The push-pull-legs 3-day split is one of the most popular training schedules for building muscle today. But there’s more than one way to set up a 3 day split. Another famous 3 day split is what I call, “3-day classic muscle.” There are lots of other good workout splits too, like 2 day splits, 4 day splits, even 5 day (“bro”) splits. But if you’re going to do a 3 day split, which is a good choice, which one is best? In today’s post we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of the two most popular 3-day splits and I’ll pass down my verdict on the “which split is better” question…
The 3-Day Classic Muscle Split
This is the split in the 3-day Classic Muscle program:
Day 1: Chest, back, abs
Day 2: Shoulders, biceps, triceps
Day 3: Quads, hamstrings, calves
This was traditionally performed using a 3-days-on, 1-day-off schedule. We call that a rotating split routine. The rotation is self-explanatory: you train for 3 days, then take 1 day off, then repeat. But some people don’t like that, because a rotating schedule means your training days and rest days will be different every week.
A lot of people prefer to have the same training days and same rest days each week, so a popular alternative is what I call a fixed 3 day split schedule. This means the training days and the rest days are the same every week. It is usually done 5 days a week. A common schedule is to train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Thursday and Sunday are rest days.
These aren’t the only options either. The 3 day classic split can be customized in many ways to fit anyone’s weekly schedule and recovery ability. To make it easier, you could train only 4 days a week. To make it harder, you could train 6 days a week. (You’d have to have the time, as well as excellent recovery ability to run this split 6 days a week without burning out).
Some people follow the Classic 3-day split purely for personal preference reasons – they simply like the way the body parts are grouped together. For example, some people enjoy training their whole arm on the same day instead of splitting biceps and triceps into separate days.
A major reason some people choose the Classic split, including myself, is so they can do antagonist supersets. For example, back can be supersetted with chest, and biceps can be supersetted with triceps.
This increases time efficiency which makes it a fantastic choice for busy people. Antagonist supersets may increase muscle growth as well (or at the very least, achieve equal growth in less time). To do this kind of superset, obviously, you have to choose a split routine like this one where these antagonist muscles are trained on the same day.
The 3 day classic muscle split is a good one with unique advantages. But maybe an even more well-known and more popular alternative is the push-pull-legs split.
The Push-Pull-Legs Split
As the name implies, pushing muscles are done on one day, pulling muscles are done the next day, and legs are done on the third day. I still often call this a body part split, but it’s known for grouping the muscles by movement pattern. It ends up looking like this:
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, triceps (push)
Day 2: Back, biceps, abs (pull)
Day 3: Quads, hams, calves (legs)
While the classic split may have been the most popular back in the golden era of the sport, the push-pull-legs split is probably the more popular method today, at least if you judge by what’s trending, selling, and discussed online the most.
Both types of 3-day splits are effective, but one reason that many people favor the push-pull-legs split, is that it’s set up to help enhance recovery. By grouping body parts together based on the movement pattern, you avoid pushing muscles or pulling muscles being trained two days in a row.
For example, when you do a pulling exercise like a barbell row, it is considered a back exercise and the primary muscles worked are indeed upper back muscles including the lats, rhomboids, trapezius, teres major and so on. But the biceps are also activated during a row as secondary movers.
If you look at many 3 day splits, you may notice that back is trained on day one, and then biceps is trained on day two. Some people argue that if you use this kind of schedule, the biceps are getting worked two days in a row, and working the same muscle group two days in a row is not considered ideal for recovery. (Usually you want at least one complete day of rest in between before training any body part again, and some say at least two days in between is ideal).
The same thing is true of the triceps. Looking again at some 3-day splits, you see chest is trained on day one and triceps the next day. The triceps are a secondary mover, assisting the chest muscles during exercises like the bench press. So again, it looks like there’s some overlap with triceps being worked two days in a row, although granted, the triceps are not being worked directly on chest day.
In a third example, the deltoids, or at least the front deltoids, get worked quite strongly on chest exercises like the bench press as well. If you use a 3 day split where chest is trained on day one and deltoids on the next day, once again we could argue that the deltoids are getting hammered two days in a row – at least the front delts.
Pros and cons of the different 3 day split routines
Fans of the classic split say those smaller muscle groups like biceps and triceps are only secondary movers during upper back and chest exercises, respectively, so they are not worked that hard, and it’s not the same as training a muscle two days in a row directly. Not to mention, you can arrange a classic 3 day split in a way so you at least get 48 hours recovery, if you plan out your weekly schedule carefully.
Fans of the push-pull-legs split say, why take a chance? Why not just set up the split routine so at least theoretically, you get optimal recovery? They feel that by doing all the pushing muscles one day – chest shoulders and triceps, and all the pulling muscles the next – back and biceps, there are no muscles being worked two days in a row – not even indirectly, or as some people describe it, there is no “overlap.”
But then fans of the classic split come back and say there is always some kind of overlap that creates a compromise. The push-pull split requires training chest and shoulders the same day, and some people say that if you train shoulders after chest, your shoulder workout suffers due to overlapping fatigue. If you flip the order and do shoulders first, then your chest workout might suffer. That’s why some people prefer to do shoulders with arms, and do shoulders first.
Furthermore, fans of the 3-day classic muscle split point out that you can avoid next day overlap by changing the order of the training days and using the 3 on 1 off rotation like this:
Day 1: Chest, back, abs
Day 2: Quads, hamstrings, calves
Day 3: Shoulders, biceps, triceps
Day 4: Off
Repeat
The Bottom Line: Which Is Better?
Looking at the pros and cons of both sides, you can see there’s a good rationale for using the classic split routine, but there’s also at least one big reason (optimizing recovery) someone might choose the push-pull-legs split.
So which is better? I’m calling it a draw. They are both great split routines and that’s why I offer both types of programs to our members at Burn the Fat Inner Circle.
You will find people achieving great success with both schedules, so while there are advantages and disadvantages of each, it’s hard to say definitely that one is better than the other (even though you will hear people arguing for their favorite).
Ultimately, it may simply come down to personal preference. Do the split routine you enjoy the most, and the one that gives you the best results.
If you want to try the newest push-pull-legs split that was just released for September 2024, you can check it out here ==> The Push Pull Legs 2.0 Program
Tom Venuto,
Founder and CEO, Burn the Fat Inner Circle
About Tom Venuto, The No-BS Fat Loss Coach
Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilding and fat loss expert. He is also a recipe creator specializing in fat-burning, muscle-building cooking. Tom is a former competitive bodybuilder and today works as a full-time fitness coach, writer, blogger, and author. In his spare time, he is an avid outdoor enthusiast and backpacker. His book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle is an international bestseller, first as an ebook and now as a hardcover and audiobook. The Body Fat Solution, Tom’s book about emotional eating and long-term weight maintenance, was an Oprah Magazine and Men’s Fitness Magazine pick. Tom is also the founder of Burn The Fat Inner Circle – a fitness support community with over 52,000 members worldwide since 2006. Click here for membership details
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