The Best PPLUL (Push Pull Legs Upper Lower) Split for Building Muscle & Strength

The PPLUL split: it sounds like a spell from Harry Potter that accidentally makes your biceps grow, doesn’t it?

In the alphabet soup of gym acronyms, this is probably one of the lesser-known. It stands for Push Pull Legs Upper Lower.

It mashes up two of the most popular splits (Push/Pull/Legs and Upper/Lower) into a clean 5-day schedule.

Here is the breakdown of exactly what it is and why you should consider it for your next workout routine.

What Is a Push Pull Legs Upper Lower (PPLUL) Split?

PPLUL stands for Push / Pull / Legs / Upper / Lower.

It is a hybrid training split that combines body-part specificity with general strength training.

• Days 1–3 (Push/Pull/Legs): You focus on specific movement patterns (Pushing, Pulling, Squatting/Hinging). The PPL part is often where you go for the pump or focus on hypertrophy (muscle growth).

• Days 4–5 (Upper/Lower): You condense your body into two big days. Doing it this way is very well suited for heavier compound lifting.

PPL and Upper/Lower routines are both very popular and effective workout splits on their own. But many gym-goers eventually face a dilemma:

• Push/Pull/Legs is amazing, but you have to train six days a week to hit everything twice. That might be more than a busy schedule can handle, and forces you to train on weekends.
• Upper/Lower is super solid, but runs four days a week. Sometimes you just have that itch to train a fifth day.

PPLUL is the 5-day sweet spot.

You get the specific muscle focus of the PPL split for the first half of the week, and the heavy compound volume of the Upper/Lower split to close it out. And you get the weekend off if that’s how you want to program it.

The PPLUL Schedule

There are a few ways to slice this pie, but most people run it Monday through Friday to keep the weekends free. It looks like this:

• Monday: Push (Chest, shoulders, triceps)
• Tuesday: Pull (Back, biceps, rear delts)
• Wednesday: Legs (Quads, hamstrings, glutes)
• Thursday: Upper Body (Everything above the waist)
• Friday: Lower Body (Everything below the waist)
• Saturday: Rest
• Sunday: Rest

Alternative PPLUL Schedule

However, if you’re up for training on Saturdays, there is nothing wrong with squeezing in a rest day between the PPL and the UL parts of the split. It can even help you recover better between the two blocks.

• Monday: Push (Chest, shoulders, triceps)
• Tuesday: Pull (Back, biceps, rear Delts)
• Wednesday: Legs (Quads, hamstrings, glutes)
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: Upper Body
• Saturday: Lower Body
• Sunday: Rest

PPLUL Mechanics Day by Day

Here is how you attack your PPLUL days for best results.

The PPL Days (The “Hypertrophy” Days)

These first three days of a PPLUL split are often focused on muscle growth. Because you are dedicating a whole day to just “Push” or just “Pull,” you can add a bit more isolation work.

Example exercises:

• Push: Chest presses, shoulder presses, lateral raises, triceps pushdowns, or overhead extensions.
• Pull: Lat pulldowns, dumbbell rows, face pulls, reverse flyes, curls.
• Legs: Leg presses and extensions, split squats, Romanian deadlifts, leg curls.

The UL Days (The “Strength” Days)

Since you are condensing the whole body into just two days here, you can’t do a million isolation exercises. These days are usually better for strength and compound movements, with minimal isolation work.

• Upper: Bench presses, barbell rows, and overhead presses. Perhaps a few curls and triceps extensions for the arm aficionados.
• Lower: Squats, deadlifts, and whatever accessories you have energy left for.

What Makes This Training Split Effective?

A PPLUL split has a number of things going for it.

1. The Magic of Frequency

Science (and huge guys in the ’70s) tells us that hitting a muscle group twice a week is as good or better for growth than hitting it once (the bro split).¹

With a PPLUL split, you train everything twice without having to live in the gym six days a week.

2. Weekend Freedom

A standard PPL (6-day) split automatically bleeds into your weekends.

There is nothing wrong with that, but if you want to spend your weekends doing things outside the gym, PPLUL lets you train hard during weekdays and have Saturday and Sunday entirely off to recover and do fun stuff.

3. Autoregulation

If you feel beat up after the first three PPL days (and don’t mind working out on Saturdays), you can make Thursday a rest day to recharge before your heavy Upper/Lower sessions.

A PPLUL split makes it easy to balance fatigue when your body tells you to rest.

Who Is It For?

Note: PPLUL is not a beginner program.

