Push Pull Legs Split for Men: A Simple 6-Week Plan

A push pull legs split divides your training into three workouts: push for chest, shoulders, and triceps, pull for back and biceps, and legs for quads, hamstrings, and glutes. Run it three days a week if you are newer, or six days to train every muscle twice, and add reps or weight each week.

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It is popular for a reason. The structure is simple, the workouts stay focused, and it scales from a busy schedule to a serious one. Here is how to set it up, what to do on each day, and a six-week plan to follow.

Jump to a sectionIn this article12 sections

1. What Is a Push Pull Legs Split?
2. Is Push Pull Legs Right for You?
3. How Many Days a Week Should You Train?
4. The Push Pull Legs Workouts
5. Warm up Before Every Session
6. Your 6-Week Push Pull Legs Plan
7. How to Progress Each Workout
8. Eating and Recovering for Push Pull Legs
9. Common Push Pull Legs Mistakes
10. Your This-Week Plan
11. Quick Questions
12. The Bottom Line

What Is a Push Pull Legs Split?

The push pull legs split organizes training by movement. Push day covers every exercise where you press weight away from you. Pull day covers every exercise where you pull weight toward you. Leg day covers the lower body.

Because each day uses a different set of muscles, you can train again the next day without the same muscles still being fried. Your triceps help on push day and rest on pull day. Your biceps work on pull day and rest on push day. That overlap control is the whole idea.

Day	Muscles	Main Lifts
Push	Chest, shoulders, triceps	Bench press, overhead press, dips
Pull	Back, biceps, rear delts	Rows, pulldowns, curls
Legs	Quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves	Squat, Romanian deadlift, lunges

Is Push Pull Legs Right for You?

If you are brand new to lifting, a full-body plan is usually the smarter start. You learn the main lifts faster when you practice them three times a week. My beginner full-body workout for men is built for exactly that stage.

Push pull legs makes sense once you have a few months of steady training behind you, you know how to squat, press, and row with good form, and full-body sessions have started running long. It is also a good fit if you like focused workouts and can train four to six days a week.

As a NASM Performance Enhancement Specialist, I care more about how well a plan fits your life than how it looks on paper. The best split is the one you actually show up for.

How Many Days a Week Should You Train?

There are three common ways to run it. Pick the one that matches your schedule and recovery.

Three days a week. Push on Monday, pull on Wednesday, legs on Friday. Each muscle gets trained once a week, so each session needs a bit more volume. It works well for busy weeks, though progress tends to be slower than hitting muscles twice.

Four days a week, rotating. Run push, pull, legs, rest, then start again. The days shift each week, and every muscle is hit about one and a half times per week. This is a great middle ground.

Six days a week. Push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, then a rest day. Every muscle is trained twice a week, which suits most men chasing size. It asks the most from your sleep, food, and joints, so earn your way into it.

Whatever you choose, aim for roughly 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle group per week. Newer lifters grow well near the low end. More experienced lifters often need the higher end.

The Push Pull Legs Workouts

Each session takes about 50 to 60 minutes. Rest two to three minutes on the first big lift and 60 to 90 seconds on the rest. On the six-day version, use the same workouts twice a week, or swap one exercise per day for variety.

Push Day

1. Barbell or dumbbell bench press: 3 sets of 6 to 8
2. Seated dumbbell shoulder press: 3 sets of 8 to 10
3. Incline dumbbell press: 3 sets of 8 to 12
4. Cable or dumbbell lateral raise: 3 sets of 12 to 15
5. Triceps rope pushdown: 3 sets of 10 to 15

Pull Day

1. Barbell or chest-supported row: 3 sets of 6 to 8
2. Lat pulldown or pullup: 3 sets of 8 to 10
3. Single-arm dumbbell row: 3 sets of 10 to 12 per side
4. Face pull or rear delt fly: 3 sets of 12 to 15
5. Dumbbell or cable curl: 3 sets of 10 to 12

Leg Day

1. Back squat or goblet squat: 3 sets of 6 to 8
2. Romanian deadlift: 3 sets of 8 to 10
3. Walking lunge or split squat: 3 sets of 8 to 10 per leg
4. Leg curl: 3 sets of 10 to 12
5. Standing calf raise: 3 sets of 12 to 15

Warm up Before Every Session

Spend five to eight minutes getting ready before your first working set. Start with a few minutes of easy cardio, then do movements that match the day: band pull-aparts and pushups before push day, light rows and arm swings before pull day, bodyweight squats and hip bridges before leg day.

