Push Pull Legs vs Upper Lower: Which Split to Run
Push pull legs vs upper lower: which split fits 3, 4 or 6 training days, a side-by-side table, a sample week for each, and how to progress on both.
Both splits build muscle. Pick by the days you can train. Four days a week, run upper/lower: each muscle twice, sessions about an hour. Six days, run push/pull/legs: each muscle twice, shorter sessions. Three days, run full body or a rotating PPL. Weekly sets per muscle matter more than the label.
Push pull legs vs upper lower: side by side
| Upper/lower | Push/pull/legs | |
|---|---|---|
| Days per week | 4 (or 3 with a rotation) | 6 (or 3 with one round a week) |
| Times each muscle is trained | Twice | Twice on 6 days, once on 3 |
| Session length | 60 to 75 minutes | 45 to 60 minutes |
| Hard sets per muscle per session | 6 to 10 | 6 to 9 |
| Recovery | Three rest days, easy to schedule | One rest day, needs good sleep and food |
| Cost of a missed session | Low, shift the day | Higher, the rotation slips |
| Who it suits | Most lifters, anyone with a job and a life | People who like short frequent sessions and can commit to 6 days |
| Weak point | Upper days run long | Three leg days a week is a lot of leg days |
What the research says about training frequency and splits
The split you pick is mostly a decision about frequency: how many times a week each muscle gets trained. That's been studied properly.
Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger's 2016 meta-analysis of 10 studies found that when weekly sets were equal, training a muscle twice a week grew it more than once a week. Whether three times beats twice couldn't be answered from the data they had.
His larger 2019 review of 25 studies answered the second half. Once weekly volume was matched, there was no meaningful difference in muscle growth between frequencies. His conclusion was that for a given volume, lifters can pick a frequency by preference.
Grgic and colleagues did the same exercise for strength in 2018 across 22 studies. Strength gains rose with frequency, from 1 to 4 or more days a week, but when the studies were volume-matched the effect disappeared. Frequency helped because it let people do more sets, not because of frequency itself.
Lasevicius and colleagues tested it directly in 2019 with 36 trained men. One group ran a split with each muscle trained twice a week over four sessions. The other trained everything three times a week over three full body sessions. Same weekly volume. After 10 weeks, strength and muscle growth were the same, with effect sizes slightly favouring the twice-a-week split group.
The takeaway isn't complicated. Get your weekly sets in, hit each muscle at least twice, and the label on the split doesn't matter much. Upper/lower does that in 4 days. PPL does it in 6. Full body does it in 3.
Sample upper/lower week: 4 days
Monday and Thursday are upper, Tuesday and Friday are lower. The second upper and lower days use different exercises so the joints see different angles.
| Day | Exercises (sets x reps) |
|---|---|
| Monday, upper A | Bench press 4x6-8, barbell row 4x8-10, overhead press 3x8-10, pulldown 3x10-12, incline dumbbell curl 3x10-12, triceps pushdown 3x12-15 |
| Tuesday, lower A | Back squat 4x6-8, Romanian deadlift 3x8-10, leg press 3x10-12, leg curl 3x10-12, standing calf raise 4x10-15 |
| Thursday, upper B | Incline dumbbell press 4x8-10, chest-supported row 4x10-12, dips 3x8-12, lateral raise 4x12-15, face pull 3x15-20, hammer curl 3x10-12 |
| Friday, lower B | Deadlift 3x4-6, hack squat 3x8-10, Bulgarian split squat 3x8-10 per leg, leg extension 3x12-15, seated calf raise 4x12-15 |
Weekly count, with indirect work at half: chest 11, back about 13 including the deadlifts, quads 16, hamstrings about 8, side and rear delts 7, biceps 11, triceps 10, calves 8. Every muscle lands in the 10 to 20 range except hamstrings and calves, which is fine for most people and easy to fix with an extra set of leg curls on each lower day. The counting method is in how many sets per week per muscle, and a fuller version of this split is in the best 4-day workout split.
