The Perfect Home-Gym

PPL Program

Push

/

Pull

/

Legs

/

Push / Pull / Legs /

Highlights:

  • Effective warm-ups that don’t waste time.

  • Minimal rest times maximize gains in the shortest time.

  • Built-in stretches and focus on stabilizing muscle to minimize injury.

  • High rep ranges mean you don’t need the heaviest weights at home.

P-P-L Program

A bench with a few dumbbells (DB), a barbell (BB), a bench, and, a pull-up bar are all you need for this 3-day program. (Ok, so an exercise band might help as well)

This is designed for you to rotate through the workouts as many times a week as you like. If you only have 3 days to workout one week and get in 5 the next week, just keep rotating through the Push, Pull, Legs routines.

Don’t hold yourself back or beat yourself up for missing days. Just keep rotating through the routines.

The P-P-L Format

Whether you get to the gym 3 or 5 days a week, the push-pull-legs training split is a tried and true method for balanced, total-body training.

  • On a Push Day, you'll train all of your pushing muscles, such as your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

  • On a Pull Day, you'll train all of your pulling muscles, such as your back and biceps.

  • On Leg Days, you'll train all of your lower body muscles, such as your quads, hamstrings, and calves.

One drawback of this type of split is that often the core, lower back, obliques, abs, and the stabilizing muscles around the hips and shoulders. Not with this workout!

What sets this program apart is the integration of exercises for the back, hip, and shoulder stabilizers into every workout. Also included in every session, are stretch breaks that help clear lactic acid and promote joint health and a healthy range of motion.

  • The primary focus of these sessions is increasing strength. function, and flexibility in the “push” muscles including the chest, shoulders, and triceps (pectoralis, deltoids, triceps brachii). Push days also include bonus calf exercises that are difficult include in full leg workout.

  • The “pull” muscles include the “back and biceps” but this program will also promote core stability and forearm strength on these days.

  • The groups of muscles of the hip and thigh (glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings) are the largest and strongest on the body, yet are often neglected, except in this program.

There are many benefits to following a push-pull-legs routine. Here are a few:

  • Functional training: Muscles naturally function in groups, not in isolation. Training for function improves coordination, balance, and overall muscle health.

  • Efficient sessions and adequate recovery: By training each muscle group once every three days, there is sufficient time for rest and repair.

  • Versatile in volume and frequency: You can adjust the number of days you train per week, the exercises you do, and the intensity of your workouts to fit your own goals and schedule.

If you're looking for a way to build muscle strength and gain functional fitness in a flexible and efficient program, this is the at-home or full-gym routine for you. It's a simple, effective, and versatile routine that can be tailored to your individual needs.

So what does this P-P-L split look like??

    • Warm-up superset

      • External shoulder rotation (band, cable, or DB)

      • Max reps wide push-ups (write down reps to beat it next time!)

    • Chest superset

      • Incline BB bench press

      • Incline DB coffin (close-grip) chest press

      • Chest stretch on incline bench

    • Shoulders tri-set

      • DB lateral raise (with external shoulder rotation)

      • Supinated alternating DB front shoulder raise

      • Bent-over DB rear delt raise

      • Cross-arm shoulder stretch

    • Chest and forearms giant set

      • DB flat bench fly (1.5 reps)

      • DB flat bench chest press

      • DB seated forearm curls

      • DB reverse forearm curls

      • Wrist flexor/extensor stretches

    • Shoulders and calves giant set

      • BB push-press

      • DB Arnold shoulder press

      • DB partial lateral raise (heavy wt)

      • Behind the back shoulder stretch

      • 1-foot calf raises w/ DB - Right

      • 1-foot calf raises w/ DB - Left

      • Ankle mobility wall stretch

    • Triceps tri-set

      • DB overhead tricep extensions (French press)

      • DB lying skull crushers

      • DB lying close-grip press

      • DB locked out scapula protraction (serratus press)

    • Chest tri-set

      • Wide push-ups

      • Medium width push-ups

      • Close hand push-ups

    • Deltoid burnout drop set

      • DB lateral raises

    • Warm-up (Rest/pause set)

      • DB Pull-over (50 reps total)

      • Reverse crunches (50 reps)

    • Trap tri-set

      • Incline DB row - high (elbows out)

      • Incline DB row - low (elbows in)

      • Incline DB hang scapula retraction

      • Bending overhead lat stretch

    • Pull-up superset

      • Band assisted pull-ups

      • Hanging scapula depression

      • Hanging lat stretch

    • Posterior chain set (low back, glues, hamstrings)

      • DB one-leg Romanian deadlift - Right

      • DB one-leg Romanian deadlift - Left

      • Bent-over hamstring stretch

    • Forearms superset

      • DB forearm/wrist curls

      • DB single DB farmer’s walk - Right

      • DB single DB farmer’s walk - Left

      • Wrist flexor stretch

    • Back/Biceps giant-set

      • DB one-arm row - Right

      • Seated DB concentration curl - Right

      • DB one-arm row - Left

      • Seated DB concentration curl - Left

      • Biceps stretch

    • Back superset

      • BB one-arm row - R (Meadows Row)

