By: Andy Li
Most beginners walk into the gym full of energy but with no real plan, and that’s exactly why progress stalls fast. The Push/Pull/Legs split solves that problem on day one. It gives you a structure you can actually follow, keeps your workouts balanced, and removes all the guesswork that usually derails people in their first month going to the gym.
Push Pull Legs is endorsed for beginners by many popular gym influencers like Jeff Nippard, Mike Thurston, and Chris Bumstead. This is because of its efficiency and effectiveness.
The logic behind PPL comes from basic physiology. Muscles grow when they’re trained hard, then given enough time to recover before being hit again. Push, pull, and leg movements divide the body by function, not random muscle groups that each session trains muscles that naturally work together while letting the opposing ones rest. Chest, shoulders, and triceps are all press, so grouping them together is an efficient way to spend your time. Back and biceps are pull exercises, so the same rule applies. Legs get their own day because they demand more total energy and recovery. This structure spreads out stress, prevents overlap that kills progress and lines up with how the nervous system learns movement patterns. So, PPL is scientifically backed to allow you to recover faster, perform better each session, and accumulate more quality training volume.
What should I do each day for a PPL split?
Simple beginner exercises can look like this for each of the days:
Push day
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Bench Press or Dumbbell Press
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Overhead Press
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Incline Press
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Lateral Raises
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Tricep Pushdowns
Jeff Nippard short explanation: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bvwg4D9UWGI
Pull day
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Lat Pulldown or Pull-Up
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Seated Row
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Dumbbell Row
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Face Pulls
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Bicep Curls
Jeff Nippard short explanation: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/KV4D8MQrdhw
Leg day
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Squats or Leg Press
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Romanian Deadlift
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Lunges
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Leg Curls
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Calf Raises
Jeff Nippard short explanation: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jf9PBwwNAMs
How to deal with common problems:
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Burnout and consistency:
Many beginners burn out when the routine feels isolated and struggle with consistency. Odin fixes that. It’s a gym-focused social app built around streaks, badges, and check-ins, so training doesn’t feel like you’re doing it alone. You can see your friends’ progress, log your sessions, and stay on track even when life gets chaotic. The app makes following your PPL rotation straight forward by giving you a place to note lifts, track days, and keep momentum.
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Scheduling:
Although a PPL split is commonly 6 days a week, it is very flexible. You can stretch it to a 5 day or even 4 day setup without breaking anything. If your week gets crowded, you just keep moving through the loop at your own pace. Example: Push on Monday, Pull on Wednesday, Legs Friday, then pick up with Push again the next time you train. Odin can make scheduling PPL even easier. Since the split runs on a rotation instead of fixed weekdays, the app lets you slot Push, Pull, and Legs sessions wherever they actually fit rather than forcing a strict layout.
A common, but adjustable, split:
Helpful tips:
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Track your lifts
Beginners stall because they “think” they’re improving. You need data, even if it’s simple. One simple way to do this is through the daily streaks on the Odin app. Daily streaks can hold beginners accountable while also providing a fun and easy way to track progress. It is basically a BeReal for gym-goers.
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Don’t max out everyday: give yourself time to progress
The point isn’t testing strength every session. Avoid maxing out day after day so your body actually has room to improve. Build steadily, train hard, and when you’ve put in enough consistent work test your strength and log new PRs in the Odin app, which also rewards progress with its badge system.
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Stick to the loop: consistency is key
Your progress depends more on consistency than the perfect exercise selection. Run the split, rotate through it, and let the volume accumulate.
At the end of the day, PPL gives beginners a simple path to real progress, and with something like Odin keeping you consistent, it’s hard not to improve.