Sample push/pull/legs week: 6 days
Push, pull, legs, push, pull, legs, then Sunday off. Like the upper/lower, the second round uses different lifts.
| Day | Exercises (sets x reps) |
|---|---|
| Monday, push A | Bench press 4x6-8, overhead press 3x8-10, incline dumbbell press 3x10-12, lateral raise 3x12-15, triceps pushdown 3x12-15 |
| Tuesday, pull A | Barbell row 4x6-8, pulldown 3x10-12, chest-supported row 3x10-12, face pull 3x15-20, barbell curl 3x8-10 |
| Wednesday, legs A | Back squat 4x6-8, Romanian deadlift 3x8-10, leg press 3x10-12, leg curl 3x10-12, standing calf raise 4x10-15 |
| Thursday, push B | Incline barbell press 4x8-10, dips 3x8-12, dumbbell shoulder press 3x10-12, cable fly 3x12-15, lateral raise 3x15-20, overhead triceps extension 3x10-12 |
| Friday, pull B | Deadlift 3x4-6, weighted pull-up 3x6-8, seated cable row 3x10-12, rear delt fly 3x15-20, incline dumbbell curl 3x10-12, hammer curl 2x12-15 |
| Saturday, legs B | Hack squat 4x8-10, Bulgarian split squat 3x8-10 per leg, leg extension 3x12-15, seated leg curl 3x12-15, seated calf raise 4x12-15 |
Weekly count: chest 17, back 16 plus the deadlifts, quads 17, hamstrings about 10, side and rear delts 12, biceps about 16 with the pulling work, triceps about 15 with the pressing, calves 8. More total sets than the upper/lower, spread over more days, each session 45 to 55 minutes. That's the trade: more days in the gym, less time per visit.
Three days a week: full body or rotating PPL
Three days is where the two splits meet.
Option one is a rotating PPL: push Monday, pull Wednesday, legs Friday. Each muscle gets hit once a week. That's below the twice a week the 2016 meta-analysis favoured, and in practice it means 15 sets of chest in one session, which is more than most people can do well. It works, but it's the weaker choice at three days.
Option two is full body three times a week: a squat, a press, a pull, a hinge or leg press, and one or two isolation lifts each day. Every muscle gets trained three times a week at 4 to 6 sets a time. That was the full body group in the Lasevicius study, and it grew the same as the split. It's my pick at three days for almost everyone. The full argument is in full body vs split for hypertrophy.
Option three, for people who get 4 days some weeks and 3 on others: upper/lower with a rotation. Upper, lower, upper on week one, then lower, upper, lower on week two. Each muscle averages 1.5 times a week and nothing gets skipped for long.
How to progress each split
The progression method is the same for both: double progression on every exercise. Pick a rep range, add reps at a fixed load until every set hits the top, then add load and start again at the bottom. See how to progressive overload for the six-week worked example.
Where the splits differ is what to add when you stall.
On upper/lower, sessions are already long, so don't add sets. Change the rep range on the stalled lift, swap it for a variation, or move it to first in the session. If you need more volume for one muscle, put 2 extra sets on the second day for it rather than making the first day longer.
On PPL, sessions are shorter, so you have room. Add a set to the lagging muscle on one of its two days. Keep the other day the same, so you can tell whether the added set is helping.
On both, rest 2 to 3 minutes on the compounds. The number of days you train doesn't change how long a set of squats takes to recover from. The rest between sets guide has the full table. And deload every 4 to 8 weeks on either split, sooner on 6-day PPL because the fatigue builds faster.
When to switch from one to the other
Switch when your life changes, not when your motivation does.
- You got a fourth day back. Move from 3-day full body to upper/lower.
- You lost a day. Move from 6-day PPL to 4-day upper/lower. You'll keep most of the volume and get two extra rest days.
- Upper days are hitting 90 minutes. That's the upper/lower ceiling. Either cut the sets or move to PPL and separate the pressing from the pulling.
