Push. Pull. Legs: Strength & Hypertrophy Program
The Struggle Standard
Bodybuilding, Weightlifting, General Fitness, Strength & Conditioning, Tactical / MilitaryYou've run push/pull/legs before. This one has an answer for the day it stops working.
Every free PPL routine is six lifts and a rule that says add five pounds. It works for months. Then one Tuesday you miss the reps, you miss them again Friday, and nothing in the file tells you what to do next.
This is a 48 week rotation built for what happens after that.
Six training days and two rest days in every eight-day cycle. The rest days are the give in the system, slide them where your week needs them and the cycle closes the same. You run push, pull and legs twice per cycle, and the two passes are not copies of each other.
HEAVY ROTATION (days 1-3): the main lift at a percentage of your training max. Low reps, long rests, a number you're chasing.
PUMP ROTATION (days 5-7): the same three patterns at 40-55%, or as heavy as possible for sets of 15 and 20. Short rests, named methods, taken into the burn on purpose.
Heavy makes you strong. Volume makes you big. The cycle refuses to choose between them.
Six patterns are trained all year: horizontal press, vertical press, squat, hinge, horizontal pull, vertical pull. Which lift expresses each one changes every 24 days. Inside those days the METHOD progresses, not just the load - tempo work, then rest-pause clusters, then a wave to 92.5%. Then the lift rotates out before it goes stale and comes back 56 days later so you can measure exactly what it bought.
Eleven different squats across the year, and still six comparable back squat peaks.
75-90 minutes, ten blocks: prep, potentiation, the main lift, a second pattern, accessory supersets, a pump block taken to failure, conditioning matched to what the day already cost you, mobility. When the clock gets tight you drop a set, never a movement.
Barbell, rack, bench, dumbbells, pull-up bar. Machines if you want them. Everything else has a printed alternative.
It opens with Cycle Zero, an eight-day ramp-in that sets your six training maxes off one honest set of five. Nobody maxes out on day one. The app computes every working weight from those numbers. Download Cycle Zero free at https://thestrugglestandard.com/
At twelve months your peaks become next year's training maxes and the program reseeds. Year two is a different program at higher percentages, not a repeat.
Suffer Forward.
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each Foam Roller — Thoracic Extension Wall Slides (scap mobility) Banded Shoulder Dislocates Banded Pull-Apart Y-T-W on Floor (prone scap activation)
B
Med Ball Chest Pass
5 x 2
C1
Close Grip Bench Press
10, 8, 6
C2
YTW
2 x 12
D1
Overhead Press
12, 10, 8
D2
Seated External Rotation
2 x 12
E1
Push-Up
12, 10, 8
E2
DB Tricep Extension
3 x 12
F1
Tricep Pushdown
3 x 12
F2
DB Front Raise
3 x 12
G1
DB Lateral Raise
3 x 18
G2
Cable Hi-Low Chest Fly
3 x 12
H
DB Bench Press
5 x 10
I
5-10-5 Shuttle
5 x 1
Circuit
J
M O B I L I T Y PVC Pass-Through (shoulder mobility) 60-90s T-Spine Rotation — Quadruped (open-book) 60-90s Child's Pose (passive) 60-90s
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each Sphinx Pose (thoracic extension) Y-T-W on Floor (prone scap activation) Active Hang (scaps engaged, depressed) Thread-the-Needle (thoracic rotation) Banded Pull-Apart
B
Single Arm DB High Pull
5 x 2
C1
Weighted Strict Pullup
10, 8, 6
C2
Trap 3 Raise
2 x 12
D1
Bent Over Row
12, 10, 8
D2
Rear Delt Flyes
2 x 12
E
EZ Bar Curl
12, 10, 8
F1
Cable Y-Raise
3 x 12
F2
Standing DB Reverse Curl
3 x 12
G1
Lu Raise
3 x 18
G2
