KF.Social
KF.Social EditorialOnce you have trained for a while, the question stops being whether to work out and becomes how to organise the week. Upper lower and push pull legs are the two splits people argue about most. Both are good. The better one for you is mostly decided by a single number: how many days a week you can realistically train.
The short version
- Upper lower splits your week into upper-body days and lower-body days. It works beautifully on 4 days a week.
- Push pull legs (PPL) splits by movement: pushing muscles, pulling muscles, then legs. It shines on 6 days a week.
- The real difference is training frequency. Upper lower usually hits each muscle twice a week at 4 days. PPL hits each muscle twice only if you run all 6 days.
- Research suggests hitting a muscle at least twice a week is a smart default for growth, once weekly volume is accounted for.
- Pick by your schedule: **4 days, upper lower. 6 days, PPL.** Everything else is detail.
How upper lower works
Upper lower is the simpler of the two. You divide your body in half. Upper days cover chest, back, shoulders, and arms. Lower days cover quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. You alternate between them.
On a 4-day week, a typical layout is upper, lower, rest, upper, lower, then two days off. That structure hits every major muscle group twice a week, which is a big part of why it works so well. Each day is fairly full, but the balance of work and rest is easy to manage.
Four training days fit most lives, the twice-a-week frequency is baked in automatically, and it is forgiving if you miss a day. It is arguably the best default split for the majority of lifters.
How push pull legs works
Push pull legs groups muscles by what they do in a movement. Push day covers the muscles that press: chest, shoulders, and triceps. Pull day covers the muscles that pull: back and biceps. Legs day covers everything below the waist.
The elegance is that muscles which work together get trained together, so nothing gets hit two days in a row by accident. Run once through, that is 3 days a week. Run it twice through, that is a 6-day week, which is where PPL is genuinely at its best.
On a 3-day PPL, each muscle group is trained only once a week. That is on the low side for most people chasing growth. PPL really wants 6 days to deliver its twice-a-week frequency, and 6 days is a real commitment not everyone can keep.
The real difference: how often each muscle gets worked
Strip away the names and both splits are really about frequency, how many times a week you train each muscle. This is where the choice actually gets decided.
| Days per week | Upper lower | Push pull legs |
|---|---|---|
| 3 days | Awkward fit | Each muscle once a week |
| 4 days | Each muscle twice a week | Does not divide cleanly |
| 5 days | Workable with an extra day | Workable with an extra day |
| 6 days | Each muscle three times a week | Each muscle twice a week |
A meta-analysis by Schoenfeld and colleagues found that, when total weekly work was equated, training a muscle at least twice a week tended to produce better growth than training it once. That does not make once-a-week useless, but it does explain why a 4-day upper lower often beats a 3-day PPL for the average person: it delivers that twice-a-week frequency without asking for extra days.
Frequency is a tool for organising your weekly volume, the total number of hard sets per muscle. Volume and progressive overload are the real engines. A split is just the container you pour them into. Both containers work if the volume inside is right.
How to choose
Forget which split is theoretically superior. Start from how many days you can commit to, week in and week out, without lying to yourself.
- Can train 3 days? Neither of these is the ideal fit. A full-body split usually serves you better at 3 days, because it hits everything multiple times a week. If you insist on one of these two, PPL run once through works, just accept the once-a-week frequency.
- Can train 4 days? Upper lower, easily. This is its home turf. Twice-a-week frequency, manageable sessions, forgiving schedule.
- Can train 5 days? Either can flex to fit. An upper lower with an extra arm or weak-point day, or a PPL with a rest placed thoughtfully, both work.
- Can train 6 days? Push pull legs, run twice through. This is where PPL earns its reputation, giving each muscle two focused sessions with plenty of volume.
- Whichever you pick, be honest about consistency. A 4-day plan you actually do beats a 6-day plan you abandon by Thursday. Choose the split that survives contact with your real life.
These are not lifelong commitments. Many lifters run upper lower for a while, then move to PPL when their schedule opens up, then back again. The split should serve your week, not the other way around.
Questions people ask
Is push pull legs better than upper lower?
Can I do push pull legs on 3 days a week?
Which split is best for a beginner?
Does the split even matter for muscle growth?
References
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Sports Medicine. Effects of Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. 2016. doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0543-8
- Schoenfeld BJ, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Journal of Sports Sciences. Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. 2017. doi.org/10.1080/02640414.2016.1210197
Last reviewed 18 July 2026. We check health-condition articles against current guidelines and update the date above when we do.
