Coolcicada's Push/Pull/Legs Routine

[LegsOrNah]

How much rest would be recommended between sets for 3x5 bench?

[Kesus]

How much rest would be recommended between sets for 3x5 bench?

You should take as long as you feel you need to recover but with that said 2 - 4 mins.

Hey one question.. on push days can i switch from flat barbell bench to flat dumbell bench?

With dumbbell it will be a bit more difficult to make progress unless your gym offers lower increments but yes you can.

In regards to DL, what is the rep range and sets if you want to include on Coolcicada PPL. I'm not interested in Spider's.

Personally I do 1 set of 5 - 6 not counting my warm ups.

[Nytrox]

Which should be the angle for bent over rows?

[joseal94]

You should take as long as you feel you need to recover but with that said 2 - 4 mins.


With dumbbell it will be a bit more difficult to make progress unless your gym offers lower increments but yes you can.


Personally I do 1 set of 5 - 6 not counting my warm ups.

Reason i ask if i can use dumbells instead is because i can feel a better chest contraction when using dumbells

[joseal94]

Hey can i do 5x5 for compound exercises? Or it has to be 3x5

[Marwan4449]

Jus started this routine and I'm on my second week I added DL and doing 3 sets of 5-6 but I go like this PPLPPL rest and I do DL on the second pull. Can't wait to see the gains on this workout

[joseal94]

Jus started this routine and I'm on my second week I added DL and doing 3 sets of 5-6 but I go like this PPLPPL rest and I do DL on the second pull. TCan't wait to see the gains on this workout

What exercise did you removed to put deadlifts?

[iloveus]

What exercise did you removed to put deadlifts?

Just add deadlifts. I do them first before the pull ups.

[iloveus]

What exercise did you removed to put deadlifts?

Just add deadlifts. I do them first before the pull ups.

[joseal94]

Just add deadlifts. I do them first before the pull ups.

Oh but coolcicada's routine doesn't have pullups lol

[sufiandy]

Good thread, I have been doing a routine like this for a while now. 2 questions and 2 comments.

q1) What do you suggest when all limits on weight increases have been met and you can't progress any further at least not after a few weeks or even more on some lifts. I was thinking about adding some type of intensity cycling where you just reset the weight everything at a certain point. This would mean dropping the weight on everything 10%+ then 2 months or so to catch back up, then hopefully go further than where you were previously.

q2) Would you modify this any if you didn't care at all about strength, only hypertrophy? I normally try to do both but I want to try size only for a while.


- I've found that an A and B workout on each day works best with this, it solves the problem of where to put deadlifts. You can still squat twice a week but just DL once which works well. For push and pull days I start day A with horizontal or vertical movement then opposite on the B day. You have 6 different workouts so you can only increase weight on a given lift at most once a week, which is good or bad depending on who you ask.

- Number of days off might depend on the individual, possibly age is a factor too. 2 on 1 off seems to work best for me but in the past I would prefer 3 on 1 off or even all 6 I could manage it. What you do outside the gym is probably something to consider too.

[BinceVince]

This is a really good routine, but what about the abs? This routine doesn't have any ab workouts. For spiderman997's routine, for pull he only works on the middle and upper chest. Aren't you suppose to work lower chest too? How many workouts are you suppose to have for each muscle group? And I don't get how many reps you're suppose to do for these. Are you suppose to do 3x5, 3x8, 3x10, etc.? Can someone please help me. I recently got into Push, pull, legs.

[joseal94]

This is a really good routine, but what about the abs? This routine doesn't have any ab workouts. For spiderman997's routine, for pull he only works on the middle and upper chest. Aren't you suppose to work lower chest too? How many workouts are you suppose to have for each muscle group? And I don't get how many reps you're suppose to do for these. Are you suppose to do 3x5, 3x8, 3x10, etc.? Can someone please help me. I recently got into Push, pull, legs.

It says 3x5. So do 5reps of 3sets

[ballzaak]

I've been stagnant for over a year not really able to get out of the plateau, so I got into this one - and have had noticeable gains in a couple weeks. A few weeks in, I tweaked it slightly. I've moved things around, probably ruined the routine as it is, but hey. I'll sometimes swap out the bench and the military press with weight pushups and pike presses, and ABS get tacked onto whatever day I feel I have the stamina for it, 2/3 times a week, which is most often leg day.

Currently:
- BB Bench
- Mil DB Press
- Incline DB Bench
- Dips
- Delt side raises (whatever they're officially called)
- Standing Skulls

- BB Row
- Shrugs
- DB Curls
- Hammers
- Pull ups
- Back flyes

- Squats
- Standing calf raises
- Weight kickbacks
- Kettlebell swing twist (single arm)

Abs are a combo of Leg raises, Sit-ups, and Russian twists with 15-20lbs on my chest. Sometimes, I'll exchange one of the Push or Pull days with an entirely calisthenics centric workout - pull-ups, chin ups, diamond pushups, eagle pushups, muscle ups (my limit is.... 1 so far), pistol squats, dips...and most of those are weighted. Recently got some gymnastic rings to help w/ stabilization; I love them so far.

Leg day can improve, but my legs move me fast and my butt is nice and tight already so I'm not worried lol.