Mixed Grip Pull-Up
3 x 0:45
H
DB Bicep Curls
5 x 10
I1
Windshield Wipers
20, 15, 12
I2
Superman
3 x 45
J
Rowing
6 x 1:30
Circuit
K
M O B I L I T Y Cat-Cow 60-90s Forearm Stretch (prayer, reverse prayer) 60-90s Cobra Pose 60-90s
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each 90/90 Hip Stretch (seated, both sides Adductor Rock-Back Half-Kneeling Ankle Mobilization (to wall) Cossack Squat (BW) World's Greatest Stretch (lunge + rotation)
B
Single Leg Box Jump
5 x 2
C
Front Squat
10, 8, 6
D
Rack Pull
12, 10, 8
E1
Bulgarian Split Squat
12, 10, 8
E2
Seated Band Hamstring Curl
3 x 12
F1
Adductor Slides
3 x 12
F2
Glute Bridge
3 x 12
G1
Calf Raise
3 x 18
G2
Partner Nordic Hamstring Curl
3 x 12
H
Belt Squat
5 x 10
I
Stationary Bike
6 x 1:00
Circuit
J
M O B I L I T Y Pigeon Stretch (passive) 60-90s Deep Squat Hold (prying, breath-driven) 60-90s Calf Stretch — Wall (static) 60-90s
A
Run
@ 30:00
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each Thread-the-Needle (thoracic rotation) Wall Slides (scap mobility) Banded Shoulder Dislocates Banded Pull-Apart Active Hang (scaps engaged, depressed)
B
Medicine Ball Slam
5 x 2
C1
Overhead Press
15, 13, 9
C2
Side Lying External Rotation
2 x 12
D1
Bench Press
15, 12, 10
D2
Cable Y-Raise
2 x 12
E1
DB Lateral Raise
15, 12, 10
E2
Rolling Tricep extensions
3 x 12
F1
PJR Pullover
3 x 15
F2
Incline DB Fly
3 x 12
G1
Kneeling Landmine Press
3 x 12
G2
Suitcase Carry
3 x 12
H
DB Front Raise
5 x 10
I
Run
6 x 400
Circuit
J
M O B I L I T Y Banded Shoulder Distraction 60-90s T-Spine Rotation — Side-Lying (open-book floor) 60-90s Child's Pose (passive) 60-90s
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each Foam Roller — Thoracic Extension Y-T-W on Floor (prone scap activation) Wall Slides (scap mobility) Active Hang (scaps engaged, depressed) Banded Shoulder Dislocates
B
Med Ball Wall Throw
5 x 2
C1
Pendlay Row
15, 13, 11
C2
T-Raise
2 x 12
D1
Pull-Up
15, 12, 10
D2
Band Pull-Apart
2 x 12
E1
Seated DB External Rotation
12, 10, 8
E2
Towel Curl
3 x 12
F
Preacher Curl
3 x 15
G
Rear Delt Flyes
3 x 24
H
Zottman Curls
5 x 10
I1
DB Side Bend
20, 15, 12
I2
Paloff Press
3 x 45
J
Run
1 x 15:00
Circuit
K
M O B I L I T Y Cat-Cow 60-90s Forearm Stretch (prayer, reverse prayer) 60-90s Cobra Pose 60-90s
Circuit
A
2 × 8 controlled reps Each 90/90 Hip Stretch (seated, both sides Adductor Rock-Back Half-Kneeling Ankle Mobilization (to wall) Cossack Squat (BW) World's Greatest Stretch (lunge + rotation)
B
Box Jump
5 x 2
C
Deadlift Sumo
15, 13, 11
D
Back Squat
15, 12, 10
E1
Single Leg RDL
15, 12, 10
E2
Leg Extension
3 x 12
F1
Back Extension
3 x 15
F2
DB Step Up
3 x 12
G1
Calf Raise
3 x 18
G2
Seated Cable Good Morning
3 x 12
H
Glute Bridge
7 x 10
I
Prowler Push
6 x 0:15
Circuit
J
M O B I L I T Y Pigeon Stretch (passive) 60-90s Deep Squat Hold (prying, breath-driven) 60-90s Calf Stretch — Wall (static) 60-90s
Alexander Burgoyne
“Coach with a B.S. in Kinesiology (Exercise Science) and 18 years of experience as an athlete. I’ve trained, competed, and learned through trial, error, and consistency. My coaching is built on discipline, intelligent programming, and preparing athletes for long-term progress—not shortcuts.”
Not the cleverest one. The one you're still running in month nine, in the gym on your way home, on lifts you already trust. Forty-eight weeks. Six on, two off. Heavy, then pumped. Start with Cycle Zero - eight days, free, before you pay a cent. Suffer For
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Push. Pull. Legs: Strength & Hypertrophy Program
Push. Pull. Legs: Strength & Hypertrophy Program
Push. Pull. Legs: Strength & Hypertrophy Program
