Looking for exercises to gain muscle and strength? Then follow the push, pull, legs workout routine that targets different muscle groups on separate days.
Your strength training goals may include increasing your strength and gaining muscle. But doing the same exercise every day will get monotonous and make you hit a plateau. It will also not target all the muscle groups, so you will need to consider a more specialised workout routine. Push, pull, legs or PPL method is a training routine that divides workouts into three categories. Each muscle group gets trained separately, on a different day. One day you can focus on your chest, shoulders, and triceps. The next day you can perform exercises for your back, and biceps. Then the following day, you can work on your lower body, which includes the hamstrings, calves, glutes.
What is the push, pull, legs workout?
Strength training is not all about building muscle and strength. It may help in prevention of type 2 diabetes, enhance cardiovascular health, promote bone development, and may be effective for reducing low back pain, as per research published in Current Sports Medicine Reports in 2012. Splitting your strength training routine by focusing on different muscle groups on separate days may be more effective. “The push, pull, legs (PPL) workout is a training style split by organising exercises which benefit specific body muscles,” says fitness expert Aman Puri.
Push, pull, legs workout targets muscles on different days. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock
Push day emphasises exercises that incorporate pushing actions focussing on the upper body muscles like the chest, shoulders, and triceps,
Pull day involves exercises with pulling actions, primarily aimed at muscles of the back, biceps, and forearms.
Leg day targets the lower body, focusing on the hip flexors, hamstrings, calves and glutes and abdomen muscles.
“Typically, it involves training three to six times a week, rotating through the three categories,” says fitness expert Yash Agarwal.
What are the health benefits of the push, pull, legs workout?
Split workout routine like push, pull, legs may be effective in stimulating muscle growth in people who do strength training, as per a 2021 study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Here are some of the benefits –
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1. Promotes balanced muscle development
The push, pull, leg workout targets different muscles each time, ensuring a balanced workout schedule. “This balance increases the total functional strength as well as growth of muscles,” says Puri.
2. Prevents over or under doing exercise
Over or underdoing a workout is a common issue. There can be no relaxation while overdoing, and no muscle strength while underdoing an exercise. The push, pull, legs exercises are performed in such a way that there is enough rest for the muscles and no overlapping of exercises or overworking of the same muscles again and again.
3. Increased strength
“It incorporates movements that build overall strength efficiently,” says Agarwal. Exercises such as squats and deadlifts improve strength for a variety of muscle groups.
4. Enhanced muscle hypertrophy
By focusing on a particular weakened muscle area or isolating muscles of the injury area, the PPL split helps achieve growth of muscle mass and volume. “This may result in better body composition,” says Puri.
5. Allows personalisation and flexibility
The PPL split exercise regime gives the flexibility to easily customise your exercise and training frequency for strengthening particular muscles. You can just customise and increase the number of sets or reps as per your body’s strength and ability.
6. Prevents fatigue and reduces risk of injury
Alternating between push, pull and leg days can help the muscles to recover, allowing you to maintain the intensity and improving circulation and oxygenation without the risk of soreness. “Also, when you do balanced training, it minimises the risk of overuse injuries by distributing workload,” says Agarwal.
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What are the best exercises for the push, pull, legs workout?
Since the push, pull, legs workout targets different body parts, try including the following exercises in your workout routine –
1. Push exercises
Bench press
Keep your feet flat and lie down on a bench.
Grip the barbell a little bit wider than shoulder-width.
Bring the bar closer to your chest then push it back up.
Overhead press
To do overhead press, stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Grip the barbell at your shoulder level.
Press the barbell overhead until your arms get completely extended.
2. Pull exercises
Pull-ups
Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand grip.
Pull your body up until your chin is above the bar.
Bent-over rows
To do bent-over rows, stand with your feet hip-width apart, and bend your knees a little bit.
Bend at your hips and keep your back straight.
Pull the barbell towards your waist then lower it.
3. Leg exercises
Squats
To do squats, the first thing you need to do to stand up with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Keep your back straight and bend your knees aa you lower your body.
Return to the standing position.
Squats are great for lower body. Image courtesy: Adobe Stock
Deadlifts
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, and barbell in the front.
Bend at your hips and knees to firmly grip the barbell.
Lift the equipment by extending your hips and knees.
Who should avoid the push, pull, legs workout?
“The push, pull, legs routine can be done by a wide range of individuals, but some may choose to avoid it,” says Puri.
