Push-Pull-Legs Six Days a Week: How to Set It Up So It Lasts

A concrete six-day push-pull-legs schedule: exercises, sets, reps, how to add weight, recovery numbers, and the warning signs that you need to cut a day.

Running push-pull-legs six days a week means every muscle group gets trained twice in seven days, with one full rest day. It works as long as you keep the set count honest and actually sleep, and it falls apart around week three if you add a set every time you feel good. Here is the concrete setup, with numbers.

Who this split is for

Six sessions a week needs a base and a schedule that allows it. Check yourself against this:

At least 9 to 12 months of consistent barbell training, with squat, deadlift and press technique that holds up under load.
You can spend 60 to 75 minutes six days a week without cutting into sleep.
You sleep 7 hours or more most nights.
You have no active injury limiting a basic movement pattern.

If any of those is missing, a four-day upper/lower split will get you the same progress with half the logistics. In your first year of training, three full-body sessions a week still gives the best return on time spent.

What the week looks like

Monday — Push A (heavy)
Tuesday — Pull A (heavy)
Wednesday — Legs A (heavy)
Thursday — Push B (lighter, higher reps)
Friday — Pull B
Saturday — Legs B
Sunday — off

Move the rest day wherever it fits, but do not split it up and end the week with no full day off. Six days on, one day off is the ceiling most people hold for longer than two months.

Push days

Push A, load focus:

Bench press: 4 sets of 4-6 reps
Incline dumbbell press: 3 x 8-10
Standing overhead press: 3 x 6-8
Lateral raises: 3 x 12-15
Cable triceps pushdown: 3 x 10-12

Push B, volume and rep focus:

Incline dumbbell press: 4 x 8-10
Machine chest press or dips: 3 x 10-12
Seated dumbbell overhead press: 3 x 10-12
Lateral raises: 4 x 15-20
Overhead triceps extension: 3 x 12-15

Pull days

Pull A:

Pull-ups, add weight once you clear 8 clean reps: 4 x 5-8
Barbell row: 4 x 6-8
Lat pulldown: 3 x 10-12
Face pulls: 3 x 15-20
Barbell curl: 3 x 8-10

Pull B:

Seated cable row: 4 x 10-12
Wide-grip pulldown: 3 x 12-15
One-arm dumbbell row: 3 x 10-12 per arm
Rear delt fly: 3 x 15-20
Hammer curl: 3 x 12-15

Leg days

Legs A:

Back squat: 4 x 5
Romanian deadlift: 3 x 8
Leg press: 3 x 10-12
Standing calf raise: 4 x 10-12

Legs B:

Front squat or hack squat: 4 x 8-10
Bulgarian split squat: 3 x 8-10 per leg
Leg curl: 3 x 12-15
Seated calf raise: 4 x 15-20
Abs, your pick: 3 x 10-15

If conventional deadlifts matter to you, put them on Legs A in place of the squat every other week, 3 x 3-5. Two heavy hip-hinge movements in the same session, six days a week, eventually shows up as a cranky lower back.

Volume, progression and rest periods

10 to 18 working sets per muscle group per week, split across two days. Start at the low end and add 2 sets every third week only if recovery holds.
Leave 1-3 reps in reserve. Only the last set of an isolation exercise goes to the limit.
When you hit the top of the rep range on every set, add 2.5 kg upper body or 5 kg lower body next session.
Rest 2-3 minutes on compounds, 60-90 seconds on isolation work.
Every 6-8 weeks run a light week: same weights, half the sets.

Recovery, food and cardio

Six training days do not forgive bad recovery. The numbers worth holding:

Protein 1.6 to 2.2 g per kilogram of bodyweight. At 80 kg that is 130 to 175 g per day.
To gain, 200 to 300 kcal above maintenance; to lean out, 300 to 500 kcal below, losing 0.5 to 1% of bodyweight per week.
Sleep 7 to 9 hours. Three nights under 6 hours in a row is a reason to skip a session, not to double the coffee.
Cardio 2 x 20-30 minutes easy, ideally not right before a leg day.
Water 30 to 35 ml per kilogram per day, more if your gym has no air conditioning.

Signs six days is too many for you

Three sessions in a row where reps drop at the same weight.
Resting heart rate up 5 to 10 beats for more than a week.
Elbows, shoulders or knees aching outside of training.
You cannot fall asleep even though you are wrecked.

The fix is fewer sets, not more caffeine: drop Push B, or merge the B days into one and run five sessions instead.

A plan you complete 90% of weeks beats a perfect plan you survive for a month.

When to see a doctor

Pain radiating down an arm or leg, with tingling or weakness in the hand or foot.
Chest pain or pressure, fainting, or breathlessness during easy effort.
A swollen joint, or pain that wakes you at night while you are at rest.
Pain that does not settle after 2 weeks of reduced loading.
Before you start at all, if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, or have been inactive for over a year.

The short version

Six-day PPL needs about a year of training behind you, 7+ hours of sleep, and 60-75 minutes a day.
A days are heavy (4-8 reps), B days lighter (10-20 reps), every muscle group twice a week.
10 to 18 sets per muscle group per week; add 2.5 kg upper or 5 kg lower once you top out the rep range.
1.6-2.2 g protein per kg, a light week every 6-8 weeks, and one rest day that stays intact.
Radiating pain, tingling, chest pain, or pain lasting over 2 weeks means a doctor, not another session.