Push-pull exercises

Here is a sample push-pull routine with workouts separated by a rest day.

Perform 3–4 sets of 8–12 repetitions for each exercise, and rest for 2–3 minutes between sets
(3Trusted Source).

Day 1: Push

• Seated dumbbell shoulder press. With dumbbells positioned to each side of your
shoulders and elbows below the wrists, press upward until your arms are extended
overhead. Pause for a second at the top, and then slowly lower the elbows back down to
the starting position.
• Dumbbell incline chest press. Position dumbbells to the sides of your upper chest and
press up until your arms are extended, and then slowly lower your elbows back to the
starting position.
• Bodyweight triceps dips. Grip parallel bars. Starting with your arms straight and hips
and knees bent, lower your body by bending your arms until a stretch is felt in the chest,
and then slowly push yourself back up until your arms are fully extended again.
• Cable rope triceps pushdown. Facing a high pulley cable system, grasp the rope
attachment. With elbows to your sides, extend arms down and turn palms down at the
bottom. Slowly let your forearms come back up while keeping your elbows pinned to the
sides of your body.
• Incline dumbbell chest fly. With dumbbells above your upper chest, palms facing
inward, and arms extended in a slightly bent position, lower dumbbells outward to the
sides of your shoulders. Keep your elbows slightly bent and bring dumbbells back
together in a hugging motion above the upper chest.
• Dumbbell lateral shoulder raises. Holding dumbbells at your sides, keep your elbows
slightly bent while raising your arms until your elbows are at shoulder height, before
slowly lowering the elbows back down.

Day 3: Pull

• Bent over barbell row. Hold the barbell with a shoulder-width, overhand grip. Keep the
feet hip-width distance and the knees slightly bent. Slowly hinge by pushing your hips
back, keeping your arms and the barbell close to your legs. While maintaining a long and
neutral spine, bend the elbows pulling them back alongside your body, and then slowly
straighten the arms again.
• Cable pulldown. Grasp cable bar slightly wider than shoulder-width and sit with thighs
under the support pads. Pull down the cable bar to your upper chest, keeping the lower
back slightly curved. Slowly begin to straighten the arms and return to the starting
position.
• Dumbbell shrugs. Holding dumbbells to your sides, shrug your shoulders as high as
possible, and then relax them back down.
 • Barbell biceps curls. Grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width, underhand grip. Keeping
elbows at their sides, raise the bar until your forearms are vertical. Pause at the top, and
then slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.

Day 5: Legs and core

• Deadlift. Squat down and grasp the barbell with a shoulder-width, overhand grip. Keep
your feet flat and lift the bar by fully extending your hips and knees. Slowly lower the bar
back down to the ground by hinging at your hips with a slight bend in the knees.
• Barbell back squat. Position the barbell on the back of your shoulders and grasp the bar
to stabilize it. Squat down by bending at the hips until your knees and hips are fully bent.
Return to standing by pressing through your heels and squeezing your glutes.
• Quadriceps leg extensions. Sitting on a leg extension machine, extend your knees until
your legs are straight, and then slowly bend your knees back to the starting position.
• Seated hamstring leg curls. Sitting on a leg curl machine, bring your lower legs to the
back of your thighs by flexing your knees, and then slowly straighten the legs again.
• Dumbbell standing calf raise. Grasp the dumbbells in each hand at your sides. Position
balls of feet on a platform with your heels hanging over. Raise your heels as high as
possible, and then slowly lower them back down.
• Hanging leg raise. Grasp a bar overhead. Raise your legs by flexing at the hips and
knees until hips are fully flexed, slowly bringing the knees up toward the chest. Lower
the legs back down.

Summary

This workout routine provides examples of push, pull, and leg and core exercises separated by
rest days.

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Tips and other factors to keep in mind

Here are some tips and other factors to keep in mind when implementing a push-pull training
regimen.

Choosing a weight

Use a weight heavy enough that allows you to barely perform the desired number of repetitions.

For example, if your goal is to perform 10 repetitions for an exercise, use a weight heavy enough
so that you’re struggling to perform the 9th and 10th repetition.

However, you should still be able to maintain good form by the 10th repetition. If you can’t, the
weight is too heavy.
Using this same example, if you can perform more than 10 repetitions with good form, increase
the amount of weight you use.

It’s a good idea to record your repetitions and weight lifted for each exercise so that you can
track your progress over time.

Incorporate variety

Incorporating variety into your workout routine helps avoid boredom and stimulates your
muscles in different ways (2Trusted Source).

You can incorporate variety into your workout routine by using different cable attachments and
using dumbbells instead of barbells or vice versa for certain exercises.

For example, instead of a rope cable attachment for triceps pushdowns, you could use a straight
bar, or you could perform an incline chest press using a barbell rather than dumbbells.

You can also perform many exercises with cables that you can with dumbbells and barbells, like
bicep curls, chest flys, and lateral raises.

Additionally, you can incorporate variety by performing both unilateral and bilateral exercises
using cables or dumbbells.

Unilateral exercises are performed with one arm or leg at time, whereas bilateral exercise are
performed with two arms or two legs.

Don’t skip out on nutrition and sleep

Without proper nutrition and sufficient sleep, you’re more prone to injuries, sickness, and you
won’t achieve the results you could have if one or both of these components were in order
(5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source).

Consume mostly nutrient-dense foods like fruits and vegetables, lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts,
and legumes (7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source, 9Trusted Source).

Limit your intake of alcohol, highly processed foods like frozen dinners, and foods that contain
added sugars, like cakes, cookies, desserts, candy, and certain condiments.

In addition to containing a high number of calories with few nutrients, these foods promote
inflammation in the body, which — when consumed in excess — can be detrimental to your
health and training goals (10Trusted Source, 11Trusted Source).

For sleep, teenagers should sleep a recommended 8–10 hours per night, while adults should aim
for 7–9 hours (12Trusted Source, 13Trusted Source).

Here are a few tips to optimize your sleep (14Trusted Source, 15Trusted Source):
 • Limit your exposure to blue light from screens before bed.
• Avoid the consumption of caffeine at least 6 hours before bed.
• Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask to induce deep sleep.
• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day.

Summary

To get the most out of the push-pull training split, use the appropriate resistance or weight and
incorporate variety. Ensuring proper nutrition and sufficient sleep are also important.

The bottom line

A push-pull training split generally refers to workouts centered around muscle groups that
perform similar actions.

“Push” workouts train the chest, shoulders, and triceps, while “pull” workouts train the back,
biceps, and forearms. A day for training the lower body and core is also included in this training
split.

The push-pull training regimen supports muscle recovery and can be performed by anyone,
regardless of your training experience.

If you have difficulty getting started or are worried about your form, consider enlisting the help
of a personal trainer if possible.