Make your push-pull-legs routine much more effective in just a few minutes + free routine

There are many different types of training routines, and one of them is the classic push-pull-legs structure. This article is about improving the 3-day push-pull-legs routine, with an example and a free routine at the bottom of this article!

In a 3-day routine, all muscle groups are trained once a week. In a double push-pull-legs routine, which spans 6 days, all muscle groups are worked twice. According to research, training a muscle group twice a week is likely more effective than once a week. The goal of the 3-day routine is to find a way to still train all muscle groups twice. Read the book Geen Sterk Verhaal Over Spiergroei if you want to know what science says about all the important questions related to muscle growth.

How can you train all muscle groups twice with a 3-day push-pull-legs routine?

Let's say on Monday you do all your push exercises (e.g., bench press), on Wednesday you do your pull exercises (e.g., pull down), and on Friday you train your legs (e.g., squats). Once Monday is over, you have to wait an entire week before you can bench press again. After a workout, your muscle protein synthesis is elevated for 24 to 72 hours. However, if you have to wait 168 hours between the same workout, you’re missing out on a lot of muscle growth potential. The easiest way to combat this is to train each muscle group at least twice a week. Something that, with the classic push, pull, and legs structure, isn’t possible. With this setup, as hopefully is now clear, you’re only training each muscle group once a week.

Yes, you can still achieve success with this. However, you would likely build (much) more muscle mass in the same timeframe if you trained each muscle group an extra time.

Is a dedicated leg day too much?

On a push day, you probably train chest, triceps, and shoulder pressing movements, and on the pull day, you target your back, biceps, and shoulder pulling movements. If you do 8 exercises per day, you can divide this up nicely. In fact, for some muscle groups, you might even be doing too many sets. If you’re also doing 8 exercises (or even just 6) on leg day, your volume is likely far too high. Volume refers to the number of effective sets per muscle group per workout. Each muscle group has an optimal number of sets where they receive the right amount of growth stimulus. A set or two more or less than this point tends to be less effective. That optimal point varies by muscle group.

For example, if you’re doing 6 leg exercises with 4 sets each, that’s a total of 24 sets. Current research suggests that the optimal number of sets per muscle group is closer to 6-10 sets. Some studies even suggest 10 sets per week, regardless of training frequency. So, if you train twice a week, they recommend doing 5 sets per workout. Personally, I think future studies will provide stronger evidence supporting 6-10 sets per muscle group per workout as optimal. Yes, there are studies where volumes of 24 sets or more have been successful, but most people who train 3 times a week are not part of those research groups. In short, on leg day, you’re probably doing too much volume.

Push-legs, pull-legs, and push-pull

In summary, you’ve now read two reasons why a classic push-pull-legs routine could be more effective. In a classic routine, you only train muscle groups once a week, and your training volume per muscle group (especially legs) is too high. To get much more out of your routine, you can upgrade it to something like:

• Push and legs
• Pull and legs
• Push and pull

This way, you train all muscle groups twice a week. An additional advantage of this combination is that you can do logical supersets. On a dedicated pull day, supersets are relatively inconvenient. For example, you wouldn’t normally do a pull-up followed by a bicep curl, although this might be great for your biceps. However, you’d run into fatigue on the next set of pull-ups, which reduces potential muscle growth in your back.

A combination of squats and pull-ups, and leg press and bicep curls is much more efficient. These exercise combinations don’t interfere with each other. With the leg press, you’re not training your biceps, and with the bicep curl, you’re not training your legs. This allows you to ‘save time,’ potentially enabling you to do extra sets in a workout. Instead of 6 to 8 total sets, you could push it to 8-10 sets within the same time frame. This is optional, of course, but it’s possible.

As you can see, with this approach, you can train all muscle groups twice a week and distribute your volume much more effectively.

Example Push-Pull-Legs Routine 2.0

Instead of having your push day look like this:

• Bench press
• Incline dumbbell press
• Cable flyes
• Barbell shoulder press
• Cable front raise
• One-arm overhead triceps extension
• Pushdown
• Kickbacks

You can upgrade it to:

• 1A – Bench press
• 1B – Bulgarian split squat
• 2 – Incline dumbbell press
• 3A – Deadlift
• 3B – Barbell shoulder press
• 4A – Leg extensions
• 4B – One-arm overhead triceps extension
• 5A – High-to-low cable crossover
• 5B – Pushdown

During the push-pull day in your routine (day 3), you put a bit more emphasis on your shoulders, nicely distributing the stimuli. This way, your classic push-pull-legs routine becomes much more effective. And let’s be honest: it’s probably more fun too, as you won’t have a day focused solely on leg exercises.

Boost your performance with supplements

In addition to a solid workout routine, the right nutrition and supplementation are essential for achieving optimal results. For a Push-Pull-Legs routine, we recommend the following supplements: Whey protein helps with muscle recovery and growth after intense training sessions, while creatine enhances your explosive strength and performance. A multivitamin ensures you get all the essential vitamins and minerals needed for overall health and recovery. Magnesium supports muscle function and helps prevent cramps and fatigue. These supplements are perfectly suited to a Push-Pull-Legs routine and help you get the most out of your workouts.

References

• Schoenfeld, B.J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J.W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sports Sci, 35(11), 1073-1082.
• Schoenfeld, B. (2016). Science and development of muscle hypertrophy. Stanningley, England: Human Kinetics.
• Schoenfeld, B.J., Contreras, B., Krieger, J., Grgic, J., Delcastillo, K., Belliard, R., & Alto, A. (2019). Resistance training volume enhances muscle hypertrophy but not strength in trained men. Med Sci Sports Exerc, 51(1), 94-103.
• Heaselgrave, S.R., Blacker, J., Smeuninx, B., McKendry, J., & Breen, L. (2019). Dose-response relationship of weekly resistance-training volume and frequency on muscular adaptations in trained men. Int J Sports Physiol Perform, 14(3), 360-368.
• Damas, F., Phillips, S., Vechin, F.C., & Ugrinowitsch, C. (2015). A review of resistance training-induced changes in skeletal muscle protein synthesis and their contribution to hypertrophy. Sports Med, 45(6), 801-807.
• Schoenfeld, B.J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J.W. (2016). Effects of resistance training frequency on measures of muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med, 46(11), 1689-1697.