People having specific injuries or those in the process of recovering from exercise can avoid engaging in this routine.
Beginners new to weight training or workouts should focus on basic movements and overall fitness before intensifying their workouts.
Older people should avoid this workout as the high-intensity exercises can affect the bones.
The push, pull, legs workout can be beneficial for those who want to target varied muscle groups for their development and growth. But consider your level of fitness before going for push, pull, legs workout for muscle growth.
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Forget the excuse that it costs too much to exercise. These three people, all members of the Start TODAY community, stay active without being locked into pricey gym memberships, paying for app subscriptions or buying fancy home equipment.
They’re lacing up their walking shoes and heading out the door, searching YouTube for video workouts, dancing with their grandchildren and even digging out years-old workout equipment.
Here, they share the low- and no-cost exercise routines that work for them.
Movement can and should be fun. Dancing with her grandson is a staple in Carol Wells’ workout routine!
Carol Wells
Workout routine: Stretching, walking, workout videos, dancing with her grandchildren
Carol Wells, 62, watches her 2-year-old grandson twice a week. So, for part of her exercise routine, the two of them dance together. “I found Bee Gees videos — I grew up with the Bee Gees — and he absolutely loves them. I love the fact that he likes it, too. And it makes it so much easier for me to get my exercise in,” she says.
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Moving to music, with her grandson or with videos, is a key part of making exercise fun for Wells, especially when the winter weather near her Effingham, Ill., home keeps her indoors.
She has a routine she follows as often as she can, where she mixes bursts of activity in throughout her day. “I try to get in three workouts a day, and I definitely get in at least two,” she says.
Here’s how Wells fits in movement without spending a lot of money:
Stretching: She starts her days with 10 minutes of stretching, following a YouTube video.
Morning walk or workout: After stretching, she’s out the door for a one- to two-mile walk if the weather cooperates. In winter, more often than not, she needs to exercise indoors, so she puts on a walking video from eitherYes2Next or Leslie Sansone to get some steps in. “I do 15 to 30 minutes at a time, and I really enjoy that,” she says.
Afternoon walk or workout: She aims for another activity session in the afternoon. That could be dancing with her grandson or working out to another video, possibly one that includes some low-impact, bodyweight strength training. She doesn’t lift weights because of arthritis in her shoulders and elbows. If the weather is nice, she walks in her neighborhood or in a nearby park, “Walking is my favorite thing. It’s the best kind of exercise for me. I love nature, and I’m an amateur photographer, so I love taking pictures of birds, flowers and the sky,” she says. She aims to get in four to five miles a day.
Evening workout: After dinner, she exercises again. She’ll search online for workout topics, such as “Zumba to ABBA,” or workouts with Fleetwood Mac music. She finds a lot of workouts she likes through Keep on Moving.
Wilkins in 2025 versus today, 40 pounds lighter thanks to a consistent walking routine.
Kathleen Wilkins
Workout routine: Walking, YouTube workout videos, using “vintage” equipment she’s had forever
Kathleen Wilkins, 66, likes to get her exercise in close to home. “I don’t want to get in the car and drive somewhere,” she says. She’s joined gyms in the past, but she always stopped going after a few visits, and then she was locked into the payments for months.
So, she’s built a routine around lots of walking, workout videos and simple home equipment.
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Wilkins has been retired for just over a year, so she can fit plenty of walking into her schedule. She walks the roads of her 55-plus mobile home community in Thousand Oaks, Calif., several times a day, covering about two miles each time, and five to six miles per day.
She walks after breakfast with a neighbor, and sometimes again before lunch. After lunch, she walks with another neighbor who uses a wheelchair, and she takes charge of that neighbor’s dog. “She’s a French-mix bulldog, so she gives me a resistance workout,” Wilkins says.
Wilkins blew past the 30-mile goal in a recent Start TODAY walking challenge.
Wilkins can finish her two-mile walks in 30 to 35 minutes, though she sometimes slows her pace to match her walking partners’ or stops to chat with people she hasn’t seen in a while. She doesn’t mind taking her time: “A mile is a mile. It doesn’t matter how long it takes you to get there, or how fast you’re going.” Plus, she likes getting to know her neighbors and using her walks as a time to socialize.
To add strength training and more cardio to her routine, three mornings a week, Wilkins and a group of neighbors exercise together in their community clubhouse. They choose from different Paul Eugene YouTube workout videos that run 30 to 45 minutes.
