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 split is the often neglected core muscles of the lower back, obliques, and abs as well as the stabilizing muscles around the hips and shoulders. Overtraining often injures these smaller muscles leading to joint instability and occasionally catastrophic injuries.

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.

Not convinced???

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So what would a P-P-L split look like??

Example Push Day

  • Warm-up: Push-ups x 50

  • Superset 1

    • Incline barbell press

    • Inclined dumbbell coffin press

  • Chest stretch

  • Superset 2

    • Lateral DB raise

    • Front DB raise

    • Rear delt DB fly

  • Cross arm stretch

  • Superset 3

    • BB shoulder press

    • DB Arnold press

    • Seated DB forearm curls

    • Reverse forearm curls

    • 1-foot DB toe-ups - Right

    • 1-foot DB toe-ups - Left

  • Forearm and calf stretches

  • Superset 4

    • DB overhead French press

    • DB lying skull crushers

    • DB close flat bench press

  • Triceps stretch

  • Drop set - Lateral raises

  • Cool-down - One-foot bodyweight toe-ups x 5 min

Example Pull Day

  • Warm-up: DB lat pull-overs x50

  • Superset 1

    • BB bent-over row

    • BB deadlift

    • Pull-up negatives

  • Lat stretch

  • Superset 2

    • DB row (slow reps) - R

    • DB row (slow reps) - L

  • Cross arm stretch

  • Superset 3

    • Cable or band face pulls

    • Cable/band straight-arm pull-downs

  • Lunge with arm overhead stretch

  • Superset 4

    • BB slow bicep curl

    • BB slow drag curl

    • Behind-the-back BB wrist curl

  • Wrist and bicep stretch

  • Drop set - DB shrugs

  • Cool-down - Band assisted pull-ups

Example Leg Day

  • Warm-up: Run or rowing

  • Superset 1

    • Foot-elevated split squat - R

    • Foot-elevated split squat - L

    • Goblet squat

  • Quad stretch

  • Superset 2

    • Romanian deadlift

    • One-leg deadlift - R

    • One-leg deadlift - L

    • Butterfly sit-ups

  • Hamstring stretch

  • Superset 3

    • BB one-and-a-half rep squat

    • BB glute bridge

    • Reverse crunches

  • Pigeon pose stretch

  • Superset 4

    • 1-leg glute bridge

    • Bird dog pose

  • Stretch

  • Last set to failure - DB farmer’s walk

  • Cool-down: Run or rowing

Ready??

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