Is Push Pull Legs Worth The Hype?
A push pull legs (PPL) split is a type of resistance training program that is commonly used by bodybuilders and other fitness enthusiasts to build strength and muscle mass. It is called a split because it divides the exercises into different groups, which are then trained on separate days.
The program is structured so that one day is dedicated to "pushing" exercises, another day is dedicated to "pulling" exercises, and a third day is dedicated to "leg" exercises. Push exercises are those that involve pushing weight away from the body, such as bench presses, shoulder presses, and tricep dips. Pull exercises involve pulling weight towards the body, such as pull-ups, rows, and bicep curls. Leg exercises focus on the lower body, including squats, lunges, and calf raises.
By separating the exercises into these groups, the PPL split allows for more efficient training and greater recovery time for each muscle group. For example, after a push day, the muscles used for pushing can rest and recover while the pulling muscles are trained the following day.
The PPL split is also flexible, allowing individuals to adjust the program to their own needs and goals. For example, some may choose to include more or less exercises for each muscle group, or adjust the frequency of each day depending on their recovery ability.
Overall, the PPL split is a popular and effective training program for building strength and muscle mass. It can be tailored to suit individual needs and goals and provides efficient training and recovery time for each muscle group.
I also cover off a bit about the bro split and the full body training split.
I hope you enjoy!
James
#ppl #pushpulllegs
00:00 - 00:52 Intro
00:52 - 04:50 The Beloved Whiteboard
04:50 - 06:57 Push Pull Legs In Action
06:57 - 07:56 - Outtro
I’ve done various different splits over the years. Recently trying to get back into and doing full body sessions as it works for me and keeps it interesting. Also seeing progress as chest pressed the 17.5kg dumbbells today for first time 💪🏻💪🏻
As a 70yo woman who started working out 10 months ago I had no clue but thanks to James Smith Academy setting me appropriate 3 x a week programs that got tweaked if I struggled & my commitment & work I’m sooo much stronger , fitter & leaner with nice subtle muscle definition so thanks a bundle James love your content & it’s entertaining too😉
Honestly, unless you get out of breath walking down the street, getting strong has a much more drastic impact to quality of life than improving your cardio. I say this as someone who loves running, though for longevity ideally you want both. Well done for getting out there, very inspiring! it's especially important for women to strength train as it strengthens the bones and lowers your risk of osteoporosis, or can lessen the symptoms if you do get it.
you single?
@@PhonySopran0 💀
good for you alice , keep it up.
70 years and hitting the gym?! F*** me, that's impressive. Keep it up!
James - love your insights, comments and attitude. It reinforced my own life experience with training. I’m forging my own path as opposed to what my trainer recommended, because after 60 years I know me better than the trainer does. I alternate days of full body workouts with days of MAF cardio. Every 5th cardio day is HIIT instead of MAF. Every other strength da is a slight variation on exercises, but hits each of the same muscle group. I don’t lock into the artificial calendar. I do this because I have a life & life often gets in the way of workouts. Sometimes I get busy, work late, or something comes up & I have to skip the gym. This approach means missing “leg day” does not result in legs not getting worked out for 2 weeks. Worst case, with 1 day missed is it’s 3 days vs. 2. If I had to miss a day then that becomes the day off & I then try to go a 6 day stretch without missing. If I make it 6 days without a miss, I take a day off, or when my body needs it. I’m currently running a calorie deficit as well & the combo means sometimes I’m just tired & achy. I listen to my body. Point is consistency. I keep the workouts short enough (1 hour) so I don’t dread the experience or the after-effects. This approach works for me. No apologies for having a life. We only get one & I’m living mine.
I stumbled across this channel seeming by accident. Subscribed! Great content - highly educational, inspiring and entertaining. Thank you, James.
After wasting years doing bodybuilding bro splits, I've done push, pull, legs for a while. Higher rep/lighter movements for the first 3 days, then heavy low rep for the second. Hits everything and works great for me.
thats a load of bull shit. bro spilts do work and they are the most effective. you just werent pushing yourself hard enough, pure and simple. The best physiques were built on bro splits LOL.
Bodybuilding does seem to be a curse on the fitness industry
@@sri_diddy7718 because it turned the fitness industry into physique building, instead of improving people's basic human movement patterns
@@Liam1991 And face everyone body dysmorphia because of the unrealistic body images.
