Push/Pull/Legs Routine

This is a general workout plan. It can be used for building strength or muscle.

Push (chest, shoulders, & triceps)
1. Bench press
2. Shoulder press (or lateral raises and front raises)
3. Incline bench press (with dumbbells or barbell) [optional]
4. Triceps exercise (skull crushers, tricep extensions or dips)
5. Sit ups or Leg raises (or other ab exercise)

Pull (upper back, biceps, & forearms)
1. Pull ups (or Lat pull downs)
2. Bent over rows (or cable rows)
3. EZ bar or Barbell curls (or dumbbell standing curls)
4. Reverse grip curls or incline dumbbell curls [optional]
5. Side bends (or other oblique exercise)

Legs (legs, lower back, & calves)
1a. Squats (see squat/deadlift note below)
b. Deadlifts
2. Leg curls (or hip/back extensions)
3. Calf raises, standing
4. Calf raises, seated [optional]
5. Crunches [optional]

Do both squats and deadlifts or alternate them in leg workouts for more recovery
time. Going lighter on one lift and normal on the other lift is another option to
alternating them. Just alternate the lighter lift each workout.

Alternate exercises can be used for the exercises listed above. The exercises listed
above are some of the better exercises in the author's opinion.

Selection of the reps used should based on the lifter's goals. Sets of 1-6 reps are
mainly for building strength. Sets of 8-12 reps are mainly for building muscle. Sets
of 15 or more reps are mainly for improving muscle endurance. Do a minimum of 2 sets
on each exercise. Add an extra set or two for more volume. But don't do so much
volume that you can't recover by the next workout.

One schedule for doing the 3 workouts is once a week with a monday, wednesday, friday
arrangement. The workout days can be shifted around if needed. These workouts can
be done 3 days in a row if needed.

Here is a schedule for doing each workout twice a week. The days can be shifted
forward or back but the order of the workouts should not be changed.

Sunday: Pull
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Push
Wednesday: Pull
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Push
Saturday: rest


This twice a week schedule may lead to overtraining. If this is a problem, reduce
workout volume by eliminating work sets either by dropping an exercise and/or
decreasing the sets per exercise. The workouts in the second half of the week could be
with lighter weight to allow better recovery. Another option is going the 1.5 times
per week schedule below.

In between the once and twice a week schedules is this one. This schedule does each
workout 3 times every 2 weeks for an average of 1.5 times per week. This works out so each workout is done every 4-6 days.

Week 1 Week 2
Sunday: Pull rest
Monday: Push Legs
Tuesday: Legs Push
Wednesday: rest Pull
Thursday: Pull rest
Friday: Push Legs
Saturday: rest rest

Source: weightliftingdiscussion.com