The PPLUL Split: The 5-Day Push Pull Legs Upper Lower Routine Explained
If you train five days a week and feel torn between the classic push/pull/legs setup and a balanced upper/lower routine, the PPLUL split gives you both. It stacks a full push/pull/legs rotation on top of a dedicated upper and lower day, producing a five-day week that hits every muscle group roughly twice while keeping each session focused and manageable.
It has quietly become one of the most popular intermediate templates online, and for good reason. PPLUL solves the biggest weakness of a straight three-day PPL (each muscle trained only once per week) without demanding the six training days a double-PPL requires. This guide breaks down exactly how the split works, what each day should contain, how to progress it, and who it's best suited for.
What the PPLUL Split Actually Is
PPLUL stands for Push, Pull, Legs, Upper, Lower, five distinct training days run across a week:
Day 1 – Push: chest, shoulders, triceps
Day 2 – Pull: back, rear delts, biceps
Day 3 – Legs: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves
Day 4 – Upper: chest, back, shoulders, arms (a second, blended upper session)
Day 5 – Lower: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves (a second leg session)
A common layout is Push (Mon), Pull (Tue), Legs (Wed), rest (Thu), Upper (Fri), Lower (Sat), rest (Sun). Because the upper and lower days re-cover the same muscle groups as the first three days, almost everything gets a second weekly exposure. That matters: a frequently cited meta-analysis found that training a muscle twice per week tends to produce greater hypertrophy than once-weekly training when volume is equated (PMID: 27102172).
If you're already familiar with the standard rotation, our complete guide to the push/pull/legs split is a useful primer, PPLUL is essentially PPL with a smarter back half.
Why Combine PPL With Upper/Lower?
The genius of PPLUL is that the two halves of the week cover for each other's blind spots.
A pure PPL run three days a week trains each muscle only once — fine for beginners, but light on frequency for intermediates chasing growth. Running PPL six days a week fixes frequency but is brutal on recovery and life schedules. The PPLUL hybrid lands in the middle: five days, ~2x frequency, and one full rest day baked into the structure.
The upper and lower days also act as flexible "catch-up" sessions. Because they aren't locked to a single pulling or pushing pattern, you can bias them toward whatever lagged earlier in the week — extra direct arm work, more rear-delt volume, or additional hamstring sets. This is where PPLUL outshines a rigid template. For a head-to-head look at how PPLUL stacks up against other ordering choices, see our breakdown of the Jeff Nippard ULPPL and PPLUL programs.
A Sample PPLUL Week
Here's a practical template built around big compounds first, then accessories. Aim for roughly 10–20 hard sets per muscle group across the week.
Push (Day 1)
Barbell Bench Press — 4×5–8
Overhead Press — 3×6–10
Incline Dumbbell Press — 3×8–12
Cable Lateral Raise — 3×12–15
Triceps Pushdown — 3×10–15
Pull (Day 2)
Weighted Pull-Up or Lat Pulldown — 4×6–10
Barbell Row — 3×8–12
Chest-Supported Row — 3×10–12
Face Pull — 3×15–20
Barbell or Dumbbell Curl — 3×8–12
Legs (Day 3)
Back Squat — 4×5–8
Romanian Deadlift — 3×8–12
Leg Press — 3×10–15
Leg Curl — 3×10–15
Standing Calf Raise — 4×10–15
Upper (Day 4)
Incline Barbell Press — 4×6–10
Pull-Up or Pulldown — 3×8–12
Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press — 3×8–12
Cable Row — 3×10–15
Superset: Curls + Triceps Extensions — 3×12–15 each
Lower (Day 5)
Deadlift or Trap-Bar Deadlift — 3×4–6
Front Squat or Hack Squat — 3×8–12
Walking Lunge — 3×10–12 per leg
Seated Leg Curl — 3×12–15
Seated Calf Raise — 4×12–20
Note how the upper/lower days lean slightly more toward hypertrophy rep ranges and machine/dumbbell work, while the first three days carry the heaviest barbell lifts. That's intentional, it lets you push hard on the compounds when you're freshest and accumulate growth-focused volume later in the week.
Exercise Order and Effort: Getting the Details Right
Two recent points from the research community are worth folding into your PPLUL setup.
First, exercise order matters more for strength than for size. Lifts performed early in a session, when you're freshest, show the biggest strength gains, while hypertrophy is largely unaffected by order. Brad Schoenfeld has reiterated this in recent discussions of the evidence, noting you should "do your most important lifts first" if strength on them is the priority (source). Practically, that means your bench, squat, and deadlift belong at the top of each day.
