Push/pull/legs

Push/pull/legs organizes training by the direction you are moving the weight. Push day covers chest, shoulders and triceps. Pull day covers back and biceps. Leg day covers quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Muscles that work together get trained together, then rest together while the other two sessions run.

The split works best at higher frequencies. Run it once a week and it is a relaxed three-day program. Run it twice, for six sessions, and it becomes a serious amount of work for someone experienced. Three to five days a week, cycling through push, pull and legs in order whatever the calendar says, is the practical middle ground.

Each session has a natural order. Heavy compounds first, so a press, a row or pull-up, a squat or hinge. Lighter compounds next. Isolation work last, and isolation moves that suit each other run as supersets, sharing a letter and resting once after the pair. Because the rotation comes round again quickly, no single day has to be perfect, and turning up consistently matters more than any one workout.

Generate any of the three days below. The generator’s focus setting switches between push, pull and legs.