I Stopped Training Legs — Here's What Happened

The Switch I Never Expected

After I built my physique using Arnold Blueprint Push-Pull-Legs on Tonal, I thought that was the program. PPL was the answer. I'd done the research, followed the template, and got the results.

Then I bought a Speediance and everything changed.

The difference is the machine. On Tonal, your workouts are limited to 3-4 exercises per block because the interface forces that structure. On Speediance, I can chain together eight, nine, even ten exercises in sequence without changing equipment. The machine remembers your settings. The transitions are instant.

That's when it hit me: I don't need PPL anymore. I can hit everything in one session and still be in and out in 45 minutes.

What Full Body Minus Legs Actually Looks Like

Here's my setup: one warm-up set at 20 RM (20 reps away from failure), one working set at 15 RM (15 reps away from failure), and eight to nine exercises back to back.

No rest between exercises. You walk from the lat pulldown to the chest handles to the barbell row to the bicep curl — the machine is right there. You're under tension the entire time.

My Sunday sessions hit **41,500 pounds of total volume**. That's not a typo. That's what happens when you're doing 13 reps across nine exercises at weights in the 80-200 pound range. The machine tracks every single pound.

And I don't train legs.

Why I Dropped Legs

Simple: if I add legs to this program, I don't do the workout.

Full body minus legs fits my life right now. Two young kids. Jiu-jitsu two to three times per week. Running for the Lucky Charm race. There's no room in my schedule for a dedicated leg day that leaves me walking funny for three days.

I've done legs on these machines. I have deadlifts and calf raises in some of my custom workouts. But they're optional. They're not the focus. My legs get enough work from jiu-jitsu and running to stay functional.

The moment I added legs as a mandatory component, I started skipping sessions. Full body minus legs keeps me showing up four days a week instead of two.

The Lunar Challenge Broke Me (In a Good Way)

Speediance ran a Lunar Challenge — workout every day for a month to hit bronze, silver, and gold tiers.

My full body minus legs program couldn't handle daily sessions. After three days of 40,000-pound workouts, I was done. The fatigue was unreal.

So I pivoted to a bro split for the first time in years. Dedicated arms day. Dedicated back day. Smaller sessions in the 10,000-15,000 pound range instead of 40,000.

The results were immediate. My biceps exploded. When you're hitting ten arm exercises in a row instead of sprinkling arm work into a full body workout, your muscles notice. My arms grew more in that month than they had in the previous six months of full body training.

But the moment the challenge ended, I stopped. Bro split is too time-intensive for my life right now. Two kids, jiu-jitsu, running — I can't lift every day anymore.

What I Do Now

Back to full body minus legs, three to four days a week maximum. Usually three.

Some days I only get halfway through the working sets before my body says enough. I listen. That's the difference between training to build and training to maintain — you give yourself grace.

The volume ceiling is real though. At 40,000-plus pounds per session, I'm hitting systemic fatigue that requires a recovery day. I can't do this five days a week. Four is the absolute max, and three is sustainable.

The Real Lesson

The best training split is the one that fits your current situation:

- **Building a physique from scratch?** PPL works. It's grueling but effective. That's what built mine.

- **Already built, maintaining while doing other sports?** Full body minus legs, three to four days a week, is sustainable.

- **Training every day for a challenge?** Bro split gets the job done. Just don't expect to keep it up afterward.

The mistake is forcing one approach across different life phases. What got you here won't keep you here. The training has to evolve with your goals, your recovery capacity, and your schedule.

Mine has. I'll probably change again next year.