      • BB one-arm row - L (Meadows Row)

      • Leaning lat stretch

    • Biceps superset

      • BB reverse curl

      • BB drag curl

    • Lat drop-set

      • Straight-arm cable or band pull-down

    • Warm-up (Rest/Pause set)

      • BW Walking lunges (50 reps)

      • Lunge stretch

    • Quad Superset

      • DB elevated foot split squat - R

      • DB elevated foot split squat - L

      • DB goblet squat

      • Quad stretch (foot up, lunge forward)

    • Glute Superset

      • BB Romanian deadlift

      • DB one-leg stiff leg deadlift - R

      • DB one-leg stiff leg deadlift - L

      • Quad stretch (foot up, lunge forward)

    • Legs/Abs superset

      • BB 1.5 rep back squat

      • Butterfly sit-ups

      • Butterfly groin stretch

    • Glute Giant set

      • BB glute bridge

      • 1-leg glute bridge holds

      • Bird-dog holds

      • Elevated pigeon stretch

    • Forearm Giant set

      • DB farmer's walk

      • DB wrist curls

      • DB reverse wrist curls

      • DB slow hammer curls

      • Forearm stretch

    • Cool-down (Rest/Pause set)

      • BW Walking lunges (50 reps)

      • Lunge stretch

You will alternate between the “A” workouts and “B” workouts, each week adding volume by increasing your sets and reps.

Feel free to copy the lifts from the dropdown menus, BUT you can also copy the spreadsheet below to your own Google drive!!!

    • Shoulder Warm-up

      • External shoulder rotation (cable or DB)

      • DB one-arm cleans - R

      • DB one-arm cleans - L

    • Shoulder Superset

      • Standing BB shoulder press

      • DB lateral raises

      • Behind the back shoulder stretch

    • Chest/Rear delt Tri-set

      • BB flat bench press

      • DB supinated chest press

      • Band rear delt flys

      • Chest stretch

    • Calves/Forearms Giant set

      • DB one-foot calf raises - R

      • DB one-foot calf raises - L

      • DB forearm curl 

      • DB reverse forearm curl 

      • Wrist flexor/extensor stretch

    • Chest/Triceps Giant set

      • DB incline fly

      • DB incline barrel press

      • DB skull crushers 

      • DB tricep kick-backs

      • Overhead triceps stretch

    • Shoulder Tri-set

      • DB Arnold shoulder press

      • DB lateral raises 

      • DB standing abducted ext rotation

      • Overhead triceps

    • Push-ups Tri-set

      • Plyo push-ups (hands on bench)

      • Pike push-ups

      • Close push-ups 

    • Core Superset

      • Down-dog to plank alt toe touches

      • Toy soldier toe-touches

    • Back/Abs Rest/Pause superset

      • DB alternating gorilla row

      • Jack-knife sit-ups

      • Cobra ab stretch

    • Back Superset

      • Wide-grip pull-ups

      • BB high row

      • Overhead lat stretch - R

      • Overhead lat stretch - L

    • Traps/Forearms SupersetSuperset

      • BB shrugs

      • DB seated wrist curls

    • Back/Lats Superset

      • BB bent-over rows

      • Hanging inverted rows

    • Back Superset

      • DB one-arm row - R

      • DB one-arm row - L

      • Cross-arm stretch

    • Biceps Tri-set

      • Standing DB hammer curl

      • Alternating DB curl

      • BB reverse curl

      • Wrist flexor/biceps (arm ext fingertip stretch)

    • Back/Legs Superset

      • DB suitcase deadlift

      • DB bent-over Y raises

      • Pigeon stretch

    • Hanging Superset

      • Chin-ups

      • Toes to bar

      • Alternating bird dogs

    • 50 rep Rest/pause

      • Face-pull cable/band

    • 50 rep Rest/Pause

      • BW Step-ups

      • Lunge stretch

    • Legs Giant set

      • Single DB sumo squats

      • DB lateral lunges - R

      • DB lateral lunges - L

      • Single DB Calf raises - R

      • Single DB Calf raises - L

      • Downward dog stretch

    • Quad Superset

      • BB Front squat

      • BW squat jumps

      • Standing quad stretch

    • Quad/Core Tri-set

      • DB lateral lunges - R

      • DB lateral lunges - L

      • Hanging leg raises

      • Butterfly groin stretch

    • Glute Superset

      • BW one-leg glute hip thrusts - R

      • BW one-leg glute hip thrusts - L

      • Pigeon stretch - R

      • Pigeon stretch - L

    • Forearm Giant set

      • DB farmer's walk

      • DB wrist curls

      • DB reverse wrist curls

      • BB slow reverse curls

      • Forearm flexor stretches

    • 50 repsRest/Pause

      • BW Step-ups

      • Lunge stretch

Feel free to copy the tracker below, or easily copy this spreadsheet by downloading The Perfect PPL from the Character Basketball store.

…and don’t forget these workouts are about more than just building muscles…

The character trait that we will focus on during this program will be Fortitude.

You will need that strength of mind to push through these workouts!