I think you missed the point entirely if your calling it ‘wasting’- it suits some people more! THATS the point ! He’s not hating on it! He literally said whatever keeps you consistent and enjoy
that "People don't do what they don't want to do" is something I really realized. When I started my fitness journey, I started with PPL, and I loved it. I lose 37 pounds over the year while putting on a decent amount of muscle and building lots of strength. I then went back to school, and with my extremely limited time, I looked to find ways to still work out with my decreased free time. I tried going Upper/Lower, and I tried a lot of different full body workouts. I found that I always fell off after about a week or two, and would go months before I got back in. I always just assumed its because I didn't have time from my intense studying and that I was too tired to want to do anything. But I finally decided to go back to PPL since it was the only thing that worked for me so far, and immediately I feel motivated again. I look forward to each workout.
Just what I was looking for, great stuff mate.
Great video as always James.
Great video. I love PPL but struggle to fit in the cardio I want to do at the same time, so have ended up with an upper/lower split. As always you’re right though - it’s really about what you’ll do consistently, and that’s almost the only thing that matters. All these splits will work IF you do them consistently AND work hard.
👌🏽👌🏽 I’ve been training for about 20 years and have gone through most training methodologies like the “bro split”, GVT, Max OT, Full body etc now being over 40 I’ve found a good combo that is similar to what you’ve shown, very GPP 👊🏽 luv ya work mate 🇦🇺
You couldnt have timed this video any better 😅 been reading into this all week, even if its mostly common sense , you dumbing it down for me is 👌👌👌
Never seen more progress than I have from PPL. Keep it simple and consistent.
Quickly became my favourite fitness youtube, keep up the good work. And excitable attitude. 😂👌🏽
I train upper lower 6x a week now, but my favourite split before that was legs/shoulders+bench variation/back+bi/chest+tri/arms (if arms are a weak point)
Yes been arguing this week concept, make the routine work over as many days as the routine and lifestyle fit best, people are always basing training around a seven day bias as if it's priority for muscle growth
Came from TikTok, stayed for the valuable long form content
I've been training consistently for 37 years, and my split has evolved constantly to fit my priorities, and available time. Last couple of years I've been training 7 days (Chest, Biceps, Legs, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Deadlift). At 53 I find this works because the workouts are short enough (~45min) to stay focussed, and every body part is started fresh. I don't plan any rest days, but if I want, or need to skip a day/week, I just take it.
I like that layout actually. I been training since the early 90’s. Tried them all. That split looks great. Get in, get out. Probably some great ways to get overlap as well. Dead hang chins on biceps so upper back gets hit some. Close grip bench for triceps so chest gets hit some etc.
You need rest days man. How you train that long and not do that wild
4 days per week works for me but I do Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat. Posterior A (legs and back), upper A (chest, shoulders and arms), posterior B, upper B. Each workout starts with a heavy compound movement: squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press. I love it and am making good progress.
liked and subbed just from the first 20 seconds of honesty
Great video, great advice, keep it up!
I love your humour that comes through and the way you deliver information. 10/10 👍
Thank you Mr Smith
38 female with few years of functional traning and martial art expirence. Now switching to solo gym training. Pull push legs seems to be working for me best. I plan to add kettlebell full body day too. My pull day is very posterior chain focused with DLs to kick it off and even glutes and hamstrings at the end. On push days i add some core to the mix.
I started full body 3 months ago and it’s by far my favourite “split”. I get to do all the fun excercise I like every day. I can switch it up as well when I get bored, what variation of squat or chest today? I’m always ready to train with a buddy because I didn’t go all out in legs yesterday. It’s scalable. Am I busy this week and I can’t hit 4x a week? That’s cool hit 3x. Feeling great? Ok I can go 5-6x this week. It’s the best
Yep totally agree with this and good advice 🤘🏼
Thank you!
As a 104 year old gender neutral apple tree that started training 81 years ago, I think that the PPL split is great. but hey, I’m just an apple tree
Hahahahaha 🍎
Good one
What a stupid comment
😂
You don't get trunks from nothin
I enjoy doing PPL over most programs. I get really sore EVERY TIME I work out, so full body is out of the question, and bro splits are both unnecessary at my level of progression and too time consuming to keep up in the long run. I currently do legs on mondays (I like to get it out of the way early and start my week of with «conquering» the least exciting part of the program), push on wednesday and pull on friday. I plan on incorporating core and cardio work on my «days off» now that we’re getting closer to summer.
As a 63 year old female, training with my very experienced spouse, I've found a lot of success with a four day workout. We work upper Monday, Thursday. We work lower Tuesday, Friday. Pretty simple. As you age, rest is as important as work. Thus, a four day workout and three days of rest. This also has the advantage of getting two leg days in a week. I only do cardio twice a week on the rowing machine and even then I only do two traditional Tabata circuits. I do love pushing/pulling the Tank on alternate days, too. Lost the Covid weight, got rid of the cellulite, learned to deadlift, got rid of my visceral fat, reversing osteoporosis. I really like the upper lower split because it's simple, clear and most importantly, I'll do it. Thanks for the encouragement James.
