PPL: two ways of spreading out volume, pros/cons?

[andy0]

Hi all,

I'm currently running a 6 day Push Pull Legs routine. I have one workout for each day, so I do the exact same push exercises twice in the week week, and same for pull and legs.

Each workout is 6 exercises, all done for 3 x 8 - 12.

I'm wondering what would happen if I split up my exercises so I do three per workout, but double the volume. That way I would do the same total volume, but would lose less time changing equipment. For example, instead of doing this same Pull workout twice per week:

1. Chin up 3 x 8
2. Row 3 x 12
3. Shrug 3 x 12
4. Facepull 3 x 20
5. DB Curl 3 x 12
6. Hammer Curl 3 x 12

Instead, I would split it into two distinct workouts, e.g.:

1. Chin up 6 x 8
2. Shrug 6 x 12
3. DB Curl 6 x 12

And:

1. Row 6 x 12
2. Facepull 6 x 20
3. Hammer Curl 6 x 12

What would be the pros and cons of this do you think?

 

[noah732]

@andy0 There's only one real way to find out and that's to run it for 4 weeks (or longer if you're enjoying it). Nobody can really say as people respond differently to changing programming. With having 6 sets per exercise, you might find you end up sandbagging some of the sets to hit the numbers in your later sets which isn't ideal, but who knows, it might be absolutely fine for you. Give it a blast and see how you feel at the end of the training block; how tired you feel, muscle recovery, etc.

 

[johnc101]

@andy0 likely you won't be able to perform as well on your 4th thru 6th set of each exercise which will lead to less hypertrophy. you also miss the chance to stimulate the same muscle patterns 2x a week as the exercises are slightly different. so rear delts for example are being hit directly only once per week now instead of twice, and it's debatable if the indirect work will equalize. i don't see any benefit of changing it if you're simply looking for an answer based on hypertrophy/strength.

don't miss forest for the trees though - we're talking about very small differences that you probably won't notice and by the time any differences show up, you'll probably have adjusted your training to something else anyway. so, if this makes your sessions more enjoyable, easier to facilitate, or you enjoy them more - have at it. i just can't think of any benefits of doing it this way from a purely training perspective is all

 

[prestonz]

@andy0 I actually have no idea. Probably no effect, but I want to see what other people say

 

[dawn16]

@andy0 I like option 1 better, 6 sets of anything is a drag

 

[moej]

@andy0 Option 1, also look into evolving rep ranges like, 4-8 for chin ups instead of 8 reps across all your sets. Another good option is to use a top set.
For example you do your first set at your body weight plus 20 lbs. Then your next 2 sets you do body weight , maybe add 2 reps for your body weight sets to keep it challenging

 

[dkml]

@andy0 You don't need to have both your pull / push / leg days be identical. You could have a vertical focus pull day and a horizontal focus pull day. E.g.

Vertical focus pull:

4 sets of chin ups

3 sets of rows

3 sets of facepulls

3 sets of shrugs

3 sets of DB curl

horizontal focus pull:

4 sets of rows

3 sets of lat pulldown

3 sets of shrugs

3 sets of Hammer curl

You can swap out set numbers and exercises etc but you're still hitting every muscle group twice a week with fewer exercises.

 

[andy0]

@dkml Thank you that's aa good point, really helpful!!

 

[4nature]

@andy0 All research shows that frequency has a minimal effect on muscle growth provided weekly volume stays the same.

The problem is that it's a lot harder to do the same volume across 3 days as 6 days. So you'll probably end up doing less volume than if you spread your workout across 6 days. But if you can push through the fatigue, it'll be the same.

Honestly, though, unless you have a deadline, slight optimizations don't matter nearly as much as doing a routine that works with your schedule.