- You keep missing the sixth day. A 6-day PPL with one day skipped every week is a 5-day program with a random muscle undertrained. Go to upper/lower.
- You've been on the same split for a year and it's still working. Don't switch. Boredom isn't a stall. Check the log.
Give any switch 8 weeks before you judge it.
Common mistakes with either split
PPL three days a week without adjusting the volume. Fifteen sets of chest on one push day is 8 good sets and 7 sets of arm-waving. If you're on 3 days, go full body.
Upper/lower with 25 sets on upper days. Chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps in one session is a lot. Keep it to 18 to 22 hard sets and 70 minutes, and put the small stuff at the end.
Running PPL and skipping legs. Push, pull, push, pull, legs, rest is a 5-day program with one leg day. Nobody sets out to do this. The log shows it.
Two identical days. Upper A and upper B with the same exercises means the same angles twice a week. Change the press, the row and the isolation lift on the second day.
Chasing frequency instead of sets. Training chest three times a week at 3 sets each isn't better than twice at 5. The research says volume decides. Frequency is how you fit it in.
How Ultra+ builds your split
When you sign up, the quiz asks how many days you can train, what equipment you have and any injury you're working around. Your first week is built from those answers and waiting in your template list before you open the app. Say 4 days and the week is built for 4 days. Say 3 and it's built for 3. No empty app and no blank week.
Once you're training, every set shows what you did last time and your best set ever, so the double progression above runs from your log rather than your memory. When your days change, ask Blaze to rebuild the split. Tell the coach "I've only got three days now, move me to full body" and it proposes the new week for you to approve. It won't change your plan on its own.
If you're weighing up apps, the best workout tracker apps covers which ones build the week for you and which hand you a blank template. And when you want to set starting loads, the one rep max calculator turns your last heavy set into a number to plan from.
Start your 7-day free trial and your first week, built around the days you told us, is ready when you open the app.
Frequently asked questions
- Is push pull legs better than upper lower for building muscle?
- No. When weekly sets per muscle are matched, the research finds no meaningful difference in growth between the two. Push/pull/legs fits more total volume into shorter sessions over 6 days. Upper/lower fits the same per-muscle range into 4 longer sessions. Pick the one you can do every week.
- Can I do push pull legs 3 days a week?
- You can, but each muscle only gets trained once a week, and you have to cram 12 to 15 sets for it into one session. Studies favour training each muscle at least twice a week when volume is equal. At three days, full body training hits everything three times and is the better choice for most lifters.
- Is a 6-day push pull legs split too much?
- Not if you sleep 7 to 8 hours, eat enough and keep sessions under an hour. It's too much if you're missing the sixth day most weeks, if your joints ache into the next session, or if your lifts have stopped moving. In that case a 4-day upper/lower keeps most of the volume with two more rest days.
- Which split is best for a beginner?
- Full body three days a week, or upper/lower four days. Beginners recover fast and add weight every session, so training each lift often is what drives progress. Save push/pull/legs for when you've got a year of training behind you, need more weekly sets, and can commit to six days.
- Can I run upper lower 5 days a week?
- Yes. Alternate upper and lower and let it roll across weeks: upper, lower, upper, lower, upper, then next week starts with lower. Each muscle gets trained two to three times a week. Keep sessions to 60 minutes and drop a set from each exercise compared with the 4-day version, or the volume climbs too fast.
References
Every study below was opened and read before it was cited.
- Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisSchoenfeld BJ, Sports Med, 2016
- How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequencySchoenfeld BJ, J Sports Sci, 2019
- Effect of Resistance Training Frequency on Gains in Muscular Strength: A Systematic Review and Meta-AnalysisGrgic J, Sports Med, 2018
- Similar Muscular Adaptations in Resistance Training Performed Two Versus Three Days Per WeekLasevicius T, J Hum Kinet, 2019
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Written by Sebastian, founder, ultra+. Sebastian founded Ultra+ and lifts. He writes every article on this site and checks each cited study himself.