Train the whole body with these Push Pull routines

These workouts are popular with bodybuilders and other athletes because they optimize recovery time between workouts and help create a balanced physique.

What is Push-Pull?

Push Pull is a training style that structures workouts based on the movement patterns of the muscles. With this style of training, you train the upper body muscles that perform pushing movements one day and the upper body muscles that perform pulling movements on another day.

The muscles that perform the push and pull movements are:

• Thrust: chest, shoulders and triceps
• Pull: back, biceps and forearms

The day to train the lower body and core usually follows the upper body push and pull training days. Leg muscles include the muscles located in the front (quadriceps) and back (hamstrings) of the thigh, as well as the glutes and calves.

The Push Pull training style allows you to exercise all major muscle groups a maximum of twice per week, assuming we train 6 days per week with one day off. Research has shown that for most people, training in this way can lead to maximal strength gains.

Therefore, push-pull workouts are great for anyone looking to increase muscle size and strength, including beginners.

Advantages

There are several positive effects of doing this type of training.

Allows optimal recovery

Traditional bodybuilding-style workouts involve training one or two body parts per day. This means we could train chest one day, shoulders the next, triceps the next, and so on.

But even if one day we focus on the chest, the shoulder muscles inevitably have to work too, because they are synergistic muscles that help perform movements like the chest fly and bench press. In this way, we end up training many of the same body parts several days in a row, which can overload the muscles over time.

The push pull training routine allows the muscles to recover for 48 to 72 hours before training them again. This is because you can only train a major muscle group once every three days.

suitable for anyone

Anyone can perform the push pull training regimen and benefit from it. We will only have to adapt the number of times we train according to our experience with strength training.

Beginners with less than six months of training should alternate training days with rest days to allow for a maximum of three training days per week.

Those with intermediate weightlifting experience (six months to 2 years of training) should consider training three to four days a week. Those with advanced resistance training experience (over 2 years) can train up to six times per week with a rest day separating each part.

Simpler workouts

Fitness is something that people can overcomplicate. The push-pull training regimen helps get back to the basic mechanics of muscle group movements and goes from there.

By dividing the days into two categories, the push and the pull, it’s easy to see what we should be working on. It is also easier for ourselves to see if we are overtraining or undertraining certain muscle groups.

push-pull routine

A good example is doing 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise and resting 2-3 minutes between sets.

push (push)

1. Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press . With dumbbells placed on each side of the shoulders and the elbows under the wrists, we will press up until the arms are extended above the head.
2. Incline Dumbbell Chest Press . We’ll place the dumbbells on the sides of the upper chest and press up until the arms are extended, and then slowly lower the elbows to the starting position.
3. Bodyweight triceps dips . We will hold parallel bars or put our hands on the edge of a chair or bench, facing the opposite side. Starting with your arms straight and your hips and knees bent, lower your body by bending your arms until you feel a stretch in your chest. We will slowly push up until the arms are fully extended again.
4. Triceps push with pulley . Facing a high pulley cable system, we will attach the rope attachment. With the elbows at the sides, we will extend the arms down and turn the palms down at the bottom. Slowly let the forearms come back up while keeping the elbows close to the sides of the body.
5. Dumbbell Incline Chest Fly . With the dumbbells over your upper chest, palms facing in, and arms extended in a slightly bent position, lower the dumbbells to the sides of your shoulders. We will keep the elbows slightly bent and we will bring the dumbbells back together in a hugging movement above the upper part of the chest.
6. Lateral raises of shoulders with dumbbells . Holding dumbbells at your sides, keep your elbows slightly bent as you raise your arms until your elbows are at shoulder height. We will slowly lower the elbows down.

pull

1. Bent over barbell row . We will hold the bar with a grip above the width of the shoulders. We will keep our feet hip-width apart and our knees slightly bent. We’ll slowly hinge by pushing the hips back, keeping the arms and the bar close to the legs. While maintaining a long, neutral spine, we’ll bend the elbows, pulling them back along the body, and then slowly straighten the arms again.
2. Pull to the chest . We’ll grab a cable bar slightly wider than shoulder width and sit with our thighs under the support pads. We’ll pull the cable bar down to your upper chest, keeping your lower back slightly curved. Slowly begin to straighten your arms and return to the starting position.
3. Dumbbell shrugs. Holding dumbbells at your sides, shrug your shoulders as high as possible and then relax them back down.
4. Bicep curls . We will hold a barbell or dumbbells with a supine grip at shoulder width. Keeping the elbows at the sides, we will lift the weight until the forearms are vertical. We’ll pause at the top and then slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.

legs and core

1. Dead weight . We will squat down and grab the bar with a grip wider than the shoulders. We will keep our feet flat and raise the bar by fully extending our hips and knees. We will slowly lower the bar to the ground by turning the hips with a slight bend in the knees.
2. Barbell back squat . We will place the bar on the back of the shoulders and grab the bar to stabilize it. We’ll squat down, bending at the hips until the knees and hips are fully bent. We will stand up again pressing with the heels and squeezing the buttocks.
3. Leg extensions for quadriceps . Sitting on a leg extension machine, we will extend the knees until the legs are straight and then slowly bend the knees back to the starting position.
4. Seated leg curl for the hamstrings . Sitting on a leg curl machine, bring your lower legs toward the back of your thighs by bending your knees, then slowly straighten your legs again.
5. Standing Dumbbell Calf Raise . We will hold the dumbbells in each hand at the sides. We will place the tips of the feet on a platform with the heels hanging. We will raise the heels as high as possible and then slowly lower them.
6. Hanging leg raises . We will grab a bar above the head. We will raise the legs by bending the hips and knees until the hips are fully flexed, slowly raising the knees towards the chest. We will lower the legs down.