I do this too, and works great for me!
Great video I tend to do full body but as I like running I split the workout, the first 50%+ is heavy compounds+legs, squat, deadlift, Romanian deadlift (single and double leg) Bulgarian split squats, leg press, hamstring curls etc (not all on the same day!) Then the second part of my workout is more upper body focused, ohp, curls, lateral raises, cable machine stuff. Because I like it and like being big, then surprising people by doing endurance running Then blast calves at the end. If I'm recovering from a hard sprint session or a personal best effort/race I might just make it an upper body workout I don't even need to train legs for size, my legs have always been huge so I could train for another couple of years purely upper body and I still wouldn't look top heavy. xD Fits my lifestyle with a baby and job, means if/when I miss sessions I'm not missing out on a whole part of the body.
I'm on the bro split Monday - Legs and Abs Tuesday - Chest Wednesday - Back Thursday - Shoulders Friday - Arms Weekends - Off. Some times life occasionally happens and I may train only 3 or 4 days for one week, but eventually it comes full circle back to the bro split.
I do something similar... Push- Pull - Cardio or rest -Leg -Push- Cardio or rest-Pull. This allows me to have some breathing room regarding when I take my rest days, typically I only do if im beat up or if my leg day is the day before my cardio day.
Loved your point about the week, I’ve been doing PPL for a few years now and was obsessed with hitting twice per week with only one rest day to fit the week… now I do PPL followed by a rest day and just repeat on a 4 day cycle. The extra rest has made a huge difference👌🏻
Thanks for the advice mate. Gonna use this. Been thinking about 8 day weeks for a while now for more rest so this fits perfectly. PPL- rest, repeat.
As you say, i am doing what is the most fun for me and that would be: Monday: chest, triceps, biceps, ocassionaly calves at the end Wednesday: back, biceps, triceps, ocassional dips sets after a back workout, and ocassional calves at the end, Friday: shoulders and then legs. I like that order because doing the opposite doesnt make sense because legs destroy my soul and then i dont have energy for shoulders. I do some abs ocassionaly at the end of my training if i have some leftover energy and i feel like doing it. It can also be tuesday, thursday, and saturday, or any order, doesnt matter to me at all. The only important thing is the consistency. Having fun and gained some pretty neat gains not going to lie. 🙂
Thank you, 2nd most helpful video
I'm a UPS driver and have found push/pull/legs to be ideal for me to train and not be dead ass tired for work. Friday is always leg day so I have the weekend to recover. I also used to train bro split 6 days a week and would often plateau because I couldn't recover. Sometimes less is more. I also love the point you make about having to enjoy it to remain consistent. I have been training consistently for 20+ years since I was 12 and people always ask my secret. I'm like it's just consistency! I like what I do.
Is it a 6 day a week or just 3 days a week ?
@jovannib619 I only train 3 days a week usually. Once in a while I'll slip in an extra day but it's hard
Concurrent training: playing rugby is taxing so doing 1 upper body sesh and 1 lower sesh a week is perfect for during the season. When I was younger I did push pull legs 6 days/week in the off season and made unreal gains so definitely a good one for adding mass and strength
love the space facts
Wow! Absolutely no bullshit. Well said, mate.
As someone who does Capoeira and just general athletic stuff (run, hike, swim, etc), PPL is ideal as I can also program other exercises for the same biomechanics at the end
I agree with video really good points, run what you find enjoyable, effective and what you think you can stick too. for me who is not wanting to compete and can only realistically train consistently 3-4 times a week. Full body workouts 3x a week is extremely effective for me (1.30-2hour sessions). If i make any extra days i will just run a focus session on a lagging body part or do some cardio. When i was training to box i just done 1-2x a week fully body sometimes 1x ppl depending how my body felt
I enjoyed your video as always! What do you think about 8x8 program?
Thanks - top video
Thanks James, love your work. 57 and I find do upper/lower/cardio repeat and if I'm tired I have a day off. I love working in kettlebell swings, farmer carry and general KB exercises at least once a week. I do cardio twice, steady state 50 mins/ HiiT 50 mins spin/rowing. I now have arthritis in one foot so no more running for me. As James said, it's a moving target. I also love bodyweight. I work out with my 21 year old son. We do 30/50 complete drop pull ups 10/8/7/6/xxxx depending on how we feel. I really recommend a training partner if you can find one. Also, buy your own weights, so much better if you can just do it at home. I love the gym but home gym access = no excuses. My 17 year trolls us both with his muscle ups.... know your limits!!!
