Posted: 12/30/2025 9:11:22 PM EDT
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For the past three months I finally buckled down and have been hitting the (basement) gym 4-6 days per week (I have two daughters, wife, life... so some weeks I don't get in as much as Id like) along with trying to improve my diet. Been at the old 'bro split' during the three months and have had some good progress, but know that its not the best program for strength/growth. Im 40yo 5'8, 164lbs. That's down 9lbs and 1.7%bf according to my Amazon smart scale (I know its not 'accurate', I just it just for tracking trends) since Oct 7. I'd like to switch over to a PPL routine and looking for the best combo of exercises for each day. The internet has tons, obviously, but I don't have a gym with all the equipment/machines, I have the basement gym. Rack, adjustable bench, barbell, curl bar, 70lbs Powerblocks, and Bowflex adjustable kettlebell. I usually have 45 mins on a weeknight and an hour on a weekend day for a workout. Push: Bb Bench Arnold Press Incline DB press Side lateral raises **Need tricep ideas** Pull: Bb bent over row Pull Ups Shrugs Ez Bar curl Hammer Db curl **Seems like Im missing something** Legs: Squat Deadlift Front Squat **Not sure what else here** **Various Ab exercises or two** I would ideally get in 4 days per week, so not sure if I should have a Push/Pull/Legs 1 and 2 days be a different mix. Anyways, any feedback would be great and appreciated! |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
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I've been doing PPL, PPL, rest for a while now. I've got a similar setup to you but bought a couple shackles and a cheap pulley system from Amazon (highly recommend). I got some quick release pins from McMaster Carr to move the shackles around easily. Here's what I'm doing: Push day 1: Barbell Bench Press Dumbbell Flys Dips Overhead Barbell Press Triceps press downs (shackle and pulley setup) Pull day 1: Pull ups Seated Cable Rows (shackles and pulleys) Barbell Shrugs (I use a trap bar) Seated Face Pulls (shackle and pulley) Some king of curl Leg Day (same both days - I could probably do more) Barbell Back Squats Trap Bar Deadlifts RDLs Barbell Calf Raises Trap Bar Farmer Carry Push day 2: Incline Barbell Bench Press Incline Dumbbell Flys Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press Dips Dumbbell Skull Crushers (lying down) Pull Day 2: Chin Ups Barbell Rows Single Arm Dumbbell Rows Lat Pull Downs (shackles and pulleys) Some kind of curl Let me know if you want any pics of how I set anything up. Here's the pulley kit I got. Honestly a great $45 investment. Been using it for 2.5 years and still works great.  
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Originally Posted By GnarlyDood: I've been doing PPL, PPL, rest for a while now. Â I've got a similar setup to you but bought a couple shackles and a cheap pulley system from Amazon (highly recommend). Â I got some quick release pins from McMaster Carr to move the shackles around easily. Here's what I'm doing: Push day 1: Barbell Bench Press Dumbbell Flys Dips Overhead Barbell Press Triceps press downs (shackle and pulley setup) Pull day 1: Pull ups Seated Cable Rows (shackles and pulleys) Barbell Shrugs (I use a trap bar) Seated Face Pulls (shackle and pulley) Some king of curl Leg Day (same both days - I could probably do more) Barbell Back Squats Trap Bar Deadlifts RDLs Barbell Calf Raises Trap Bar Farmer Carry Push day 2: Incline Barbell Bench Press Incline Dumbbell Flys Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press Dips Dumbbell Skull Crushers (lying down) Pull Day 2: Chin Ups Barbell Rows Single Arm Dumbbell Rows Lat Pull Downs (shackles and pulleys) Some kind of curl Let me know if you want any pics of how I set anything up. Here's the pulley kit I got. Â Honestly a great $45 investment. Â Been using it for 2.5 years and still works great. www.amazon.com/dp/B09MN82BQP That's an awesome suggestion with the pulley kit, I really never considered looking to see if I could add something on. I have a rack built for low ceilings, but I'm sure I could rig something up on the floor joists above that might work. Any pics of your setup would be appreciated! |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