Rounding out her fitness schedule, she recently dusted off two old pieces of workout equipment she’s had forever — an ab roller and a rotational disk. They help her build core strength and stability.
Wentz in 2022 (left) when she joined the Start TODAY group and started her health journey and today (right), going strong with a 1,322-day walking streak!
Judy Wentz, 58, exercises to manage the pain she has from fibromyalgia, which forced her to retire about four years ago. “I’m working on my health now, more than anything. If I keep moving around, the pain doesn’t have time to catch up with me. When I go to bed at night, sometimes it hits me. But I work through it,” she says.
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Fibromyalgia means she needs to keep her workouts low impact. She usually begins her day with either a walking workout video or 20 to 30 minutes on her stationary bike. “If I’m having a really bad day, I’ll do chair exercises to start,” she says.
Wentz and her husband walk together every day, regardless of the weather. “Walking helps me mentally and physically,” she says. She likes to walk to a destination, like an Italian ice shop, a downtown restaurant for lunch or simply to her hometown post office in Bedford, Penn.
When she first started walking, she could only make it to the end of her driveway, or maybe half a block. Now, most days, she walks a total of five to seven miles. And she’s kept up a walking streak for 1,322 days in a row.
Wentz with fellow Start TODAY member Tammy Carter Skov. She has found support and made real-life connections through the Facebook group.
Along with walking, she likes a range of home workouts. She’s tried Silver Sneakers at the gym and at a senior center, but she prefers more variety. “I get bored if I’m doing the same thing all the time,” she says. “I’m always trying to find something new and exciting.”
She does strength training at least twice a week and cardio two to three times a week, adding her favorite workouts to a calendar she’s set up for herself. “Each week is different,” she says.
Some of the free workouts she’s tried include:
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Metro Physical Therapy on YouTube: “I used to really struggle with that, but now I can breeze through it.”
Walking videos that include strength training
Tai Chi, which she admits wasn’t her favorite
Zumba
Yes to Next video workouts
Resistance band and dumbbell workouts. “Five-pound weights used to be so heavy, and now they’re like nothing,” she says.
She also attends a support group called Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS).
Her workouts and lifestyle changes have helped her lose weight, and she’s been off diabetes medication for two years: “I’ve never had this much energy in my life. I can’t even keep up with myself some days.”
To find support and connect with other like-minded people on their fitness journey, join the Start TODAY Facebook group!
There’s a pervasive mentality in the fitness world that the best workouts leave you soaked in sweat and gasping for air. Popular phrases like “no pain, no gain” and “sore today, strong tomorrow” embody this pedal-to-the-metal mindset.
While therearelegit benefits to exercising at or near maximum effort, “you don’t have to work at a 10 out of 10, or have it be the hardest workout of your life, for it to actually be beneficial,” Peloton instructorRebecca Kennedytells SELF. In fact, there are tons of unique gains you can score when you incorporate more low-to-moderate-intensity training into your routine. That’s whatzone 2 cardiois all about.
Here’s everything you need to know about zone 2 cardio, including its amazing benefits and easy ways to weave it into your schedule. Plus, eight workout examples that fit the bill for zone 2, giving you ample options to experience the underrated awesomeness yourself.
What zone 2 cardio actually is
Simply put, zone 2 cardio is any form of movement that has you working at a low-to-moderate intensity for a sustained period of time,Grace Horan, MS, ACSM-EP, an exercise physiologist at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, tells SELF.
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Zone 2 cardio is not about speed, power, or max strength but instead centers on slow, steady efforts performed over the long haul. Basically, it’sendurance training, Horan says.
Traditionally, zone 2 is defined as exercise that keeps your heart rate between 60% to 70% of its maximum level, but this is a generalization; for some people, zone 2 can happen at different percentages of max heart rate, Horan says. It’s better to think of it in terms of how intense exercise feels and how much it impacts your breathing. As Kennedy puts it: “If you can get on a phone call and have a conversation without having to stop and catch your breath, you’re likely in zone 2.”
Image: Freepik
Benefits of zone 2 cardio
Incorporating zone 2 cardio into your routine will deliver a host of health and fitness benefits. For starters, it helps yourcardiovascular systemrun more efficiently. That’s in part because zone 2 training increases the size and density of mitochondria in your muscle cells, Horan says.