Funny I've had 2 kids at about the same age you had yours. They're 4 and 1 now so seeing your comment made me smile thinking I might train with them one day. Surely a great motivation to stay in shape if there ever was one...
I do push pull legs day off after each session as work wrecks me most days. I used to hate having days off felt lazy but being fully rested makes a huge difference to quality and volume I can do, I think good rest and sleep are so overlooked these days.
4:42 : "you gonna to pay me for that" Literally the next second: Giving me every information i needed to get started Keep making these amazing video king 👑
I'm a believer in changing your splits every six months or so. Jeff Nippard's multiple split variations are very good.
How has this guy entered my algorithm, he’s literally sneaking in then I end up watching him for an hour
Most of my training hobby I spent doing the upper/lower body split with a frequency of twice a week. In the beginning I did full body. When I see that I have more time to dedicate to training, I do PPL twice a week, like this month.
Can’t believe this content is free, awesome stuff thank you James! 👏
“Lynn” looking absolutely miserable at the office was a nice touch
Hello, I have a question for you, I mean the Push, Pull, Legs training plan, done three times a week due to my free time, namely whether such training is good for building muscle mass and whether such a long break between exercises for a given body part is not too big to achieve success in figure? Thank you in advance for your answer and best regards.
This dudes hilarious 😂. New subscriber here
See me I do, legs/back and delt/chest/ arms split with abs each session. Mon, Tues on, wed off, thur, fri on, sat,sun off. Works for me. I started training full body 3 times a week, and moved to this spilt 3 years in.
I like PPLPPLR for my week. I have shorter workouts (only about an hour) and it means I can lift 6 days and rest one day. I like that because I have a desk job so don't move much outside of the gym. So yeah, 6 day split for me and I like it.
PPL works very well for me. I feel that I don't have to take so many days off (or sometimes none at all) as I'm pretty much resting one half of the body while still training the other on that day. I have to take more recovery days when I do full body as everywhere is sore, but with PPL, I can do a heavy leg day and go straight to a push or pull the following day with few issues.
if i had 3 days i would do full body. it's better to work the same muscle at least 2 times a week, but if you don't want to optimize every little thing, any split is good (PPL is my favorite so far)
Full body split for 4 weeks, push pull legs for 4weeks. Single body part split 4 weeks. 1 week deload or off then repeat, best Way of progressive overload and recovery. My favourite is agonist super set with antagonist (not sure If they're the correct words) super abetting bench press with bent over row, shoulder press with pull downs, Barbell curl with tricep pull downs etc
Probably the most entertaining gym video I've seen
75 year old don’t stop moving in the right direction they have they’re demons your doing it right thanks for the calories in out and push pull legs makes sense wish all the success your hard work deserves
FBS 3x a week has worked wonders for me, HIIT on the days in between, biking on weekends, jog or two in the afternoons
I don't have access to a gym, and buying weights would require too much space. I use resistance bands, and I've been trying to incorporate exercises that I would do with weights with resistance bands instead. So far, I tend to pair different workouts and then spread them out over Mon-Fri. I'll try to incorporate PPL and see what progress I can make. Thanks for the advice, Tom Hardy - you're a very talented actor.
Just buy like 2~3 kettlebels shits gonna help a lot and doesnt kill a lot of space
I do PPLPP and then the weekend off, i find that it's just a lot more fun and easy to manage. Did try bro split, but got bored with only doing 1 muscle group per day and full body felt so rushed
Using a rode wireless go mic by any chance? I recognise the annoying interference. Check and maybe swap out the cable, that helped me... But I eventually switched to the dji mic.
Does incorporating posterior chain work (DL variations, roman chair, hip thrusts) with pull as opposed to legs also work?
Yes.
Love your videos.. it’s literally like watching myself talk because I go off on tangents all the time and space is one of the topics I get into. Probably Just have ADHD 😂
gotta say, rly like ur shit man. a good mind can speak depth
Loved this video
I enjoy the Stronglifts 5x5 structure the most - Compound movements - Squat, Bench, Overhead press then Squat, Deadlift, Row. However I tend to go 3-4 sets of 10-12
When I started making this my split it was a complete game changer, but mainly because I was working out every day, taking creatine and increasing intensity all at the same time.
Legend
I believe it is not even the fact that "personal trainers don't tell you this", it is more about the fact that they are not evolving and learning. All splits work if it is designed to work. I see so much hate for bro splits when I am sure we all have done it, yet it gets bashed, it is never the tool but the user.