So, probably I'm messed up Cicada's basic thing going on, but the basic routine was what got me out of my plateau. I'm not a pro by any means. This routine is a great one for anyone to use. Props, OP.

[HumanSuperman]

Use to do this routine and I loved it

[danielmoo]

I've posted this before, but this has been an incredible routine for me personally in terms of strength/size.

Anyone considering this PPL - I HIGHLY recommend that you stick to the amount of exercises that CC has included and not go over. Recovery is essential for growth, and if you're adding in another 3 sets of something else, that's just simply too much volume (2x a week) for a natural lifter. Just my 2 cents.

[Tonyy926]

Question:

Can we do traps on pullday instead?

[ImJJames]

Holy **** this is old, but I will be trying this routine starting today. I am coming from doing 7 day brosplit. Reoccurring injuries is making me think about switching to more low volume routine. I think this is good.

Where can I add Abs though? I personally would like to target my abs directly.

[danielmoo]

Question:

Can we do traps on pullday instead?

Yes, I switched shrugs and rear-deli work around for my first time doing this.

Holy **** this is old, but I will be trying this routine starting today. I am coming from doing 7 day brosplit. Reoccurring injuries is making me think about switching to more low volume routine. I think this is good.

Where can I add Abs though? I personally would like to target my abs directly.

Abs can be added on leg day after you do the routine. But like I said, don't add too much volume.

[MalarsPlace]

Regarding the below first 3 exercises of the push day.... what is everyones thoughts on alternating chest/shoulder/chest, as opposed to doing flat bench, incline bench, THEN shoulder OHP? I was going to start this next week, and wanted to see if i should keep the order as is, or keep chest as fresh as possible for both chest pushes...

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3x5
Seated (or Standing) Barbell Shoulder/Overhead Press: 3x5
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3x5

[sufiandy]

Regarding the below first 3 exercises of the push day.... what is everyones thoughts on alternating chest/shoulder/chest, as opposed to doing flat bench, incline bench, THEN shoulder OHP? I was going to start this next week, and wanted to see if i should keep the order as is, or keep chest as fresh as possible for both chest pushes...

Flat Barbell Bench Press: 3x5
Seated (or Standing) Barbell Shoulder/Overhead Press: 3x5
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3x5

I'm not sure I understand the question, are you asking to alternate in a single session or just change the order the next time you do push day? As a side note, if I could only make 1 minor change to this program it would be swapping Incline BBP with Incline DB Press for slightly higher reps like 6-8 or 8-10s. All other days have 1 3x5 BB lift it doesn't make sense for this day to have 3. This would simplify any need for swapping.

[MalarsPlace]

I'm not sure I understand the question, are you asking to alternate in a single session or just change the order the next time you do push day? As a side note, if I could only make 1 minor change to this program it would be swapping Incline BBP with Incline DB Press for slightly higher reps like 6-8 or 8-10s. All other days have 1 3x5 BB lift it doesn't make sense for this day to have 3. This would simplify any need for swapping.

Sorry, I will try to rephrase my question. Currently, the routine has flat, then shoulder press, then incline. Do YOU leave this order of exercises as is, or would it be better to have shoulders as the third so that the chest is fresh for BOTH flat and incline (rather than fatigued having Shoulder OHP in between).

[sufiandy]

Sorry, I will try to rephrase my question. Currently, the routine has flat, then shoulder press, then incline. Do YOU leave this order of exercises as is, or would it be better to have shoulders as the third so that the chest is fresh for BOTH flat and incline (rather than fatigued having Shoulder OHP in between).

Personally I like the current order, but like I said I would change the incline to DB and make it more of an assistance type lift vs a main 3x5 lift. The main reason is flat press and overhead press are almost equally important movements so you do them first, typically people do flat first since bench press is more popular. If you were testing your strength these 2 are good indicators, incline is not as important.

[MalarsPlace]

Personally I like the current order, but like I said I would change the incline to DB and make it more of an assistance type lift vs a main 3x5 lift. The main reason is flat press and overhead press are almost equally important movements so you do them first, typically people do flat first since bench press is more popular. If you were testing your strength these 2 are good indicators, incline is not as important.

good point on switching to DB for incline.

[Hooverville]

Subbed for good chit

[SurgeonBrah]

Will try, looks good

[joseal94]

Hello, I have a question.. on push days it says to do Overhead Dumbbell Extension or similar triceps exercise.. so I was wondering if I can do standing skullcrushers with a ez bar ?

[sufiandy]

Hello, I have a question.. on push days it says to do Overhead Dumbbell Extension or similar triceps exercise.. so I was wondering if I can do standing skullcrushers with a ez bar ?

That should be fine its a really minor change just keep the same sets and reps. I actually just do my tricep stuff depending on what equipment is available so it changes each week. For the most part this program should be fine by swapping any lift with an almost equivalent one for the same muscle groups. When you try to add more (nobody seems to want to subtract) or do something too different you get into problems and must ask why you are more qualified to modify a program than the one who wrote it, if in doubt go with the guy who has the biggest triceps.

[joseal94]

I have a question.. can I replace dumbell lateral raise with cable lateral raise?

[DChavez25]

I have a question.. can I replace dumbell lateral raise with cable lateral raise?

Yes Sir