As you might remember from middle school biology, mitochondria are the “powerhouse” part of your cells that produce energy to fuel your movements. Beefing them up will help your body complete both workouts and tasks of daily living (like climbing the stairs and walking your dog) with less stress to your heart, lungs, and muscles, Horan says. Overall, people with larger and more dense mitochondria are more likely to have better cardiovascular fitness andmetabolic health, she adds.
Zone 2 training also helps improve your body’s ability to burn fat (in addition to its go-to quick energy source, carbs) as fuel. This allows you to keep exercising for longer. “It’s really going to help build out your endurance and your aerobic base so you can do things for the long haul,” Horan says. That’s why zone 2 training is a core component ofmarathon training programs.
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At the same time, frequently training with zone 2 cardio can also benefit you during higher-intensity exercise, likeweightliftingorHIIT workouts. Specifically, you may notice that your heart rate comes back down quicker when you’re resting in between sets, Kennedy says. This translates to more efficient recovery intervals, allowing you to push harder again when it’s time to eke out the next round of reps.
How to know if a workout qualifies as zone 2
Many fitness wearables—like theApple Watch, for example—use heart rate data to classify which zone(s) your workout falls into. And while these devices do a “relatively good job” at determining the zone, they’re based off a mathematical equation that’s not wholly accurate, Horan says. (The most precise way to measure your maximum heart rate is through a blood lactate test, which, obviously, most people aren’t doing.)
To actually understand if a given workout qualifies as zone 2, she suggests a simpler approach: Pay attention to your breathing and ability to talk. In a true zone 2 workout, “if you were to get on the phone with someone, they might know that you’re exercising, but you can still speak in paragraphs, no problem,” Horan says. If at any time during a zone 2 workout you can only get out a word or sentence at a time, it’s likely you’ve jumped up to zones 3 or 4 and need to decrease your intensity to return to zone 2, she says.
Another way to think about it isperceived exertion—basically, how hard it feels like you’re working. On a scale of 1 to 10, with one being almost effortless and 10 being max effort, a zone 2 workout should feel like a level 3 or 4, Kennedy says.
Lastly, you can evaluate how sustainable your pace feels. “Ask yourself: Could I sustain the pace that I’m going at for 30, 45, or 60-plus minutes without having to slow down?” Kennedy says. If the answer is yes, then you’re likely nailing zone 2.
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Eight workouts to incorporate more zone 2 cardio into your routine
To really cash in on the benefits of zone 2 cardio, make sure each workout is at least 30 minutes long, Horan says. If your schedule allows, she suggests doing 60-minute (or longer) sessions at least twice a week, though three to four weekly sessions would be ideal. “The more time you’re able to spend continuously in zone 2, the better,” Horan explains.
The best zone 2 workouts are the ones you genuinely enjoy, because that means you’ll be most likely to do them consistently, Horan explains. Need some inspo? Here are eight examples that can fit the bill. They key with all of these is to keep close tabs on your exertion. For them to qualify as zone 2, make sure you’re staying at that level 3 or 4 and able to easily carry on a conversation the whole time.
Image: Freepik
Walking.Taking a brisk walk on the treadmill or outdoors is perhaps the simplest way to check zone 2 cardio off your list.
Jogging or easy running.This one is more for experienced exercisers who have the baseline fitness to sustain low effort while running. (For people newer to working it, the running motion–which involves the challenge of the “float phase,” where both feet briefly leave the ground–may inherently be high-intensity, no matter how “easy” they try to stride.)
Rowing.Hop on this cardio machine to get some zone 2 work, as well as aton of other full-body benefits, like improved coordination and great core activation, to name a few.
Climbing stairs.The stairclimber machine at the gym can be surprisingly challenging, so you’ll probably need to take it at a pretty slow speed to ensure you stay in zone 2.
Cycling.Whether you’re outdoors or on a stationary bike, cycling is a great low-impact form of exercise that can also double as zone 2.
Hiking.This is a great way to reap thebenefits of naturewhile also getting in some zone 2. Just make sure to slow your pace if you’re trekking on an incline to keep your effort level in check.
Swimming.Another stellar choice for low-impact zone 2 work, swimming is also great for strengthening your core and activating a bunch of different muscles. Check outthese tips for getting started.
Very light weight lifting. Weight lifting in general typically qualifies as anaerobic exercise (which is too intense to meet the zone 2 criteria) but if you pick really light weights, perform exercises for high rep counts, and take minimal recovery, you may be able to meet the mark for zone 2, Kennedy says.
