is for lifters who have run full body for a few months and are weighing a push pull legs routine. Below are the 3-day and 6-day schedules, where an area comes up once or twice a week, and a 120kg (265 lb) leg press day in numbers.

✏️ What is a push pull legs routine?

A push pull legs routine means you split your training days into pushing, pulling and legs. Push days train chest, shoulders and triceps (the muscles on the back of your upper arm). Pull days train back and biceps (the front of your upper arm). Leg days train your lower body. Put simply, one day for pressing movements, one for pulling and one for legs.

It's often called PPL. Because each day uses similar muscles, you can pack one area's work into a single day. The split runs in a 3-day cycle, so how often an area comes around depends on how many days you train.

Full body and upper/lower splits are covered in how to program workouts. This article is about how to run push pull legs.

📅 How do you lay out 3 days and 6 days a week?

On 3 days you do push, pull and legs once each, and on 6 days you run that cycle twice. Here is a common layout.

On 3 days each area comes around once a week, with 7 days between the same workout. On 6 days it comes around twice, with 3 to 4 days between. Let's say your leg days are Wednesday and Saturday. That's 3 days from Wednesday to Saturday and 4 days from Saturday to the next Wednesday.

You might be thinking, "Isn't 6 days just better?" Sources disagree, so this article doesn't pick a winner. With 6 days you hit each area twice, but you have to show up all 6 days every week. Pick the number of days you can actually keep.

🦵 How do you split sets on leg day, and what is the volume?

Put the big lift first and the smaller ones after. Volume means weight times reps, added up. The set counts below are examples to show the math, not a standard.

Let's say your 3-day leg day is leg press, Romanian deadlift and leg curl (which works the back of your thighs). You leg press 120kg (265 lb) for 4 sets of 10. The leg press is a seated machine.

The leg press is 120kg x 10 reps x 4 sets, which is 4,800kg. The Romanian deadlift is 60kg x 10 x 3, or 1,800kg. The leg curl is 35kg x 12 x 3, or 1,260kg. Together that's 7,860kg.

A compound lift means a lift that uses several joints at once. An accessory lift means a lift that works one area. People often run compound lifts heavy for fewer reps and accessory lifts lighter for more reps. For how to pick sets and reps, see 5x5 vs 3x8.

📈 How does the return interval change when you add weight?

On 3 days you get a chance to add weight once a week. On 6 days you get one every 3 to 4 days. The rule is the same, only the gap changes. The bigger picture of adding load is in the progressive overload guide.

Let's say your rule is to add 5kg once every set hits its target reps. If you finish 10 reps on all sets at 120kg, next leg day you use 125kg (276 lb). If you miss even one set, repeat 120kg.

Since you train legs twice a week on 6 days, let's say you cut the leg press from 4 sets to 3. Here is the comparison.

On 6 days, one leg press day is 120kg x 10 x 3, or 3,600kg, and two of those make 7,200kg a week. Eight chances doesn't mean eight increases. If you can't repeat the weight 4 days later, just keep it where it is. These are leg press numbers only, so they don't show which plan is better.

You can only compare these numbers if each set is written down. Log the weight and reps of every leg press set.

🗓️ What if you miss a workout?

This is the rule used in this article, and it isn't an official one. Keep rotating push, pull, legs, and do a missed day on your next training day instead of skipping it.

Let's say you're on 3 days and miss Wednesday. Pull day is still open, so do pull on Thursday and legs on Friday. If Friday is hard, legs on Saturday is fine. As long as you keep the order, no area gets skipped.

The same goes for 6 days. Use a Sunday rest day once and carry on. Just check the push, pull, legs order so you don't train the same area two days in a row.

🤔 When should you pick push pull legs over full body or upper/lower?

Pick by how many days you can train and how long each session can be. Find the row that is closest to you.

Push pull legs gives you three days to plan instead of one, and more lifts to log. So you don't have to aim for 6 days from the start. Begin with 3 days, check after 4 weeks that your log is filling in, and add days from there. If you're new to lifting, how to program workouts is a good place to start.

After today's workout, write down your leg press weight and reps in one line.

📱 What does logging with Progro make easier?

Progro is a workout log app built to track progressive overload. Make push, pull and legs three separate routines. Two routines are free, so a push pull legs setup of three routines needs Pro.

Pro is a lifetime pass with no subscription (US $2.99 / Korea ₩4,400). You can try every Pro feature free for the first 30 days, and you aren't charged when the trial ends. After the trial, routines over the free limit are locked and stay saved.

When you start a routine, every set has a target weight and reps filled in. For the leg press that's four rows of 120kg x 10, and you fix only the number that changed and check it off. After your workout, it compares previous and today for each lift, set by set.

Saving targets is a Pro feature. A set that hit its target becomes the next target, and a set that missed does not lower it. There's no sign-up and no ads, and your log stays only on your phone.

Get Progro on the App Store