Push Pull Legs programs split the body into three sections. Push days target the chest and triceps. Pull days work your back and biceps. And on leg day, The Lift League usually includes core work.
The PPL training block follows a Monday Wednesday Friday training schedule which means you train each muscle group once per week, giving beginners an extended recovery window that ensures they'll be ready to hit that muscle group again the following week. Experienced lifters can still get a lot out of this program by running it on a condensed schedule.
Anyone new to weightlifting is usually relegated to hypertrophy training before moving on to strength-building because hypertrophy training involves more volume, and more volume means more practice and practice makes perfect. The Lift League starts you with powerbuilding because powerbuilding includes hypertrophy work but also a fair amount of strength-building, making each training session more well-rounded and allowing you to develop more quickly.
The Lift League beginner-level powerbuilding training blocks start with a strength-building compound movement using a 4x6 rep scheme followed by a number of complementary lifts using a variety of hypertrophy rep schemes.
It's important for beginners to remember there is no need to start heavy. They should begin with lightweight and run the block twice, gradually adding weight.
Monday is a Push day. Since most people need more work on their upper pectoral muscles, we start with an incline press rather than a flat bench. Then seated dumbbell shoulder press. These first two movements also serve as pre-exhaustion work, ensuring muscle activation before getting into the flat bench, which uses a hypertrophy rep scheme. Remember, practice makes perfect. The lateral raises are on push day because of the amount of shoulder activation received from the vertical pressing. We then have two types of single-joint tricep extensions to evenly target the lateral, medial, and long heads of the tricep.
Wednesdays pull movements begin with a lat pulldown rather than bent rows because they are easier for beginners. We then have two pulling movements to target the mid-back and traps. There are two types of curls to hit both heads of the bicep as well as the brachialis. We torch your shoulders at the end with face pulls.
Friday is a very well-balanced Leg day. There are four main movements, two anterior chain focused and two posterior chain focused. There are two compound movements and two single-joint movements. Leg day is capped off with calf and core work with seated calf raises and Russian twists.
This program is badass. It's super thorough so you get an awesome workout each time you step into the gym but it's also simple and you get through each session in less than an hour. Plus no deadlifts.
When you purchase any training block, you get a training guide for that block. It has everything you need but the gym. It includes a one-rep max calculator and a body fat percentage calculator that spits out caloric recommendations based on your weight goal. Each training guide also includes a training log so you can easily track your progress. All logs run the entire 4 weeks of the block and are set up to be cyclical, so the numbers you log on your fourth week will show up as your previous lifts on your first week.