For me PPLPP (5x week) is the best solution. What I hated about my upper lower split was that my upper days had me in the gym for over 2 hours (lift, warm ups and cardio included). Which was mentally exhausting and I think the last few exercises were just junk volume. With PPL I’m in the gym 5x a week but never in there for longer than an hour and can give it my all for the whole sesh
Yes
When do you recommend training BJJ around the PPL split?
I'm halfway through a 2 month cut where I am doing full body 3x week of mostly calisthenics. Once I enter the maintenance phase, I will be trying pull/push/legs/arms/rest/full body/rest. I think should work well for me, as ppl feels like it has too many boring leg-only days, and full body workouts take too long. Thanks for the info. Fantastic channel btw
I’d say try legs, push, pull, rest, arms and repeat. With legs first it’s easier I don’t know why
@@iCarryBoatsAndTheLogs Brother, That looks like an excellent split. It's logical and well conceived. I also prefer putting legs first in a weekly routine. I haven't done that in my split because I like how my biceps get lots of time to recover before arm day(day4) I really like the idea of having both a "full body day" AND an "arms only day" all in one week. This will also be my first attempt at periodization where I will, as weeks go on, slowly increase the intensity "RPE" and finally, after a peaking phase, deload.
I like going hard on one session,, rather than spending loads of time in the gym. I do pull, push legs, Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday, just because my recovery time is longer for me on push, and legs is not that affected by it Whatever works for your schedule and your body is the best
Any suggestions for someone who works nights realistically only have four days free so I do upper lower with a rest in-between 👌
I really like my push pull legs split. I'm training 3 times a week and my question is. Is that enough to stimulate muscle growth if i'm not hitting each muscle group twice a week? I'm doing a lot of compound movements like bench press and deadlifts, but I'm not sure if that's enough.
I like doing the upper and upper body workouts
that's good, All push one day, then all pull another day. Then legs.
Chest, back/ shoulders, arms/ legs
Do you know what type of exercises is best to strengthen lower back
As a 42 year old who can’t be arsed training, I really do enjoy your content!
Should your workouts be different? Example if you’re doing certain chest movements exercises on Monday, if your 2nd chest day is Thursday should they be different chest exercises or the same as the ones you did on Monday??
3:50 I train oly lifting so as you can imagine full body splits are my life, I try to orient a little more towards either upper or lower but yeah, you do feel pretty beat up, a lot
I do PPL. But I split off shoulders from the two Ps i to individual day, making those two shorter. Then I try to fit in a cardio day. Thats two to three breaks a week. I try to hit 3 of those on friday, ssturday and sunday as the gym is emptier.
Monday is always national chest day bro!
Another alternative for those with more time might be push, pull, legs, abs. Personally been running this during the week with a rest day in the middle (Wednesday) for few months and works wonders. Though Ofc this is personalised to me so probably won’t be good for everyone.
U spend a whole day in the gym blasting ur abs? That’s literally insane.
@@mysterylady13 only got 6 exercises for it, but even that ruins me the day after. Forget sitting up 💀
thats basically a rest day lol, i can do abs and calves literally daily
here's my routine: fbs - conditioning - rest - fbs - conditioning - rest. fbs- one exercise per major body part conditioning- one exercise or sport for 1+ hr
Hey man, great content! Just wondered what you think to horizontal push and pull, vertical push and pull, legs split? E.g rows and bench pressing, pulldowns and shoulder pressing, and legs..? It's worked well for me.
Most underrated gym "influencer" right here
I like push pull legs especially if I'm trying to lean up. It's not a full time thing for me or sometimes if I feel I've not been pushing myself hard enough I may do it for 4 weeks. My age and recovery doesn't lend itself to much more without getting closer to a pull ...tear or pain of some type .
Used to do full body but I’m starting to realise the reason why I wasn’t consistent is because I felt like I had to hit everything in one session so I would just be in there for like 2 hours which is why I would be super inconsistent.
Did full body for a while, progression slowed, went to upper / lower, back to being sore and seeing gains. Might get more granular as time goes on but enjoying it so far.
Any thoughts on 5x5 for beginners (or people who are returning to lifting after many years off)?
I do push, pull, legs in the same session 3 times a week
I do push/pull/abs+legs because that way I can work out every single day, which helps me build a routine so I actually do it regularly. Since I don't like going to the Gym I bought a few things to work out with and it has been working fine. Obviously I could work out more efficiently but I don't really care that much to optimize everything
Can you do a video on GVT please?
I have a question. How to incorporate glute training in a ppl split?