The Push Pull Legs Workout: Push Day, Pull Day and Leg Day, Set by Set

Run push, pull, legs in that order and your deadlift and your squats land on back-to-back days. Start with pull and a push day sits between them. That's one of the fixes in this push pull legs workout, the r/Fitness beginner PPL by Metallicadpa. The sets and reps are his; the rest times and effort targets are added from the research.

Push is chest, shoulders and triceps. Pull is back, rear shoulders and biceps. Legs is everything below the waist.

Push day workout

The heavy press alternates every time push day comes round, so each press gets a heavy day every week.

"Reps left" is how many more reps you could do with good form when you stop the set. "5+" means as many reps as you can with good form, stopping short of failure.

Pull day workout

Deadlift one session, barbell row the next, then the same pulling and curling work every time.

Can't do 8 pull-ups? Use the pulldown.

Leg day workout

Squats first while you're fresh, then the hamstrings, quads and calves get their turn.

Push pull legs schedule: 6 days or 3

6 days (recommended)

Pull, Push, Legs, Pull, Push, Legs, Rest.

Starting with pull puts a push day between the deadlift and leg day, so the deadlift and the squat never land on back-to-back days. Each muscle gets trained twice a week.

3 days

Monday pull, Wednesday push, Friday legs.

You'll build about the same muscle as on 6 days if your weekly sets match, but your strength goes up more slowly. The 3-day sessions have more sets, so chest, back and quads still get about 10 a week and arms about 10 counting presses and rows as half sets. Shoulders and calves get fewer. Metallicadpa doesn't recommend once a week for beginners.

• Pull: deadlift 3 x 5 (3 min), barbell row 3 x 6-8 (2-3 min), lat pulldown 4 x 8-12 (2 min), seated cable row 3 x 8-12 (2 min), face pull 3 x 15-20, hammer curl 3 x 8-12, dumbbell curl 3 x 10-15 (90 s each)
• Push: bench 4 x 5-8 (3 min), incline dumbbell press 3 x 8-12 (2 min), overhead press 3 x 6-10 (2-3 min), cable fly 3 x 12-15, lateral raise 4 x 12-20, pushdown 3 x 10-15, overhead triceps extension 3 x 10-15 (90 s each)
• Legs: squat 4 x 5-8 (3 min), leg press 3 x 8-12 (2 min), Romanian deadlift 3 x 8-10 (2 min), leg curl 3 x 10-15, leg extension 3 x 12-15, calf raise 4 x 10-15 (90 s each)

How to progress on push pull legs

Beginners: add weight to the first lift every session: 2.5 kg (5 lb) on bench, row, overhead press and squat, 5 kg (10 lb) on the deadlift. On the other exercises, add weight once you get 3 x 12. If you fail the same session three times in a row, drop the weight 10% and build back up. A bad night's sleep doesn't count.

Once that stops working: do the first lift as 4 x 5-8, stopping 1-2 reps short of failure. When every set reaches 8, add 2.5 kg (upper body) or 5 kg (lower body). Do the same on the other exercises with their rep ranges.

How many sets, how heavy, how long to rest: what the research says

• Sets: about 10 or more hard sets per muscle per week. Each extra set adds a little more growth, with smaller returns as you go (Schoenfeld 2017; Pelland 2024, preprint).
• Per session: past about 11 sets for one muscle in one session, extra sets showed no detectable added growth (Remmert 2025, preprint, and its authors urge caution). Put them in a second session instead.
• Rest: at least 90 seconds. Rests shorter than 60 seconds cost growth, and past 90 seconds the extra benefit is small (Singer 2024). Rest 3 minutes on heavy lifts: in one study, 3 minutes beat 1 minute for strength and thigh size (Schoenfeld 2016).
• Weight: light and heavy weights build about the same muscle when sets are taken to failure. Heavy weights build more strength (Schoenfeld 2017).
• Effort: sets closer to failure build more muscle. Strength doesn't need failure (Robinson 2024).

Which PPL workout should you run?

If you can still add weight every session, run the 6-day beginner version. Once you can't, switch to the second progression. If you can only train three days, use the 3-day version, or a full-body program.

Each session takes about 60-70 minutes with full rest. Pairing exercises as written saves time.

Run it in sweatcue

Paste any day, or the whole week, into sweatcue.

It counts your sets, starts your rest timer when you finish one, reads out the next exercise and keeps your weights.

More workout guides

Push pull legs FAQ

Is push pull legs good for beginners?

Yes, on 6 days. Metallicadpa's program was written for beginners. On 3 days, Metallicadpa and Outlift point beginners to a full-body program instead.

3 or 6 days a week?

6 if you can. Each muscle gets trained twice a week, which helps strength.

Should deadlifts go on pull day or leg day?

Either works. If they're on pull day, put a push day between pull and legs.

Push, pull, legs or pull, push, legs?

Pull, push, legs. It keeps your deadlift and squats apart.

How long is a PPL session?

About 60 to 70 minutes with full rest.

Is PPL better than full body?

Neither builds more muscle if weekly sets match. Pick the one you'll stick to.

Sources

1. Metallicadpa: A linear progression based PPL for beginners (archived)
2. Outlift: The push pull legs routine
3. StrengthLog: Push day workout
4. Schoenfeld et al. 2016, training frequency (Sports Med)
5. Schoenfeld et al. 2016, longer rest periods (J Strength Cond Res)
6. Schoenfeld et al. 2017, weekly volume and muscle growth (J Sports Sci, PDF)
7. Schoenfeld et al. 2017, light vs heavy loads (J Strength Cond Res)
8. Schoenfeld et al. 2019, how many times a week to train a muscle
9. Pelland et al. 2024, dose-response of training volume (SportRxiv preprint)
10. Remmert et al. 2025, sets per session (SportRxiv preprint)
11. Singer et al. 2024, rest between sets (Frontiers)
12. Robinson et al. 2024, proximity to failure