Moving from P/P/L/Upper/L to 6 day PPL

[senators65]

Hey,

As the title says, I'm interested in trying a 6 day heavy/light PPL split. I'm currently working out in a home gym with access to a squat rack, adjustable bench (incline/decline/flat), dumbbells, dip bars, pull up bars, barbell and an EZ curl bar. My goals are to balance strength and hypertrophy.

Currently I'm working on a push/legs/pull/rest/upper/lower/rest routine, and I'm managing recovery well. What are your thoughts on this program?

MONDAY - PULL (heavy)
Pullups (wide grip) - 4x4-6
Barbell row - 4x4-6
Deadlift - 3x3

TUESDAY - PUSH (heavy)
Incline barbell bench - 4x4-6
Behind-the-neck press - 4x4-6
Dips - 4x4-6

WEDNESDAY - LEGS & CORE (heavy)
High bar squat - 5x4-6
Romanian deadlift - 3x4-6
Sprints
Core work

THURSDAY - REST

FRIDAY - PULL (light)
Close grip chins - 3x8-10
Dumbbell row - 3x8-10
Shrugs - 3x8-10
Reverse dumbbell fly - 3x8-10
Curls - 3x8-10

SATURDAY - PUSH (light)
Incline dumbbell press - 3x8-10
Flat dumbbell press - 3x8-10
Arnold press - 3x8-10
Lateral raise - 3x8-10
Skullcrushers - 3x8-10

SUNDAY - LEGS (light)
High bar squat - 3x8-10
Leg extension - 3x8-10
Hamstring curl - 3x8-10
Calf raise - 3x8-10

For reference, I've been told by my physio that I have impingement due to muscular imbalance (overdeveloped anterior delt relative to posterior). My chest, medial and posterior delt development are all lagging behind my back in terms of both strength gains and size, so I'm not sure if I should put more emphasis on pushing exercises in my routine.

All feedback appreciated!

[air2fakie]

Focusing on pushing will make your impingement worse. Also, your rear delts are developed with your pull work, not pushing.

Per your other post, nothing is likely lagging. Everything just needs to be developed more.

[senators65]

Focusing on pushing will make your impingement worse. Also, your rear delts are developed with your pull work, not pushing.

Per your other post, nothing is likely lagging. Everything just needs to be developed more.

Thanks for the feedback!

[TAWS6]

Per your other post, nothing is likely lagging. Everything just needs to be developed more.

This makes me think that ULPPL and PPL twice per week are poor choices. Probably better off with a novice or early intermediate routine (Candito's linear, Lyles GBR, All pro's)

[BeginnerGainz]

Why that particular rep range for every exercise?

[health4life24]

A pyramid rep scheme would allow you to incorporate both hypertrophy and strength training with more frequency, versus alternating between heavy and light days.

For example, x12, x10, x8, x6, x3, x1. Reps decrease as you increase the weight. You could also do the reverse and start heavy with less reps and work down to lower weight with more reps, but you have to be real careful and make sure you are thoroughly warmed up if you do that to prevent injury. The thing I have noticed with the pyramid rep scheme where you start light with more reps and work up to heavy weight with less reps, is you are warming your muscles up and getting yourself prepared to handle the heavy strength sets. Same if starting heavy and working down to lighter weight. Able to get more reps in with heavier weight as you decrease the weight with higher
(hypertrophy) reps. At least that's my experience with it. That's one of the reasons why I have personally found it works so well to be able to increase the weight / reps and make progress.

You don't necessarily have to do that many sets or go that heavy, I'm just showing you for reference.

It is more advanced because the volume would tend to be higher.

This is what I typically do, hitting every muscle group twice per week on a 6 day split. Has allowed me to increase weight and reps at a much faster rate than if I was to break it up into a heavy and light session.

But really it depends on your recovery and what you are able to do. You have to try some things out and find what works. If you start out doing too much without gradually adapting to the workload it could hinder recovery and progress.

[senators65]

A pyramid rep scheme would allow you to incorporate both hypertrophy and strength training with more frequency, versus alternating between heavy and light days.

For example, x12, x10, x8, x6, x3, x1. Reps decrease as you increase the weight. You could also do the reverse and start heavy with less reps and work down to lower weight with more reps, but you have to be real careful and make sure you are thoroughly warmed up if you do that to prevent injury. The thing I have noticed with the pyramid rep scheme where you start light with more reps and work up to heavy weight with less reps, is you are warming your muscles up and getting yourself prepared to handle the heavy strength sets. Same if starting heavy and working down to lighter weight. Able to get more reps in with heavier weight as you decrease the weight with higher
(hypertrophy) reps. At least that's my experience with it. That's one of the reasons why I have personally found it works so well to be able to increase the weight / reps and make progress.

You don't necessarily have to do that many sets or go that heavy, I'm just showing you for reference.

It is more advanced because the volume would tend to be higher.

This is what I typically do, hitting every muscle group twice per week on a 6 day split. Has allowed me to increase weight and reps at a much faster rate than if I was to break it up into a heavy and light session.

But really it depends on your recovery and what you are able to do. You have to try some things out and find what works. If you start out doing too much without gradually adapting to the workload it could hinder recovery and progress.

That's interesting. The volume seems pretty intense with that though, how many exercises are you typically doing in a workout? How often do you deload on that program?

[health4life24]

That's interesting. The volume seems pretty intense with that though, how many exercises are you typically doing in a workout? How often do you deload on that program?

Exercises vary. Sometimes as low as 6-7, sometimes as high as 6-10+. Total sets could fall anywhere between 30-50+ per week per muscle group. Keep in mind I am providing a large gap because it largely depends how I feel. I adjust my training each session depending how aggressive I want to go. If that makes sense.

Normally I would plan to deload or take some time off every 8-12 weeks whether I feel I need to or not.

I want to strongly emphasize that I have been training like this for a good amount of time so my body has adapted to the volume and I am able to recover and consistently make progress without getting burnt out. It is NOT meant for beginner lifters who aren't used to that much volume nor am I advocating such high volume. I'm simply sharing my personal experiences just for the sake of different perspective.

[senators65]

Exercises vary. Sometimes as low as 6-7, sometimes as high as 6-10+. Total sets could fall anywhere between 30-50+ per week per muscle group. Keep in mind I am providing a large gap because it largely depends how I feel. I adjust my training each session depending how aggressive I want to go. If that makes sense.

Normally I would plan to deload or take some time off every 8-12 weeks whether I feel I need to or not.

I want to strongly emphasize that I have been training like this for a good amount of time so my body has adapted to the volume and I am able to recover and consistently make progress without getting burnt out. It is NOT meant for beginner lifters who aren't used to that much volume nor am I advocating such high volume. I'm simply sharing my personal experiences just for the sake of different perspective.

Thanks for the insight. It sounds like too much volume for me on the higher end of what you do, but I might try that out when I plateau with my current plan.