Push pull legs program review: progression, volume and stalls

A push pull legs program splits training by movement: one day for pressing, one for pulling, one for legs, and the cycle runs twice a week. The version most lifters mean when they say "PPL" is a beginner plan posted to r/Fitness in 2015. It opens every session with one heavy barbell lift that gains load every time, then fills the rest of the session with sets of 8 to 12 [1]. It works well for a novice who wants to train six days. Its weak spots are lopsided volume and a squat that runs out of room first.

Every fact about the program below is cited to that original post. Every load comes from compute.mjs, the same estimated 1RM model that runs the one-rep max calculator.

What the program prescribes

The week is six sessions, run as pull, push, legs, pull, push, legs with one rest day, either at the end or in the middle [1]. The heavy lift on pull and push days alternates, so each one leads once a week.

The "+" marks an AMRAP set, as many reps as possible. The author is clear that this means as many reps as you can do with good form, not a grind to failure [1]. On the RPE scale, where RPE 10 is a true max and each point below is one rep left in the tank, that lands around RPE 9.

The main lifts follow linear progression: add load every session. The steps are 2.5 kg for the bench press, the row, the overhead press and the squat, and 5 kg for the deadlift [1]. Accessories use double progression. Once all three sets reach 12 reps with good form, add weight. Stay in the 8 to 12 range, and lower the weight if you drop out of it.

Starting loads come from a ramp on the day: work up in sets of five until the bar slows, then take 2.5 kg off [1].

How many weekly sets per muscle does it produce?

More than enough for the arms, and the bottom of the range for the legs. We counted each working set from the table above across one full week. A direct set is one where the muscle is the main target. An indirect set is one where it helps, such as triceps in a bench press, and counts as half a set, the convention explained in our guide to weekly sets per muscle.

The chest's 14 is 8 sets of bench press plus 6 of incline press. The triceps get half credit for 22 pressing sets, and the biceps for the 17 rowing and pulldown sets. The single deadlift set adds half a set to the hamstrings.

A review of the volume research in young trained men suggested 12 to 20 weekly sets per muscle as a standard recommendation [2]. For the quads and the biceps it found no difference between that band and more than 20 sets. For the triceps, higher volume looked better. Against that band the program puts both arm muscles above it, the chest and back in the middle, and the quads and hamstrings right at the floor.

The review studied trained men, and this is a novice program, so a true beginner likely grows on less. The arm numbers also lean on half credit for compound lifts, which is a convention, not a measurement. Still, the shape is plain: this is an upper-body program with a leg day attached. The author says as much, writing that the plan was built to give beginners the arm and chest work they want while the main lifts keep them strong [1].

Six days a week is a preference, not a requirement

Every muscle in the plan is trained twice a week. That frequency is the program's selling point, but the research says it matters less than lifters assume. A meta-analysis of 25 studies found no significant difference in muscle growth between higher and lower frequencies once weekly volume was equated [3]. Its authors concluded that lifters can pick a weekly frequency per muscle by personal preference.

So the six-day schedule earns its place in two ways. It keeps each session short enough to finish, and it gives the main lifts more chances to add load. If you can only train four days, the same sets over four longer sessions should build about as much muscle. The main lifts would just gain load more slowly.

A worked example: a 75 kg lifter's squat

Take a 75 kg lifter on the leg day. Squat is the only main lift that appears twice a week at the same 2.5 kg step, so it climbs 5 kg a week, faster than any press. A working weight of 90 kg gets this warm-up ramp from the app's warm-up generator:

Then two sets of five at 90 kg and the AMRAP. The lifter gets eight clean reps and logs the set at RPE 9. The model reads that as an estimated 1RM of 118.1 kg.

Weeks of 2.5 kg steps later, the bar holds 107.5 kg. The AMRAP stops at four, a missed rep, logged at RPE 10. That set is worth an estimated 120.5 kg. Load on the bar rose 17.5 kg across the run, but the estimate rose only 2.4 kg. The flat estimate says the easy climb is ending.

The program's rule for this moment is specific. One bad day from poor sleep or food does not count. Fail the same session three times in a row and you take 10 per cent off the working weight and climb again [1]. Ten per cent off 107.5 kg, rounded to the nearest 2.5 kg, is 97.5 kg.

Here is the rep-max ladder from that last AMRAP, the heaviest load the model expects for each rep count at RPE 10:

The reset load sits almost exactly on the ladder's 7-rep max. The first AMRAP after the drop should go to about seven if strength held, which is the author's point: the reset makes the AMRAP worth something again [1]. If that set only reaches five, the lifter lost strength, not just momentum, and a short block of easier training is the better call.

Where lifters stall on PPL

By the program's own increments, the squat is the lift most likely to run out of room first: it takes load at twice the weekly rate of the bench press or the overhead press. Each press leads only once a week, with a lighter 3x8-12 exposure on the other push day, so it climbs more slowly and stalls later.

A few habits shorten the run. Grinding every AMRAP to failure leaves the next session's fives out of reach. Skipping the 10 per cent reset and retesting the same weight a fourth time turns a stall into a slump. Adding accessory sets on top of the lopsided arm volume eats recovery the legs needed. When several lifts stall in the same week, that points to fatigue across the whole body, and a planned week of lighter training answers it better than three separate resets.

The author's own exit test is simple. A beginner is someone who can add load workout to workout. When that stops and recovery between heavy sessions takes longer, you are an intermediate and need a plan that progresses weekly rather than every session [1].

How to run PPL in a logger that tracks set roles

Log each warm-up as a warm-up set. Warm-ups never count toward volume, so the ramp above stays out of your weekly sets per muscle. The fives on the main lift are working sets. Mark the last one with the AMRAP method and log an RPE on it. A set logged without RPE is treated as RPE 10, a true max, so an eight-rep AMRAP with one rep left would read lower than it should.

For progression schemes, Load fits the main lifts: it adds a fixed step once you hit the target reps on every set. Set the step to 2.5 kg for the squat and the presses and 5 kg for the deadlift to match the program. Double fits every 3x8-12 accessory, holding the load while reps climb to 12 and then adding weight. Our double progression guide covers the mechanics.

The app flags a stall after three sessions without progress by default, the same count the program uses before its reset. The flag tells you the reset is due. The 10 per cent drop is yours to set. The Top Sets app keeps the AMRAP reps, the RPE and the estimated 1RM for every session in one record, so you can see whether a failed session was a bad day or the end of the climb.

Questions

Can I run push pull legs three days a week?

Yes, as one pass of push, pull and legs. Each muscle is then trained once a week with half the weekly sets. When weekly volume is equal, frequency made no meaningful difference to muscle growth in a meta-analysis of 25 studies [3]. Halving the sets is the real cost, not the frequency. A three-day lifter can add a set or two to each lift to close part of the gap.

Is PPL good for complete beginners?

The linear progression PPL was written for beginners and assumes a lifter can add load every session [1]. It suits a novice who wants to be in the gym six days and likes arm and chest work. A beginner with only three free days will do better on a full-body plan, which still trains each main lift more than once a week.

Should the accessories go to failure?

No. The accessories use double progression in the 8 to 12 range, adding load once all three sets reach 12 with good form [1]. Stopping a rep or two short keeps the next set's reps honest, and it keeps fatigue down for the main lift two days later. Log an RPE on the last set of each accessory, so a stalled lift shows up as a rising RPE at the same load.