Second, proximity to failure drives hypertrophy. Sets taken closer to failure (roughly 0–2 reps in reserve) tend to produce more growth, whereas pure strength work can be left a touch further from failure (source). On your upper and lower "volume" days, that's your cue to grind the accessory sets close to failure; on the heavy compound days, leave a rep or two in the tank to protect technique and recovery.
If arm development is a priority, the upper day is your friend, and a new study reviewed by Menno Henselmans is reigniting the debate over how much direct arm volume is actually optimal. PPLUL gives you a natural home for that extra biceps and triceps work without overloading any single session.
PPLUL vs. PHUL and Other 5-Day Splits
The closest cousin to PPLUL is PHUL (Power Hypertrophy Upper Lower), which uses two heavy "power" days and two higher-rep "hypertrophy" days. PHUL is built around the upper/lower framework with periodized intensity; PPLUL is built around frequency and muscle-group focus. If you love the upper/lower structure but want clearer strength/size periodization, our PHUL workout guide is worth a read.
The short version:
Choose PPLUL if you like the targeted feel of push/pull/legs days but want a second weekly hit on everything.
Choose PHUL if you prefer fewer, broader sessions with explicit heavy vs. hypertrophy days.
Choose straight PPL (6-day) only if you genuinely recover well and can commit to six sessions.
Who Should Run PPLUL?
PPLUL is an intermediate-to-advanced template. Beginners are usually better served by a simpler full-body or 3-day split where they can practice the main lifts frequently, and as the RP Strength team recently argued, structured strength training beats unfocused "just move" programming for actual progress. Once you can recover from five quality sessions and your lifts have stalled on lower-frequency programs, PPLUL is a strong next step.
It's also ideal if your schedule is "five days on, weekends lighter," or if you have a stubborn muscle group you want to attack twice a week with different exercise selection each time.
How to Apply This in Setgraph
A five-day split with overlapping muscle groups is exactly the kind of routine that benefits from precise tracking, and Setgraph is built for it.
Build the five days once, then train from them. In Setgraph, create five Workouts named Push, Pull, Legs, Upper, Lower and drop the relevant Exercises into each. Because an Exercise can live in more than one Workout while keeping a single shared set history, an exercise like Incline Press that appears on both Push day and Upper day shows you the same running history in both places, so you always know what you lifted last, no matter which day you're in. You can lay all of this out using the workout planner.
Let your set history drive progressive overload. When you open an exercise to log, Setgraph pre-fills your most recent set. Glance at it, then decide your jump, add 5 lb, or chase the rep you missed last time. That last-set-versus-this-week loop is the entire engine of progressive overload, and the workout tracker keeps it frictionless across all five days.
Use Analytics to confirm the second exposure is paying off. Because PPLUL hits each muscle ~2x weekly, check the per-exercise weight and volume charts every few weeks to confirm both the heavy day and the volume day are trending up, not just one carrying the other. If your upper-day chest volume is climbing while push-day bench stalls, that's a signal to rebalance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is PPLUL better than a 6-day PPL?
For most lifters with normal recovery and a busy life, yes — PPLUL delivers nearly the same ~2x weekly frequency as a 6-day PPL but with a built-in rest day and lower total fatigue. A 6-day PPL only edges ahead if you recover exceptionally well and can commit to six sessions consistently.
Q: How many days of rest does PPLUL include?
Two. A typical layout trains five consecutive-ish days and rests two, often placing one rest day mid-week (after Legs) and one on the weekend. You can shift the rest days to fit your schedule as long as you avoid stacking your two heaviest leg-focused days back to back.
Q: Does the order of exercises within each day matter?
For strength, yes, put your key compound lifts first while you're fresh, since strength gains favor early-session exercises. For pure size, order matters far less, so you can prioritize a lagging muscle early without hurting your other lifts (PMID: 27102172).
Q: Can beginners run PPLUL?
It's not the ideal starting point. Beginners build skill and strength faster on simpler full-body or 3-day programs that practice the main lifts often. Move to PPLUL once you can recover from five sessions a week and your progress on lower-frequency routines has slowed.
Q: How do I add arms to PPLUL?
Direct arm work fits naturally on Pull (biceps), Push (triceps), and especially the Upper day, where you can superset curls and extensions. The upper day is the best place to add extra arm volume if arms are a priority, just keep total weekly sets in a recoverable range.
Ready to run a PPLUL week without losing track of what you lifted last time? Start tracking your split with Setgraph, build your five days once, and let your set history do the thinking.
