Arnold split vs push pull legs: which 6-day split should you run?

Both splits train every muscle twice a week across 6 days. Run PPL if you want shorter sessions and more shoulder and arm work. Run the Arnold split if chest and back come first and you recover well from long sessions. If you can only count on 6 sessions in a good week, run neither.

What is the difference between the Arnold split and push pull legs?

The Arnold split pairs opposing muscles. Push pull legs pairs muscles that work together.

The Arnold split pairs chest with back and shoulders with arms, and legs get a day of their own. Like PPL, it runs 6 days and trains each muscle twice. Our Arnold split plan is named after the training Arnold Schwarzenegger described in the 1970s. StrengthLog traces it to The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Dobbins, with 8 to 12 reps on most exercises.

PPL groups muscles by movement. Push is chest, shoulders and triceps. Pull is back and biceps. Then comes legs. Our 6-day PPL plan runs Push A, Pull A, Legs A, Push B, Pull B, Legs B, with Sunday off.

Frequency is the same on both. A review by Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger found that when volume is equal, how often you train a muscle does not meaningfully change growth. So the real differences are the pairings, the sets each muscle gets and how hard the next day is.

Which split gives more sets per muscle?

It depends on the version you copy. Hard sets are working sets that end within a few reps of failure, each counted for the muscle it mainly trains. Warm-up sets do not count.

Jefit's Arnold split post counts the weekly hard sets of its Arnold split against a PPL from Reddit:

In that example, the Arnold split gives more to chest and back. PPL gives more to shoulders and biceps. Treat it as one example, not a rule. Another version of either split, or another way of counting the rows that also hit the biceps, moves the numbers.

The number per muscle matters more than the split's name. A 2017 meta-analysis by Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger pooled 34 treatment groups from 15 studies. More weekly sets went with more growth. Our guide on sets and reps for muscle gives about 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle a week as the target.

Does the Arnold split really build bigger arms?

Not by default. A dedicated arm day sounds like more arm work. But shoulders share that session, so it fits fewer arm sets than many people expect.

PPL hits the arms from more angles. Triceps get pressing work and direct work on both push days. Biceps get rows, pulldowns and curls on both pull days. That is how the Reddit PPL ends up with 16 biceps sets against 12 in Jefit's count.

The usual arguments do not settle it. EMG is electrical activity measured with sensors on the skin. It shows which muscles fire, not how much each will grow. A pump is a feeling in the session, not a measure of growth. Growth still depends on weekly volume, effort and adding weight over time.

No study has compared arm growth between these 2 splits. Pick by the sets you will actually do.

Whatever the split, use double progression on curls. Stay at the same weight inside 10 to 12 reps. Say you curl 14 kg dumbbells for 3 sets. Once you hit 12 on every set, add the smallest step next session and work back up from 10.

How long does each session take?

Arnold chest and back days are the longest of the week. They carry the most sets, so original versions use supersets to fit them in. A superset is 2 exercises back to back with no rest between them.

PPL spreads the same upper-body work over 2 days, so each session is usually shorter.

You can estimate it yourself. Multiply your sets by set time plus rest. Take 20 sets on a chest and back day, 45 seconds per set and 2 minutes of rest. That is 20 × 2.75 minutes, about 55 minutes before warm-ups. A push day of 16 sets at the same pace comes to about 44 minutes. Our post on rest between sets covers rest lengths. Our PPL plan uses 2 to 3 minutes after heavy compound lifts and 60 to 90 seconds after isolation work.

Supersets look good on paper. They fall apart when the bench and the cable row are at opposite ends of the gym and one of them is taken. Then you rest anyway, and the session runs long. For how much time a session needs in general, read how long a session should be. It puts almost everyone at 45 to 75 minutes.

Which split is easier to recover from?

PPL, for most people. The Arnold order puts shoulders and arms the day after chest and back. Bench and rows have already worked your front shoulders, triceps and biceps. You start the next day's presses and curls with tired muscles.

On PPL, the pushing muscles get 2 days off before the next push session. The same goes for pull. Monday's bench is 3 days from Thursday's.

Our Arnold split page is blunt about the bigger issue. 6 sessions a week is more than most people recover from, and volume is the problem for natural lifters, not the split. Lift Vault notes the same about Arnold's Basic Training Program #1: many lifters cannot keep up with its volume and frequency.

Plan lighter weeks on either split. A deload is a lighter week that lets fatigue drop. Our PPL plan recommends one every 6 to 8 weeks of training. Our deload week post covers what to cut.

Read fatigue across the week, not the day. One rough session is not a signal. A pattern across a week is. If Thursday's bench drops after a weak Monday, back off.

Who should run each split?

Run the Arnold split if chest and back are your priority. Sessions of 75 minutes or more should fit your day. You should also have 6 free days in a bad week.

Run PPL if shoulders and arms are your priority or you want shorter sessions. It also suits you if you want to drop to 3 days in a busy week.

Run neither if you are new to the gym. A 3-day full-body plan or a 3-day PPL builds the basics faster. Muscle Evo calls both 6-day splits suited to late intermediate and advanced lifters.

Count the days you can train in a bad week, not a good one. If that number is 4, use upper/lower or PHUL. Our PHUL vs PHAT post helps with 4 or 5 days. If size is the goal on 4 days, our hypertrophy plan runs 8 weeks.

Can't decide? StrengthLog's PPL x Arnold split combines the 2 layouts.

What should you do if a lift hurts on either split?

Change the lift, do not push through it. Both splits press and row twice a week. A shoulder that hurts on the bench shows up 2 times a week, not once.

Name the body part, not the lift. Your shoulder hurts, not the bench press. Then swap the exercise for one that spares the joint, such as a press with a different grip. Sharp or lasting pain belongs to a physio or a doctor. Our post on what to do when a lift hurts walks through it.

Putting it together

Frequency is equal on both splits. Pick by priority muscle, session length and recovery. Most natural lifters do better on fewer days than 6.

Before you switch splits, collect evidence. Log every set and its RPE (how hard it felt, from 1 to 10) for 4 weeks. Then compare your numbers. If your main lifts climbed, stay. If they fell, cut a day. For choosing by the days you have, read how to choose a split.

How does Trackist run a 6-day split?

Trackist writes a plan from 14 questions instead of handing over a named template. It cannot follow a famous program by name. Answer with 6 training days and a muscle-building goal, and Trackist writes the plan.

The app has no supersets, dropsets or rest-pause sets in its plans.

The weight moves from session to session. From your second session of an exercise, Trackist suggests the weight from your last sets, target reps and logged RPE. Hit the top of the rep range on every set, and next session the barbell goes up 2.5 kg. It does not change the weight between sets.

When a week goes wrong, the plan responds. After a poor night, low energy or soreness, the app offers a lighter session: one set fewer on each strength exercise with more than one, at the same weights. When something hurts, a swap changes the exercise. It does not treat the injury. In plans of 6 weeks or more, the last week is a deload at about 60% of the sets.

Log your next session in Trackist. Trackist writes a plan around your week and your gym, and suggests your next weight from the sets you logged.