When weightlifting, it is important to have a schedule and planned out exercises you wish to perform on certain days. This can also be known as a workout split. Splits are very useful when it comes to weightlifting, as it sets up a schedule for you to work certain muscle groups, with rest periods in between the next time you work said muscles. Let’s take a look at the Push, Pull, Legs (PPL) split, and see how resourceful it could be when planning your gym schedule.
Push
The first day of the split, “push day,” consists of all pushing movements. Muscle groups you would want to work on this day would be chest, shoulders, and triceps. These three muscle groups are all used when performing pushing movements, hence the name. Workouts that would be good for this day would be bench press, incline bench press, shoulder press, lateral raises, triceps pushdown, and triceps extension.
Pull
The second day of the split is “pull day.” This is the day you will be using all other upper body muscles you did not use on push day, your back and biceps. Exercises to go with this day would be rows, lat pulldown, rear delt exercises, and different variations of bicep curls. Some people will also add forearm exercises to this day, because there can be slight forearm fatigue when working out your back and biceps.
Legs
The final day of the PPL split is legs. This is a day to try to workout all parts of your leg, all incorporated into one day. Some people who use the PPL day will split their leg days into two different days: one time around in the split being quad focused, and the next time around a hamstring focused leg day. Some exercises to go with this day would be any type of squatting movement, leg extension, leg curl, and calf raises.
The PPL split can be broken down into three different days. Depending on how much of an active gym goer you are, you can incorporate a rest day after the leg day. This can give you time to rest your muscles before starting the split over and have another push day. Try this exercise for a week or two and see if there are any outstanding results or benefits compared to workout splits you’ve tried before!
Written by GUADS intern Chris
Making Time for Your Hometown Friends