If you have ever wondered what the pros and cons of a PPL split are, then you’ve come to the right place. In this video, I am going to break down the benefits and drawbacks of one of today’s most popular workout splits – push, pull, legs. The PPL split is nothing new but has gained recent popularity in the training community.
One of the first pros of PPL is the flexibility of focus. This means that you can follow the split regardless if your training focus is strength, hypertrophy, general fitness, or athletic training. You can alter the scheduling and the workouts themselves to reflect your specific goals.
The next pro of the PPL split is something called functional efficiency. In comparison to a bodybuilding bro split, where you are trying to isolate specific muscles, you are using synergistic muscle groups to work together. While you might try to take the forearms out of the curl to really hit the biceps, in contrast, you would use your biceps, forearms, and lats to perform a weighted chin-up making sure that all of these muscles worked together.
Due to the compound nature of the exercises that you would likely be choosing in a PPL split, you are providing a great opportunity for overload. With progressive overload, you are afforded an opportunity to build greater strength and in relation, muscle.
The first con of push pull legs is the order that it is generally scheduled – with pull coming the day before legs. Based on compound exercise selection (where I prefer to have deadlifts on pull day with squats on leg day), I generally don’t like having pull and legs back to back. An easy fix to that problem, however, is to swap push and pull days so that the split now become pull push legs, allowing for more recovery between those days and movements.
The next con occurs if you decide to follow a 6-day synchronous split where you might find yourself running into this problem regardless. A quick fix comes from the flexibility of the workouts where you can alter the nature of the compound movement on the second pull day. The upside to following this synchronous PPL split is the predictability of the schedule.
If you were to follow an asynchronous version of this PPL split, you don’t have to worry about doubling up on the pull and leg days which means that you wouldn’t have to worry about manipulating volume or exercise selection. The downside, however, is that there is an ever rotating off-day, which means that your schedule would need to be more fluid than it might be right now.
Another pro of the push pull legs split is built in recovery factor. Not only by changing the pull and push day order, but in a given 6-day schedule allows for 2-3 days between repeating training sessions. This means soreness would not be a major factor. The workouts themselves are also flexible enough to avoid movements that might be hindered by any lingering soreness.
A 3-day PPL split lends itself to additional conditioning which lends itself well to those looking towards general fitness or even skill work for athletes. In a traditional M/W/F split, Tuesday and Thursday would be relegated to conditioning work for heart health and even assisted fat burning. In a M/Th/F split, an athlete’s SAQ and skill work would be placed on Tuesday and Friday.
These options mean that you can focus on more than just building muscle and strength, but those extra workouts are scheduled in such a way that they don’t interfere with each other, another pro of push pull legs.
What are some of the general cons that people happen to consider when it comes to PPL? Well, first off, some might say that there are only 3 training days in a given week. Well, we’ve proven that wrong with the 6-day synchronous and asynchronous splits.
Another objection might be that there are 2 upper body days and 1 lower body day. I like to look at it, again, through the lens of motor patterns. And if you follow my recommendation of deadlift on pull day… you are getting significant lower body activation,
Some say that with a PPL split it is harder to incorporate intensity techniques, but I will argue that it’s not, simply because you are afforded a good rest opportunity between each repeating workout.
Lastly, doing PPL means that if you want to add weak point training, your workouts are going to take longer. While this is true, I feel that the extra work you might need would make the length of the workout negligible overall.
If you are looking for a step-by-step workout program with the PPL split built into it, be sure to check out our ATHLEAN-X training programs via the link below.
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Any chance you can do a Calisthenics-Legs video? I’m hoping there’s more to life than lunges and Squats and split-squats.
You need to make it longer than one hour. I don’t even get the notification in my email box till after the hour is up.
Sir i am from India. In our country there is a misconception that if we eat soya based products, men’s testosterone levels would drop and leads to man boobs. Is that true? And how much soya especially soya chunks are safe to eat everyday as one meal
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Still waiting for tricep banded
Out of all the splits I’ve ever done, the bro split is the only one that actually gave me results. But I feel any split is ok depending on your body’s genetics and time you have during the day.
Jeff, you’ve never talked about an Upper-Lower 4 day split. I am sure a lot of people would love to hear what you have to say about that.
@Josh Carter I just explained up there so you’ll have to be a little more specific with your questions.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Thank u man
5 day split, throw a 5th day for shoulders arms and calves
I do upper lower x4 days then an accessory day to hit any muscles that are lagging! Love it
Jeff, can we get an “Inverted Row Checklist” video? I would love to know things like:
-How far apart should my hands be on the bar?
-Elbow path during rep
-Where should the bar touch my chest at the top of the rep
-What muscles should I be focusing on contracting during the rep
-Starting position: should my arms hang straight down from the bar, or should they be angled back
-Proper bar height relative to arm length
-Bar path during rep
-Regular or false grip
Thanks!
inverted rows are amazing but they are awful with just a normal bar. Get some Olympic wooden rings and do them . This will allow you to have neutral grip and rotate the wrists so you can hit the lats way better. Inverted rows on rings and just the best. I love them.
@APC Fitness I agree with that except for the straight bar part. They’re not terrible for you and most people that can perform heavy rows can’t perform 20 bodyweight rows.
@Haris Salam @Haris Salam straight bar rows are just awkward you cant hit lats optimally and your wrists are stuck and cant rotate making it awkward. straight bar inverted row’s is mainly a trap and rhomboid exercise while rings hit the lats. I try to stay away from barbells especially on back as back I feel you need to be able to angle your arms and hit the muscle optimally. lats are not hit with your arms straight on a bar they are hit tucked in beside your body at a neutral grip.