It is best suited for intermediate to advanced lifters. If you are a total beginner, five tough training days might be overkill. Stick to a 3-day full body until you stop making gains.

Our beginner programs are more suitable for you:

• Beginner Barbell Program
• Beginner Powerlifting Program
• Beginner Strength Training Program
• Bodybuilding for Beginners

StrengthLog’s Push Pull Legs Upper Lower Split

Here’s a sneak peek at what the first week of StrengthLog’s PPLUL split looks like in our workout log app.

I’ve designed this program so that you can adapt it the way you prefer. Think of it as a template, not a program set in stone that you must follow down to the letter each workout.

The default program is ideal for most lifters, but I want you to feel free to swap exercises for ones you like better and that fit the equipment you have available.

For example, you might do Romanian deadlifts or trap bar deadlifts when the program calls for deadlifts; you can switch dumbbell rows for machine rows, or do front squats instead of back squats. As long as it’s a similar movement, you’re good.

Workout 1: Push (Hypertrophy)

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8	Get a good upper chest stretch.
Machine Chest Press	3	10	Or a Smith Machine Press.
Cable Lateral Raise	3	12	Focus on form; don’t go too heavy.
Cable Chest Fly	3	12	Squeeze your chest hard when you bring the handles together.
Overhead Triceps Extension	3	12	Keep your elbows still and focus on the stretch.

Workout 2: Pull (Hypertrophy)

Back, Biceps, Rear Delts

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Lat Pulldown	3	8	Focus on driving your elbows down, not pulling with your hands.
Dumbbell Row	3	10	Feel free to use straps to isolate your back more.
Straight Arm Lat Pulldown	3	12	Great isolation for the lats; constant tension.
Dumbbell Curl	3	12	Suns out, guns out.
Reverse Machine Fly	3	15	Back + rear delts = great combo. Do reverse dumbbell flyes if you don’t have this machine.

Workout 3: Legs (Hypertrophy)

Quads, Hamstrings, Adductors, Glutes

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Leg Press	3	8	Place your feet lower to hit your quads more or higher to focus more on glutes.
Bulgarian Split Squat	3	10	Muscle growth, coordination, and imbalances fix in one.
Leg Extension	3	12	Hold the peak contraction and squeeeze.
Seated Leg Curl	3	12	Often superior to lying curls for hamstring stretch.
Romanian Deadlift	3	10	Focus on the stretch; keep your knees slightly bent.

Workout 4: Upper (Strength)

Most major muscle groups above the waist.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Bench Press	3	6	Your primary PPLUL horizontal pushing strength builder.
Pull-Up	3	6	Use a weight belt if you can do more than six reps (substitute with heavy lat pulldowns if you can’t get six).
Overhead Press	3	8	Heavy shoulder compound: vertical pressing strength and core stability.
Barbell Row	3	8	Back thickness and horizontal pulling strength.
Lying Triceps Extension	2	8	Heavier triceps isolation.
Barbell Curl	2	8	Strict form; no swinging.

Workout 5: Lower (Strength)

Most major muscle groups below the waist.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Notes
Squat	3	6	The top exercise for lower body strength and mass.
Deadlift	3	5	Heavy posterior chain work. Feel free to use a trap bar instead of a regular barbell.
Lying Leg Curl	4	8	A bit heavier than the hypertrophy day.
Barbell Walking Lunge	3	12	You’ll enjoy these as a finisher. Use heavy dumbbells instead of a barbell if you prefer.

Notes

• The program has built-in progression week by week.
• The training volume increases week by week, reaching 20 working sets per workout by week six.
• Recommended percentages of 1RM for compound lifts like bench, squat, and deadlift are outlined in the app.

Remember that you can choose other, similar exercises you like better. StrengthLog even has a built-in function that suggests alternative exercises.

Warm-Up for PPLUL (Fast, Effective Template)

Don’t forget to warm up before loading the bar with your heaviest weight. You’ll improve performance and might reduce the risk of injury.

Try this short and sweet routine before your PPLUL workouts:

• General: 5–8 minutes of easy cardio (optional but recommended) + 2–3 dynamic drills for the day’s joints (e.g., high knees, hip openers, arm swings, scapular pull-ups).
• On strength days: Ramp your main lift with a few ascending sets until you reach your working sets.
• On hypertrophy days: One or two ramp-up sets are enough.

Progressive Overload: How to Keep Making Gains

If you want to get stronger and build muscle (and you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t, would you?), you have to lift heavier and do more work over time.

I’m talking about the secret sauce of strength training: progressive overload.

