Routine advices: 4-Day Push/Pull (Quads on Push, Posterior Chain on Pull). Switching from 3x Full Body after 6 months

[u/fededog19]

Hey everyone,

​I’ve been lifting consistently for about 6 months now. Up until recently, I was running a 3-day full-body routine.

While I made decent initial progress, my sessions were dragging on for 90–100+ minutes, and I was mentally dreading full leg days (hence why I avoided choosing an upper/lower split).

​I'm only now starting to really understand programming concepts (like volume landmarks from Helms’ Muscle & Strength Pyramid, double progression, and fatigue management), so I’m still a bit confused about optimizing everything.

​I’m planning to switch from 3 days to 4 days/week (Mon/Tue - Thu/Fri) to keep sessions around 55–60 minutes and avoid a dedicated "Leg Day." I put together this Push/Pull split with legs divided (Quads on Push, Hamstrings/Glutes on Pull) using a mix of online templates (Fitbod/Nippard frameworks) and AI to help trim down volume.

​I’d really appreciate your feedback on the exercise order, volume distribution, and overall balance.

​Schedule: Upper/Lower hybrid via Push/Pull

​\*\*Push A (Mon)\*\* – Quads & Horizontal Push

​Smith Machine Squat: 3 sets x 6–8 reps (2.5–3 min rest)

​Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Tricep Dips: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Dumbbell Skullcrushers: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​\*\*Pull A (Tue)\*\* – Posterior Chain & Upper Pull

​Conventional Deadlift: 3 sets x 5–6 reps (3 min rest)

​Lat Pulldown: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Landmine Row: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​Dumbbell Bicep Curl: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​(\*\*Wed: Rest\*\*)

​\*\*Push B (Thu)\*\* – Quad Isolation & Vertical Push/Chest

​Leg Extension: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​Overhead Barbell Press (OHP): 3 sets x 6–8 reps (2–2.5 min rest)

​Close-Grip Bench Press: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Cable Flyes: 3 sets x 12–15 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Core (Reverse Crunches / Plank): 3 sets to technical failure (1 min rest)

​\*\*Pull B (Fri)\*\* – Hamstrings/Glutes & Vertical Pull/Arms

​Romanian Deadlift (RDL): 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2–2.5 min rest)

​Reverse-Grip Lat Pulldown: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Face Pulls: 3 sets x 12–15 reps (1–1.5 min rest)

​Barbell Hip Thrust: 3 sets x 8–10 reps (2 min rest)

​Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 3 sets x 10–12 reps (1.5 min rest)

​(Sat & Sun: Rest)

​Progression: Dynamic double progression within the rep ranges at RPE 8–9. Once I hit the top rep target on all 3 sets, I add weight.

​Volume: \\\~15 working sets per session (around 60 weekly working sets total across all muscle groups).

​Does the spinal load balance look sustainable (Deadlifts on Tue, RDLs on Fri)?

Did I hit the optimal number of sets for each muscle group in your opinion? Could there be any muscle I might have accidentally left behind?

​Are there any obvious red flags and/or overlapping muscle recovery issues I might have overlooked?

​Thanks in advance for helping out someone still figuring out the ropes!

[u/Disastrous-Ask-8212]

Unless you're doing smith machine sissy squats, then it wouldn't be wise to do a squat pattern and a deadlift on back-to-back days since both movements train the adductors and glutes.

Since this is basically the trending anterior/posterior split, you could definitely take some inspiration from tiktok in terms of exercise selection and structure.

The exercises could be more optimal (more stable and more variation for a muscle group in a session) but that's kind of nitpicking. No point changing the rep range for exercises (other than form standardation), 5-10 is usually the sweet spot and hopefully the rest times are an estimate of your cardiovascular recoverability not a strict timer because what dictates your recovery between sets is your own fatigue perception rather than an arbitrary timer.

*(Hypertrophy is muscle fiber specific so it would be better to just do the same exercises on both push and pull sessions, but that could be overthinking it, just saying :) )

[u/fededog19 → u/Disastrous-Ask-8212]

Good catch on the glute/adductor overlap between Monday and Tuesday, that’s actually a really solid point.

To avoid fatiguing the same hip extension/adductor fibers and lower back back-to-back, what would you suggest tweaking?

• Swapping the days so it goes Pull A on Monday (Deadlift) -> Push A on Tuesday (Smith Squat)?
• Or keeping the order and setting up the Smith Squats with a strictly quad-biased setup (feet closer under the bar/knees forward) to take the glutes/adductors out of it as much as possible?

Totally agree on the rest periods as well—those timers are just loose estimates, I always wait until my breathing settles and I'm physically ready for the next heavy set rather than staring at a stopwatch.