The classic 6-day hypertrophy split. Hit every muscle twice per week with focused push, pull, and leg sessions.
Intermediate lifters chasing hypertrophy with time for 6 sessions a week.
Expected commitment: 60-80 min per workout, 6 workouts per week.
Prerequisites: At least 6 months of consistent training. Access to a full barbell, dumbbells, cables, and a few machines.
Chest, shoulders, triceps. Strength bias.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 5-7 | RPE 8 |
| Standing Overhead Press | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Cable Lateral Raise | 4 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Overhead Cable Triceps Extension | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
Back, rear delts, biceps. Strength bias.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Deadlift | 3 | 4-6 | RPE 8 |
| Weighted Pull-Up | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Pendlay Row | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Chest-Supported Dumbbell Row | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Face Pull | 3 | 15-20 | RPE 9 |
| Barbell Curl | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 9 |
Quads-led leg day. Squat as the main lift.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbell Back Squat | 4 | 5-7 | RPE 8 |
| Romanian Deadlift | 3 | 6-8 | RPE 8 |
| Bulgarian Split Squat | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Leg Curl | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Standing Calf Raise | 4 | 8-12 | RPE 9 |
| Hanging Knee Raise | 3 | 10-15 | RPE 8 |
Hypertrophy-bias push. Higher reps, machines + dumbbells.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incline Barbell Bench Press | 4 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 8 |
| Machine Chest Press | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Cable Crossover | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Dumbbell Lateral Raise | 4 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Skull Crusher | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
Hypertrophy-bias pull. Higher reps, isolation finishers.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lat Pulldown | 4 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Seated Cable Row | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Single-Arm Dumbbell Row | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Reverse Pec Deck | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Incline Dumbbell Curl | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
| Hammer Curl | 3 | 10-12 | RPE 9 |
Posterior-chain / hip-dominant. RDL-led.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Intensity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Squat | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Hip Thrust | 3 | 8-10 | RPE 8 |
| Leg Press | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Walking Lunge | 3 | 10-12 per leg | RPE 9 |
| Seated Calf Raise | 4 | 12-15 | RPE 9 |
| Cable Crunch | 3 | 12-15 | RPE 8 |
PPL rotates push, pull and leg sessions, so each pattern gets two days off before it comes round again. Six sessions a week train every muscle group twice. When weekly volume is not matched, twice a week has out-grown once a week in the frequency research (Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, 2016).
The first push, pull and leg days are the heavy wave, with the main compound in the 4 to 7 rep range. The second three are the volume wave: higher reps, more isolation and shorter rest. Top working sets sit at RPE 8 on heavy days and RPE 9 on volume days.
On MuscleBuddy this program runs with double progression: stay in the rep range, and once every working set reaches the top of it with good form, the next session adds a small weight increment. If you come up short of the bottom of the rep range three sessions in a row, MuscleBuddy takes about 10% off that lift and you build back up from there.
The block runs four working weeks with no deload week written in. On Pro, MuscleBuddy eases a week for you when your recovery scores trend down, and you can mark any week a deload in the periodization calendar. On Free, a lift that falls short of its rep range three sessions in a row gets a 10% back-off, and the next block you generate closes with a scheduled deload week. Treat a deload as productive: it lets accumulated fatigue clear so the next block opens from a fresh baseline.
MuscleBuddy auto-advances weights, tracks every set, and adjusts when you stall.
Start this program for free with MuscleBuddy