Push/Pull/Legs (PPL)
Six-day split hitting each muscle group twice a week across dedicated push, pull, and leg days.
The selected Grain Gym catalog has 13 programs, 448 exercises, and 11 progression systems. This page covers one program's structure.
LINEAR
Add weight every session, the same way every time.
Equipment: Barbell, Dumbbell, Cable, Machine
Who this is for
Intermediate lifters with the time and recovery to train six days a week. PPL is the highest-frequency split that still gives each muscle group genuine recovery between sessions. Every muscle gets hit twice per week.
If you've run a 3- or 4-day split for at least six months and your body responds well to volume, PPL is the next step.
Structure
Six days a week for 8 weeks, in this order: Push A, Legs A, Pull A, Push B, Legs B, Pull B. Every muscle group is hit twice a week.
- Push A (Strength): Barbell Bench Press 5×5, Barbell Overhead Press 3×6, Dumbbell Incline Press 3×10-15, Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise 3×10-15, Cable Triceps Overhead Extension with Rope 3×10-15.
- Legs A (Quad Focus): Barbell Squat 5×5, Barbell Romanian Deadlift 3×8, Machine Leg Press 3×10-15, Machine Lying Leg Curls 3×10-15, Barbell Hip Thrust 3×8-15, Machine Standing Calf Raises 4×10-15.
- Pull A (Row Focus): Barbell Bent Over Row 5×5, Bodyweight Chin-Up 3×5-12, Cable Seated Rows 3×10-15, Cable Face Pull 3×10-15, Barbell Curl 3×10-15, Incline Dumbbell Curl 3×10-15.
- Push B (Hypertrophy): Barbell Overhead Press 5×5, Dumbbell Bench Press 4×10-15, Cable Crossover 3×10-15, Dumbbell Side Lateral Raise 4×10-15, Bodyweight Dips 3×10-15, Triceps Pushdown 3×10-15.
- Legs B (Hamstring Focus): Barbell Good Morning 4×8-12, Machine Leg Press 3×10-15, Machine Lying Leg Curls 3×10-15, Machine Leg Extensions 3×10-15, Machine Seated Calf Raise 4×10-15.
- Pull B (Deadlift Focus): Barbell Deadlift 3×5, Cable Lat Pulldown 3×10-15, Cable Seated Rows 3×10-15, Cable Face Pull 3×10-15, Dumbbell Hammer Curls 3×10-15.
The main barbell lifts (bench, overhead press, row, squat, Romanian deadlift, deadlift) run from a training max and add 2% a week. The accessories use double progression, mostly across 10-15 reps. Scheduled recovery weeks (deloads) fall at weeks 4 and 8.
How to run it in Grain Gym
Set your training max for the main lifts and start each accessory at a weight you can control for the bottom of its rep range. The program tells you when to add weight.
Notes
- Six days is a lot. If you're missing sessions, drop to Upper/Lower or a full-body program until your schedule and recovery sort themselves out.
- If you stall on a lift two weeks in a row, lower its weight about 10% yourself and rebuild. That's your call, not something the app does.
- Rotate the order of accessory exercises occasionally so the last one isn't always the one you're tired for.