Push Pull Legs for Beginners: Is It the Right Split for You?
Push pull legs (PPL) divides your training into three session types: push (chest, shoulders, triceps), pull (back, biceps, rear shoulders) and legs. For most beginners it is not the best place to start, unless you can genuinely train five or six days a week. Run three days a week, PPL trains each muscle group only once every seven days, and new lifters progress faster when they practise each movement two or three times a week. If you have three or four slots, a full-body or upper/lower plan will usually serve you better. If you have six, PPL can work well from early on.
How push pull legs actually works
The logic is tidy. Muscles that work together are trained together, so on push day the triceps that helped you bench press are already warm for the overhead press, and on pull day the biceps get a second hit from every row and pulldown. Legs get a day of their own because squats and hinges are tiring enough to deserve it.
A typical rotation looks like this:
- Push: a horizontal press (bench or dumbbell press), a vertical press (overhead press), a fly or cable press, a triceps exercise.
- Pull: a vertical pull (lat pulldown or pull-up), a horizontal pull (seated row or dumbbell row), a rear-delt or face pull, a biceps exercise.
- Legs: a squat pattern, a hinge (Romanian deadlift), a single-leg exercise, something for calves or trunk.
Run it twice through in a week and you have six sessions. Run it once and you have three. That difference is the whole question for a beginner.
Why frequency matters more than the split
When you are new, your early strength gains come mostly from your nervous system learning the movements. Squatting, pressing and rowing are skills, and skills improve with frequent, good-quality practice. Squatting once a week is like practising the piano once a week: you spend half of each session relearning what you did last time.
Most of the training research and most experienced coaches land in the same place: hitting each muscle group roughly twice a week works better for building muscle than once, with total weekly sets mattering more than how you slice them. We go into set numbers in how many sets and reps you need to build muscle. The practical upshot is simple.
| Days you can train | Best fit for a beginner | Each muscle trained |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Full body | 2x a week |
| 3 | Full body | 3x a week |
| 4 | Upper/lower | 2x a week |
| 5 | Upper/lower/full body hybrid, or PPL with a rotating sixth day | About 2x a week |
| 6 | Push pull legs, twice through | 2x a week |
If three days is your reality, read our three-day full-body plan instead. If four, the upper/lower split is the natural choice.
When PPL is a good choice for a beginner
There are cases where it makes sense from week one:
- You enjoy being in the gym most days and a six-day habit is realistic, not aspirational. Short, focused sessions of 45 to 60 minutes suit this rhythm.
- You have a little background, perhaps from sport, and already move reasonably well under load. The skill-learning argument carries less weight for you.
- You are coming back after a long break and your technique is intact. Some people find the clear daily focus easier to follow than a full-body plan that touches everything.
And there are cases where it tends to fail: busy professionals with travel, young children or unpredictable weeks. Miss Thursday’s leg session on a once-a-week PPL and your legs go two weeks untrained. On a full-body plan, missing a day costs far less.
A beginner-friendly PPL template
If you have six days and want to try it, keep the sessions short and the exercise list stable. This version uses kit found in most gyms and in our basement studio: a squat rack and barbell, dumbbells, a two-stack cable station, lat pulldown and seated row.
Push
- Dumbbell bench press: 3 sets of 8 to 10
- Seated dumbbell overhead press: 3 x 8 to 10
- Cable fly or push-ups: 2 x 12 to 15
- Cable triceps pushdown: 2 x 12 to 15
Pull
- Lat pulldown: 3 x 8 to 12
- Seated cable row: 3 x 8 to 12
- Face pull: 2 x 15
- Dumbbell curl: 2 x 10 to 12
Legs
- Goblet squat or back squat: 3 x 6 to 10
- Romanian deadlift: 3 x 8 to 10
- Split squat: 2 x 8 to 10 each leg
- Plank or dead bug: 2 sets
Stop each set with one or two good reps left in the tank, and add a little weight or a rep when every set hits the top of its range with clean form. Keep a log. Six days a week sounds like a lot, but these sessions take under an hour and none of them is designed to leave you flattened.
The mistakes we see most
- Running it once a week and calling it a plan. Three-day PPL is the most common version online and the least useful for beginners.
- Bloated push days. Four chest exercises, three shoulder exercises and three triceps exercises is an hour and a half of junk volume. Four or five exercises is plenty.
- Skipping legs in practice. Leg day is the hardest of the three, so it is the one that gets “moved”. If you find yourself doing push and pull twice and legs once, the split is not working for you.
- Too little rest between consecutive days. Pull day hits the lower back through rows; legs the next day hits it again through Romanian deadlifts. Order the week so the hinge-heavy work does not stack up, or keep row volume moderate.
- Changing exercises every week. Progress comes from doing the same lifts a bit better. Keep the menu fixed for six to eight weeks.
How a coach would decide for you
The honest answer to “which split?” starts with your diary, not the internet. In a first session with a personal trainer in Highgate the questions are practical: how many days can you reliably train, how long do you have, what have you done before, what is sore or old-injured, and what would you like to look and feel like in three months. The split falls out of those answers.
For most of the busy over-30s I coach, that means two coached sessions a week plus one or two shorter sessions alone, organised as full body or upper/lower. PPL is a fine tool, just a specialist one. If you are returning to training after a long break, or you have a heart condition, joint problem or are pregnant, check with your GP before starting a higher-frequency plan.
If you would like someone to build the week around your calendar rather than the other way round, our private 1-1 training takes place in a basement studio booked to you alone, under The Highgate House on Archway Road.
Questions we get asked
Can I do push pull legs three days a week?
You can, and you will make some progress, but each muscle only gets one session a week. A three-day full-body plan will usually build strength faster for a beginner.
Is PPL better than upper/lower?
Neither is better in itself. At four days, upper/lower gives twice-weekly frequency; at six days, PPL does. Pick the one that matches the number of days you can keep up for months.
Where does cardio go on a PPL split?
Short conditioning after pull or push days, or on separate days if you have them. The NHS physical activity guidelines suggest 150 minutes of moderate activity a week alongside strength work; brisk walking counts.
How long before I should change the plan?
Run it for at least eight weeks. Change it when progress stalls for several weeks despite good sleep and food, not because you are bored.
Book with The Highgate House
Ready to start training properly? Email us at [email protected] with the service and the day that suits you, and we will come back to you with times.
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