9 Weeks In: Push, Pull, Legs Update

Okay first off, I have no idea how it’s already been over nine weeks since I started my push/pull/legs routine. How does time fly that fast?? Secondly, I don’t think I’ve ever been more in love with a program in my life.

So after running this split for the past 9 weeks, I thought it was time to really go into detail about the pros and cons of said split and exactly how I choose and structure my workouts. This is going to be a long post so hold on and let’s get into it.

Pros

Overall, I love this split, and I’ve seen the most progress in these past 9 weeks than a majority of my first year of training. I feel like I’m training like an athlete, and my physique is slowly reflecting that. Not only have I seen an improvement in muscle definition, but I’ve seen in increase in fat loss as well. The fat loss may not be completely attributed to this split, but I’m pretty certain it has something to do with it.

Increases frequency for each muscle group
All workouts are consistent in length
Very flexible for unexpected days off
Results upon results
Increase in strength

If I miss a workout because life just gets in the way, it’s really easy to just hop back on the train. Because I’m working each muscle group 2x a week, I’m not as worried about missing a day if I have to. With the old body part split I used to follow, if I missed an arm session or a shoulder day, I’d be stressed because I wouldn’t be able to hit that muscle group for probably another week. I no longer have that problem.

Cons

No set days for specific workouts
Took awhile to adjust to the lower daily volume of the workouts

Yeah so there aren’t really a lot of cons to this split. It’s working really well for me right now, and I can’t complain much. I will say that not having set days of the week for a specific workout is a bit of an adjustment, but I feel like it’s going to really work for me once classes are in full swing.

Structure

I always receive questions about how I set up my specific days, how I know what exercises to program, and how many sets/reps to do of each exercise.

Fun fact: I don’t really have an answer for that.

But what I do have is a lot of research. I’ve spent hours upon hours learning about optimal training volumes, the best workout splits, and everything in between.

I can do all of the research I want, but what matters most is that I’ve paid attention to what works for me. The biggest part about designing and structuring workouts is just knowing how your body responds to exercises.

In no way is this program perfect, but it’s what works for me, and it’s what I love.

Under each day, I explain the muscles worked and which muscle group I like to make the primary focus. This means I’m going to be doing the most sets for that particular muscle group. Under each muscle group, I’ve listed my favorite exercises. Of course I love trying new exercises and supersets, but these are some of my absolute staples!

Push

Muscles Worked: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps

Primary Focus: Shoulders

I live for having shoulder boulders, so I focus my push days on shoulders. Usually people focus on chest, but those people are usually guys and they have a reason to want to work chest. For girls, our chesticle muscles are a bit hidden, and I don’t really prefer to work them. But, chest is still important to work, so don’t forget to throw in some chest exercises!

Chest: 6-8 sets of 2 exercises

Incline Bench

Shoulders: 12-16 sets of 3 exercises (classifying a superset as one exercise…)

Single Arm Standing Shoulder Press
Barbell Shoulder Press -> Lateral Raise (superset)
My oh-so-famous shoulder burnout

Triceps: 6-8 sets of 2 exercises

Tricep Pushdowns
Overhead Tricep Cable Extension

Pull

Muscles Worked: Back, Biceps, Rear Delts

Primary Focus: Back

I usually pull deadlifts on my pull days. Recently I haven’t been doing deadlifts as much as I should because the gym environment of my school gym is just not what I need for deadlifting. But, I’m going to try to get back into once classes get in full swing, and everything settles into a routine.

Back: 12-16 sets of 3-5 exercises

Lat Pulldowns
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Narrow Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown

Biceps: 6-8 sets of 2-3 exercises

Bicep 21s

Rear Delts: 4 sets of 1 exercise

Rear Delt Flyes

Legs

Muscles Worked: Glutes, Hamstrings, Quads

Primary Focus: Glutes & Hamstrings

Okay I’m going to be completely honest here. I don’t count sets for specific muscle groups when I program my leg days. I do 6 to 7 total exercises on my leg days and I try to break them up like this:

Glutes
Quads
Hamstrings
Quads
Hamstrings
Glutes

I start and end with glute movements because that’s where I really want to build up muscle. Starting with glutes allows me to get the most power and strength in my hip thrusts. I then burn them out with glute kickbacks as a finisher. And if I’m feeling really crazy that day, I add in a 4×30 of bodyweight lunges at the end of the workout.

I use Evernote to keep track of all of my workouts. I love it because I can easily add, update, and remove things from my phone or laptop and it all stays in sync. It’s perfect for me because I’m indecisive and love to switch up what I’m doing all the time…

Don’t forget to follow me on Insta so you can see my daily workouts like the ones above! As always, if you have any questions regarding the workouts, exercises, or just want to talk fitness, send me an email or message me on any social media platform!

Do you have a specific workout split you enjoy doing? Are you looking for a new split? Let me know all your fitness goals and favorite workouts down below!

~abigail gray