I’ve tried enough gym routines at this point to know that the one you actually stick to beats the perfect one you abandon by week three.
Right now I’m running a Push/Pull/Legs/Upper/Lower split. Five days a week, Monday through Friday. Saturdays and Sundays off. And before you ask, yes, I know there are fancier, more optimized, science-backed programs out there. This one has given me more visible muscle growth and strength gains than anything else I’ve tried. So here we are.
I work out on my lunch break. That’s the deal. Thirty to forty-five minutes, in and out, back at my desk before anyone notices I was gone. No two-hour gym sessions, no elaborate warm-up rituals, no lingering between sets scrolling Instagram.
When you only have 45 minutes, you get real selective about what makes the cut. Every exercise in this routine earns its spot.
Also, I’m not hard on myself if I miss a day. Work blows up. Kids need stuff. Life happens. I skip a day, I pick back up the next one. The routine doesn’t collapse because I missed a Wednesday. That flexibility is actually part of why it works for me.
The Split
Five days, five different sessions. The week looks like this:
- Monday: Push
- Tuesday: Pull
- Wednesday: Legs
- Thursday: Upper
- Friday: Lower
- Saturday/Sunday: Rest
The PPL/UL combo means I’m hitting muscle groups more than once a week without destroying myself. Push and pull get a second look through the Upper day. Legs get two dedicated sessions. It’s a solid balance between frequency and recovery.
The Workouts
Push (7 exercises, 22 sets)
Chest, shoulders, triceps. This is the Monday session.
- Bench Press (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Shoulder Press (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Chest Fly (Machine) – 3 sets
- Overhead Triceps Extension (Cable) – 3 sets
- Tricep Pushdown (Cable) – 3 sets
Barbell bench press anchors the session. Everything else supports and isolates from there.
Pull (7 exercises, 22 sets)
Back and biceps. The Tuesday session.
- Bent Over Row (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Lat Pulldown (Cable) – 3 sets
- Seated Cable Row (Cable) – 3 sets
- Face Pull (Cable) – 3 sets
- Incline Bicep Curl (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Preacher Curl (EZ Bar) – 3 sets
- Decline Crunch (Bodyweight) – 3 sets
Face pulls are in there specifically for shoulder health. If you’re pressing heavy and not doing face pulls, start doing face pulls.
Legs (7 exercises, 24 sets)
The Wednesday session nobody looks forward to but everybody needs.
- Back Squat (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Romanian Deadlift (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Hip Thrust (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Leg Extensions (Machine) – 3 sets
- Seated Leg Curl (Machine) – 3 sets
- Outer Thigh Machine – 3 sets
- Seated Calf Raise (Machine) – 3 sets
Back squat, RDL, and hip thrust as the big three. The machines clean up the details. Twenty-four sets is a lot for 45 minutes, so I keep rest periods tight here.
Upper (8 exercises)
Thursday. A full upper body session that complements Push and Pull without being a carbon copy of either.
- Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- One Arm Bent Over Row (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Lateral Raise (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Lat Pulldown (Cable) – 3 sets
- Cable Crossover (Cable) – 3 sets
- Face Pull (Cable) – 3 sets
- Tricep Pushdown (Cable) – 3 sets
- Bicep Curl (EZ Bar) – 3 sets
Yes, face pulls show up again. Shoulder health is not a joke.
Lower (6 exercises, 19 sets)
Friday. Finish the week strong with legs, part two.
- Front Squat (Barbell) – 4 sets
- Bulgarian Split Squat (Dumbbell) – 3 sets
- Seated Leg Curl (Machine) – 3 sets
- Leg Press (Machine) – 3 sets
- Calf Press Machine – 3 sets
- Decline Crunch (Bodyweight) – 3 sets
Front squats instead of back squats keeps it fresh from Wednesday. Bulgarian split squats are deeply unpleasant and absolutely worth it.
How I Track It
All of this lives in a workout tracking app on my phone. I currently use the Bevel app on my iPhone which allows me to track everything on my Apple Watch without having to open my phone. I log every set, every weight, every rep. That part matters more than people give it credit for. If you’re not tracking, you’re guessing. And if you’re guessing, you’re probably not progressing.
Tracking also makes the 45-minute lunch window way easier to manage. I know exactly what’s next, I’m not standing around thinking about it, and I can see at a glance whether I need to push the weight up this session.
What I’m Actually Going For
This isn’t a “stay in shape” program. The goals are real: building muscle, getting stronger, and keeping my body functional for everything else I throw at it. Marathons, hockey, rugby, chasing three kids around. Hypertrophy and strength aren’t in conflict with endurance training if you program it right. That’s my working theory and I’m sticking with it.
Try It If This Sounds Like You
If you’ve got 30 to 45 minutes a day, five days a week, and you want a routine with enough structure to make progress but enough flexibility to survive contact with real life, give this a shot. Run it for eight weeks and see what happens.
Track your lifts. Hit the sessions you can. Don’t catastrophize the ones you miss.
That’s it. That’s the whole method.