@APC Fitnessperhaps you ain’t doing them right. Jeff himself praises the exercises greatly, so do all the calisthenics athlete. You can go overhand, underhand, wide, shoulder width, close. You get the point.
@Haris Salam i am doing them right. inverted rows have to be done on rings to get the full benefit
You can even do a 5 or 4 day asynchronous schedule, too. Like, I’ll go Pull, Push, Legs, Pull one week, then go Push, Legs, Pull, Push the next week. I’ll add or subtract workout days per week depending on schedule and energy levels, but continue the PPL rotation going.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
I do a variation of this as well. I do pull push legs rest repeat. I rest after each 3 days
Been doing the PPL split for almost 2 years (6 days per week), the first half doing heavy weight exercises, and the second half, doing more bodyweight and bands exercises. Plus an additional light cardio session in between 3 times per week
It’s been the easiest split for me to get results. Thanks, Jeff for all the advice.
Jose, do you take off Wednesday or Sunday? I just started this routine and trying to figure out what I like best.
@Burdickbilt he said 6 days per week means he only takes Sunday as a rest day i do the same. If u get too tired or sore u can take Wednesday as rest too
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Jeff can you do a video on advance training systems like pre-exhaust, GVT, pause reps, Tri sets, eccentrics etc and tell us which ones are worth doing and which ones are a waste of time
I can tell you right now preexhaustion is a waste of time
I did PPL for around 3 months and I stopped because I over-trained myself. Now after 4 months, I started working out again, but now i’m actually worried that I repeat the same mistake. And I believe I’ve over-trained myself twice till I realized what went wrong…
I went super hard for months apparently if it resulted to over-training. Now I’m going hard every other day & the rest of the days are light correctional days. Just felt like sharing this.
Deload week every four weeks then lower your total volume after you start again. Should help with overtraining. Also rest and recovery are crucial
PPL 3 day/week or Upper/Lower 4 day per week is pretty good for letting you train hard and still recover from it
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Literally just started researching 3-day splits. Perfect timing Jeff! Appreciate it
I like predictable training schedules and that makes me avoid the asynchronous PPL split. It makes me struggle too much to have an off day on let’s say Thursday and a working day on Sunday… In my case I prefer to rest on Sundays in order to enjoy my weekend and relax… To relax any other day, when you have to work, feels so weird…
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Wonderful explanations here. I like your content in general, because you give great straight out programming advice, and give us the tools and logic you use, so we can design our own effective programs (all at the same time sparing us the BS 90% of the other fitness channels spew.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
I’ve never liked the full body split myself. I was okay with the PPL but I found that my arms started to fall behind because I wasn’t able to give them as much attention as they needed. I’ve really connected with the iso split, (bro split,) because you can really focus in and hammer out the muscles. Volume has been a huge growth factor for me.
I suggest you try arnold’s split, you hit arms and shoulders 2x intensity and 2x frequency compared to a PPL. My arms stopped growing and only 4 months on this split I already saw huge difference
This was so helpful in understanding the motivation behind choosing a PPL program. Would you consider doing a similar breakdown on the Bro Split? My goals are physique oriented and I use a synchronous 6-day PPL inspired Bro Split: 1) chest/abs 2) back 3) tricep/push legs 4) bicep/traps 5) shoulders/corrective 6) pull legs 7) rest.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
I have been doing the perfect PPL asynchronous split since autumn 21 and it has great results. There are noticeable gains and people are complementing my progress. I still increase the weight and the intensity so there’s much more to get from this plan for me personally. It gives just enough time for recovery even after hard sessions. Sometimes even half day makes the difference and in the morning I still feel soreness but by the evening when I train, it’s gone and I can’t train at 100%. Thank you Jeff!
PPL is literally the best. I’ve gotten the best results ever from doing PPL.
I add abs to my leg days and do things like knee raises, cable crunch’s to progressively overload them, and decline sit-ups.
6 day split with either a rest day in the middle or the end is what I usually do.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
10:58 this is the answer to what I was looking for. My greatest hurdle has been figuring out how to both alternate between a PPL routine and having days where I’m doing 2-3k sprints or running 5k or combat. Before someone points out the obvious I’m fulling aware it means I won’t be say, squatting or benching 2 to 3 times per week if I were doing a normal routine. The compromise in volume is not the problem. My problem is figuring out how to having rest days in between while having consistent days (cause some routines are basically 8 day on a 7 week routine, so if one week you did X on Monday, next week you do X on Tuesday and so on)
It sucks to have upper body one day, run a lot next day then feel dead next day to do deadlifts
I’d also suggest checking out some material like renaissance periodization’s doctors mike israetel and james hoffman talking about hypertrophy training with sports training. They have some good pointers about how to go about it and make it successful.
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Hey Jeff, currently running this split and noticing some consistent strength gains thanks for uploading this
as a female that is ‘older’, I cannot do a workout everyday. I need a rest day in between. I also find I need to isolate/separate legs and upper body to give more rest in between. So I work out every second day – i.e. 4 times every 8 days. A week being 7 days means my workout days alternate each week. It’s a bit of a nuisance but whatever (I have a detailed google calendar, lol). When many people see what I’ve achieved over the last 3yrs they always say something like, “oh, what do you do; what’s the secret?”, etc, etc. I tell them that there is no point in me telling them because what works for me may not work for them. Do what works for you!
Bro, check my workout progress for 7 years of training! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwFBoxKF8KE&t=6s
Awesome! I’ve been using asyncronous PPL for a while, and it just feels so great. If my schedule fits in a day of hard mountain biking, snowboarding, or heavy yard work I can just shift everything a day and it never feels off.