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Originally Posted By laxman09: For the past three months I finally buckled down and have been hitting the (basement) gym 4-6 days per week (I have two daughters, wife, life... so some weeks I don't get in as much as Id like) along with trying to improve my diet. Been at the old 'bro split' during the three months and have had some good progress, but know that its not the best program for strength/growth. Im 40yo 5'8, 164lbs. That's down 9lbs and 1.7%bf according to my Amazon smart scale (I know its not 'accurate', I just it just for tracking trends) since Oct 7. I'd like to switch over to a PPL routine and looking for the best combo of exercises for each day. The internet has tons, obviously, but I don't have a gym with all the equipment/machines, I have the basement gym. Rack, adjustable bench, barbell, curl bar, 70lbs Powerblocks, and Bowflex adjustable kettlebell. I usually have 45 mins on a weeknight and an hour on a weekend day for a workout. Push: Bb Bench Arnold Press Incline DB press Side lateral raises **Need tricep ideas** Pull: Bb bent over row Pull Ups Shrugs Ez Bar curl Hammer Db curl **Seems like Im missing something** Legs: Squat Deadlift Front Squat **Not sure what else here** **Various Ab exercises or two** I would ideally get in 4 days per week, so not sure if I should have a Push/Pull/Legs 1 and 2 days be a different mix. Anyways, any feedback would be great and appreciated! You could do skullcrushers with the curl bar or kettlebell. I would move Deadlift to pull day. Deadlifting, squatting and front squatting in the same day is going to suck. I'm doing a PPL 3 Day split right now. I actually do Pull, Legs, Push to mix it up. I don't like doing legs at the first or end of the week lol. I've actually thought about spacing pull and legs since my lower back is sometimes not recovered from deadlift by the time I go to squat. |
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Originally Posted By cdholmes: You could do skullcrushers with the curl bar or kettlebell. I would move Deadlift to pull day. Â Deadlifting, squatting and front squatting in the same day is going to suck. I'm doing a PPL 3 Day split right now. Â I actually do Pull, Legs, Push to mix it up. Â I don't like doing legs at the first or end of the week lol. Â I've actually thought about spacing pull and legs since my lower back is sometimes not recovered from deadlift by the time I go to squat. Yeah I think that's a smart switch, especially since I really enjoy DL and squatting. |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
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Originally Posted By laxman09: That's an awesome suggestion with the pulley kit, I really never considered looking to see if I could add something on. I have a rack built for low ceilings, but I'm sure I could rig something up on the floor joists above that might work. Any pics of your setup would be appreciated! My rack has a pull up bar that angles up and away from the verticals but you could do similar assuming you have a 4 post rack with a pull up bar/cross member up front and another cross member across the back. The pulley kit comes with straps that make looping it over a pull up bar or whatever easy too. I only use the shackles to stop on any side to side movement if I'm using a low and a high pulley (seated rows or curls mostly) but honestly if you're moving slow and controlled they'll stay put with the straps. Here's a few pics you can see I've made a few changes over the years: Lat pull down: Attached File Old lat pull down setup (worked well but now I use a safety arm to put my legs under on the first pic above): Attached File Attached File Cable curls: Attached File Triceps press down (same setup for face pulls): Attached File You can get really creative with all the stuff that comes in that kit. Rafters would be your friend. I don't have the width but would like to figure out a way to do cable flys as well. |
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Unfortunately I don't have a front cross bar. I bought this rack for my previous house, which has an even lower ceiling and the posts were actually between the rafters there. The exposed rafters could provide a place I could mount some cross bars or something. I might buy the kit and see if I can figure out some rig points. |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
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I ran one like this, it was okay, but for me legs need as much work as my upper body, so I only ran it for one winter. The nice thing about PPL, is once you're warmed up, you can just cruise right through it. First exercise was 3x5, next two were 3x10-12. Every 6 weeks I would swap the first two exercises to do the other rep scheme with them. Pull- Barbell Row Weighted Pullups Bicep Curls Push- Overhead Press Weighted Dips Tricep Pushdowns Legs- Back Squat RDL Calf Raises Edit: Here's one that more like a PLPL that's pretty balanced. The main lift can just be any variation, and OHP can be bench or incline press. Upper Pull- Barbell Row - Heavy Bodyweight Chins - AMRAP x3 Barbell Curls - 3x10-12 Lower Push - Squat BW Squat (or lunges or jump squats, or whatever) Leg Extension Rest Upper Push- OHP BW Dips Tricep Pushdowns Lower Pull- Deadlift Nordic Curl or Harop Curl Leg Curl |
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