Public workout-split guide
Push Pull Legs (PPL) — A Practical Split Guide
See how a PPL week can be organized. A purchased MySetPlan may use a different split if Ely decides it better fits your assessment.
What Makes PPL So Effective
Push Pull Legs (PPL) is one of the most popular ways to organize your workouts. Here's how it works:
Push days work your chest, shoulders, and triceps — the muscles you use when you push things. Pull days work your back and biceps — the muscles you use when you pull things. Legs days work your quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves.
You can run PPL 3 days a week (one of each) or up to 5 days a week as a hybrid (push and pull twice, legs once). The right frequency depends on your experience and available training time.
How It Works
Complete the Short Assessment
Share your goal, experience, equipment, and schedule.
Ely Checks Your Plan
Ely reads your answers, adjusts the draft when needed, and approves it.
Follow Your Approved Week
Use the delivered exercises, sets, reps, rest times, and effort targets.
Example PPL Exercise Structure
A sample push day might start with a bench press or overhead press, followed by incline work, lateral raises, and triceps work. A sample pull day might use rows or pull-ups, then lat pulldowns, rear-deltoid work, and curls.
A sample leg day could include squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg press, leg curls, and calf work. Exercise selection should still reflect equipment, experience, and limitations.
The sample illustrates how progression might be mapped in advance. A delivered MySetPlan plan is static, and monthly changes happen only after a member check-in and Ely's review. No remote plan can guarantee progress or prevent overtraining.
Your Week at a Glance
A sample of what your personalized plan looks like
What Makes This Plan Different
Monthly Option
If you join monthly, each next plan follows your check-in and Ely's review
Equipment Checked
Ely checks the exercise choices against the setup you submit
Progression Mapped
Sets, reps, and progression notes are defined before delivery
Rest Days Included
Training and non-training days are placed across your week
Your Session Length
Choose sessions from 30 to 90 minutes
Clear Instructions
Exercises, sets, reps, rest times, and effort targets are included
Who This Split May Fit
A PPL variation may fit someone who can train 4–5 days per week and tolerates the planned volume. It is one option among several, not a guaranteed best split. Ely chooses the structure of a purchased plan after reviewing the assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
PPL divides your training into three workout types. Push days train chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pull days train back and biceps. Legs days train quads, hamstrings, and glutes. You rotate through these workouts throughout the week.
A 5-day hybrid can train push and pull twice while leaving two non-lifting days. At 3 days, some people prefer full-body training because it distributes muscle-group frequency differently. The better choice depends on experience, volume, recovery, and schedule.
There is no single best split for everyone. PPL can be a useful way to distribute hypertrophy training when the weekly volume, effort, recovery, and schedule fit the lifter.
Not much. The classic order is Push-Pull-Legs because it spaces out shoulder work. But Pull-Push-Legs or Legs-Push-Pull work too. Pick what fits your schedule best.
Cardio can be combined with PPL, but placement and amount should reflect your goal and recovery. Avoid assuming a fixed amount is harmless for everyone, especially if it reduces lifting performance or recovery.
Most beginners do better with a 3-day full body or 4-day upper/lower split first. Those give simpler programming and faster strength adaptation early on. Once you have 6+ months of consistent training, PPL becomes a strong option.
Upper/Lower is a 4-day split that hits each muscle twice per week with simpler programming. PPL at 5 days gives push and pull muscles twice-weekly frequency with more volume per session. Upper/Lower is usually better if you are training 4 days. PPL works better at 5 days when you want higher volume per session.
Want a Plan Built Around You?
Ely reads your assessment, chooses an appropriate split, and approves your seven-day plan before delivery in 1–3 business days.
One-time purchase · No auto-renewal