A common question you hear in the gym community is ''what's the best training split to build muscle''. There isn't a right answer to this however the most common split is the push, pull, legs split (PPL). In this blog we will go into detail about this split and explain how you could structure your workout's this way, to help you transform your physique.
Structuring your week
To start off with you need to know what sessions you will be doing over the week. If you were looking to train 6x a week, your sessions would be push, pull, legs, rest and repeat. If you are training 5x a week you could do push, pull, legs, rest, upper, lower, rest.
Push Day
A push day typically consists of training, chest, shoulders and triceps. You can make a push day chest or shoulder biased by doing the exercises in a particular order and increasing volume on the desired muscle group. Below is an example of how a push day could look.
- Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 sets of 8-10
- Shoulder Press - 3 sets of 8-10
- Side Lat Raises - 4 sets of 12-15
- Triceps Extension - 3 sets 10-15
Pull Day
A typical pull day focuses on back, biceps and rear delts. During a pull day you will main doing row and curl movements to hit the targeted muscle groups. Below is an example of how you can structure a pull day.
- Lat Pull Down - 4 sets of 8-10
- Bent Over Row - 3 sets - 8-10
- Lat Prayer - 4 sets 12-15
- Dumbbell Curl - 4 sets 6 on each arm
- Hammer Curl - 4 sets 6 on each arm
Leg Day
Leg day workout's should target your lower body. When you are structuring your leg day there are some staple movements that you should add in. The three movement patterns that you want to include are a type of squat, hinge and thrust along with some accessories. Focus on perfecting your form and apply progressive overload over the weeks if you are looking to build muscle. After your main compound movement, move onto some isolation movements and focus on any weak points or areas that you want to bring up. Below is an example of how a leg day could look:
- Leg Press or Barbell Squat - 4 sets of 6-8
- Dumbbell / Barbell RDL - 3 sets on 10-12
- Leg Extension - 3 sets 10-12
- Calf Raises 3 sets 15
- Goblet squats 3 sets 10-12
Conclusion
The most important factor for a workout split if you are looking to grow muscle is to hit each muscle group 2x a week. This is why the push, pull, legs, repeat split is a good option. Finding a split that you enjoy and can stick to based on your routine is just as important.