Then do two or three lighter ramp-up sets of your first lift, building toward your working weight. This takes a few minutes and makes your first hard set feel smoother and safer.

Your 6-Week Push Pull Legs Plan

Six weeks is long enough to see real progress and short enough to stay focused. Here is how to run it:

1. Weeks 1 and 2: find your weights. Use loads you could lift two or three more times on every set. Focus on clean reps and a controlled lowering phase.
2. Weeks 3 and 4: push the numbers. Take the last set of each exercise close to failure, leaving about one good rep. Add reps or weight wherever you can.
3. Week 5: add a set. If you are recovering well, add one set to the first two exercises of each day. This is your highest-volume week.
4. Week 6: back off and retest. Drop about a third of your sets for the first half of the week, then test your top lifts for a new best set of reps.

After week six, write down your new numbers and start again with slightly heavier weights. My guide to progressive overload explains why these small, steady increases are what actually build muscle.

My free one-rep max calculator makes that reset easy: enter your new numbers and it gives you fresh training weights for each rep range.

How to Progress Each Workout

Use double progression, the simplest system that works for almost everyone:

1. Pick a rep range, such as 8 to 10.
2. Stay at one weight until you hit the top of the range on every set with good form.
3. Add the smallest jump available, usually 5 pounds for upper body and 5 to 10 pounds for lower body.
4. Drop back to the bottom of the range with the new weight and build up again.
5. Log every session. If a lift stalls for three weeks, check your sleep and food before changing the program.

Eating and Recovering for Push Pull Legs

A great split will not build muscle on a thin diet. Most men do well on about 0.7 to 1 gram of protein per pound of goal body weight each day. My guide on how much protein to build muscle breaks that into meals, and my free protein calculator gives you your number in seconds.

You also need enough total food. A small calorie surplus of a few hundred calories a day supports steady muscle gain with limited fat gain. If you struggle to gain weight at all, my skinny guy bulking plan shows you how to eat enough without living on junk.

Sleep seven to nine hours and take your rest day seriously. My article on why rest days matter explains what happens between sessions. That recovery is where the growth actually happens.

Common Push Pull Legs Mistakes

• Jumping to six days too soon. If you cannot recover from four days, six will only dig a deeper hole.
• Skipping leg day. It is the hardest day and the one most often missed. It also builds the most muscle.
• Pushing more than you pull. Keep pulling volume at least equal to pushing to protect your shoulders.
• Chasing a pump instead of progress. Tracking weights and reps beats random exercises and burnout sets.
• Changing exercises every week. Keep the main lifts the same for the full six weeks so you can see them improve.

Your This-Week Plan

1. Choose your version: three, four, or six days, based on your real schedule.
2. Put the sessions on your calendar for the whole week before Monday starts.
3. Run each workout once with moderate weights, leaving two or three reps in the tank.
4. Write down every weight and rep so next week has a number to beat.
5. Hit your protein target on at least five days.

Quick Questions

The Bottom Line

The push pull legs split works because it is simple: three focused workouts that keep overlapping muscles fresh. Run it three, four, or six days a week based on your schedule, and aim for 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle each week.

Follow the six-week plan, log every lift, eat enough protein, and sleep well. Then run it again, a little heavier. That is how muscle gets built.

This article is for general education and is not medical advice. If you have a joint injury, heart condition, high blood pressure, or any health concern, check with your doctor before starting a new training program, and stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, chest pain, or dizziness.