Push Pull Legs: how good is PPL really?

What Push Pull Legs means

The PPL split groups exercises by movement pattern into three training days:

• Push: pressing movements — chest, front delts, triceps
• Pull: pulling movements — back, rear delts, biceps
• Legs: quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves — often plus abs

PPL and training frequency

The meta-analysis by Schoenfeld et al. (2016) showed that training each muscle group twice per week beats once-weekly training at equal weekly volume. A third weekly session adds no further benefit as long as total volume stays the same (Ralston et al., 2018).

PPL variants compared

Who should use PPL?

PPL at 6 sessions per week suits advanced lifters with plenty of time who want to handle high training volume. Because each day covers fewer muscle groups, you can fit enough working sets per muscle without single workouts stretching past two hours. For beginners, the ACSM guidance points the other way — a full-body program at three sessions per week delivers similar or better results in less time.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths. Grouping by movement pattern keeps overlap between sessions low and allows focused specialization each day. Your heavy compound lifts always meet fresh muscle groups.

Weaknesses. At low frequency — one session per muscle group per week — PPL falls behind the alternatives in the current data. The rear delts also only get direct work on pull day while the front delts work on push day too; over time that imbalance is worth correcting with face pulls or reverse flys on pull day.

Alternatives to PPL

For three to four training days a week, the research favors an upper/lower split or full-body training as the more efficient choice. With five weekly sessions, a hybrid of upper/lower plus a dedicated weak-point day can work well.