Progressive overload simply means continuously increasing the demands on your body. You give your body a reason to change, to grow, and to become stronger.

If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll look how you’ve always looked.

Most people think progressive overload just means “add more weight.” That is the most common method, but it isn’t the only one. If you only focus on weight, you’ll eventually hit a wall.

There are four big levers you can pull to make an exercise harder:

1. Intensity (Load)

The classic: you lift heavier stuff.

• Week 1: Squat 100 lb for 10 reps.
• Week 2: Squat 105 lb for 10 reps.

2. Volume (Reps and Sets)

You keep the weight the same but do more work.

• Week 1: Bench 135 lb for 8 reps.
• Week 2: Bench 135 lb for 9 reps.

Alternatively, you can add another set. So, go from three sets of bench presses to four.

3. Density (Rest)

You do the same amount of work in less time.

• Week 1: Three sets of lunges with 90 seconds rest between sets.
• Week 2: Three sets of lunges with 60 seconds rest between sets.

This method is a double-edged sword, and best suited for isolation exercises, not for strength work. Shorten your rests between sets of heavy squats, and your gains might slow down, too.²

4. Technique & Control (Tempo)

You make the rep harder by doing it more strictly or more slowly.

• Week 1: Biceps curl lifting fast and dropping it fast.
• Week 2: Biceps curl lifting fast, but lowering it slightly slower (eccentric control).

The main methods we’re going to use in StrengthLog’s PPLUL split are the first two: increasing the weights and doing more reps. Here’s how:

1. Pick a weight you can lift for the target number of reps with good form.
2. Once you hit those reps on all sets, increase the weight slightly (smallest increment possible).
3. Your reps will drop back down with this new, heavier weight. That’s expected.
4. Work your way back up to the target reps again.
5. Rinse and repeat.

This type of progressive overload is called double progression and is the best and easiest method for most lifters.

You won’t be able to add weight every single session forever. If you could, we’d all be bench pressing Buicks. Some weeks you will stall, and that’s normal. Only absolute beginners can lift heavier or do more reps week after week.

Important note: You cannot manage what you do not measure. Log your training. If you don’t know what you lifted last Tuesday, you can’t beat it this Tuesday.

Fortunately, StrengthLog keeps track of every single rep you do, so you always know exactly what to aim for.

Quick Checklist and Loading Recommendations

• [ ] Pick a variable to improve (weight or reps)
• [ ] Write down your numbers every workout.
• [ ] Apply double progression (add reps first, then add weight).
• [ ] Don’t rush it. You don’t have to add weight every workout. Try to improve a little in some way, but if you can’t, stay consistent, and the gains will come.

For big lifts (squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows), add ~1–2.5 kg (2.5–5 lb) to upper-body lifts and ~2.5–5 kg (5–10 lb) to lower-body lifts when you can do all sets of the recommended reps with ~1–2 reps in reserve (RIR).

For hypertrophy exercises on the PPL days and isolation exercises, increase the weight by the smallest possible amount (i.e., the next dumbbells up the rack) when you can do your target reps on all sets with good form and 0–2 RIR.

Frequently Asked Questions About the PPLUL Workout Split

We’re in the home stretch, but before you grab your gym bag and head off, let’s address some of the most common questions about the PPLUL workout routine.

Follow PPLUL in StrengthLog

What’s the best way to track the Push Pull Legs Upper Lower workout routine?

In StrengthLog, our workout log app. It’s one of our premium programs that combines both bodybuilding and strength-focused training.

That way, it’s super easy to keep track of your weights and reps and make sure you’re on the right path to tremendous gains.

StrengthLog remembers what weights you used in your last session, and automatically loads them into your next one. And trying to improve on your last workout is the key to improving and getting stronger over time.

Download it and start tracking your gains today!

Note that StrengthLog is free, but you’ll need a subscription to follow this program in-app. We offer a 14-day free trial (no strings attached and no funny business) that you can activate in the app, so you can check it out before making a decision.

Final Rep

PPLUL is a fantastic middle ground between the high-volume grind of a 6-day split and the lower frequency of a 4-day split.

It allows you to specialize on your lifts, grow, and get stronger; structured enough to force progress, but flexible enough to not feel like a prison sentence.

Start PPLUL in your StrengthLog app, track your weights, and let the gains begin.

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Last reviewed: 2025-12-12

References

1. Sports Med. 2016 Nov;46(11):1689-1697. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
2. J Strength Cond Res. 2016 Jul;30(7):1805-12. Longer Interset Rest Periods Enhance Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Resistance-Trained Men.