Push Pull Legs 5 Day Split (PPL Routine For Home Gyms)

Push Pull Legs 5-Day Split (PPL At-Home Workout Routines)

A push pull legs split workout routine is one of the most popular training splits for intermediate and advanced lifters. It divides training into three main movements - pulling, pushing, and lower body.  

This can be applied to 3-6 training days in the week. Beginners are likely to apply this to 3 days a week, but more established lifters should be doing this across 5 days because it provides a more optimal training frequency to progress. 

Each day has a specific focus. This type of split increases training frequency to grow more muscle. More training stimulus means more gains as you get more advanced. 

Rather than basing training on a 7 day weekly cycle, where muscle groups do not need all that time to recover, the 5 day split is a revolving cycle that means you’re training large muscle groups more often.

The split considers rest days in between as you shouldn’t train 5 days in a row. It is important to schedule rest days after a maximum of 3 days of training in a row. Any more, and you won't be recovering enough.

Summary of 5 Day Push/Pull/Legs Training Split

5 Day Push/Pull/Legs Split 

The push pull legs 5 day split bodybuilding routine is focused on training for hypertrophy or muscle growth. 

The training is based on a 5 day rotating cycle, ensuring you hit the muscle group every 5 days. 

Because it rotates, you won’t be training the same thing on the same day of the week during this program.

To follow this training program, you will need a barbell and plates, squat rack, bench press, cable machine, pull up bar, dip bar, leg press, and hyperextension machine.

Sessions should take between 60 and 90 minutes, with your training session probably taking longer as you progress.

Training Schedule 

Below is an example of how to organize a 5 day push pull legs workout.

The advantages of this method are the training days are consistent and always on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. 

Wednesday and Sunday are always rest days. The session focus will vary, but this provides consistency.

Push Pull Legs Routine - 5 Days

Push Routine

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Pull Routine

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Legs Routine

See Also - Best Gym Equipment For Legs

Rest Time 

The rest time between sets required varies on the exercise. Heavier compound movements such as deadlifts require more rest than lighter cable work 

Weights and Progression  

In order to apply progressive overload to this training schedule, the weight must be added as the program continues.

However, you should never compromise form just for the sake of adding weight.

As a general rule for the heavier work, sets of 5 should be done at a weight that allows you to complete all sets and is 1-2 reps from failure on the last couple of sets.

With lighter- moderate work, 8-12 reps, you should be 2-3 reps from failure towards the end of the working sets.

As you start the program, be aware that you want to be adding weight, and you should not be going to failure too soon at the beginning of the program. 

What Are The Benefits Of A 5-Day Push Pull Leg Split Workout?

The 5 day push pull legs split will benefit those who have a solid foundation in training and want to increase the frequency they train to progress.

Because this method requires 3 training days in a row, it is best suited to those who are intermediate to advanced.  

This type of workout plan is beneficial for intermediates and above to continue to progress because each body part gets trained every 4th-5th day, which is close to twice per week.

The training intensity is higher, which increases the difficulty of training. This style of programming is the ideal amount of training stress and recovery. 

This program will be very effective in building muscle mass due to the ideal amount each muscle group is trained throughout the week.

In addition, it encompasses the right amount of training stress and recovery ratio. 

In a normal 7 day training cycle, there may be too long between training a particular muscle group which means you may be missing out on valuable gains.  

Lifting weights is ideal for building lean muscle mass. Having more muscle mass means you will increase your resting metabolic rate and are likely to decrease the amount of body fat. 

It is recommended that to see results with a program, you need to follow it for a 10 week cycle.

5-Day PPL Workout Routine FAQs 

Do you need a rest day between push and pull days? 

Not necessarily; you can do push and pull days consecutively. The maximum amount of consecutive training days on this type of split should be 3 days in a row, and then a rest day is needed to ensure proper recovery. 

Is 6-day push pull legs too much?  

A 6 day split for push pull legs can be done, but it comes with some downsides. Firstly, the training frequency with this split is great as each muscle group gets trained every fourth day exactly.

However, a 6 day split is very hard for most people to achieve due to scheduling issues, and the lack of recovery means only a small minority of people will benefit from 6 days PPL training.  

Is a PPL routine or full body training more effective for a beginner and intermediate lifter? 

Beginners tend to do better with full body training routines when starting due to the high frequency and will see more improvement when starting.

However, a beginner could start out with a 3 day PPL routine if there is not sufficient recovery on full body training programs.