What is a Push-Pull Workout Split?

amberlynwellbeing
Feb 1, 2023
2 min read

I’ve seen push and pull workouts recently and many people advocating for it. In strength training it's a form of split that you can do throughout your week. It works different parts of your body on different days, doing so can support a well rounded workout routine, distributing efforts across all parts of the body.

When it comes to the push-pull split, muscles are targeted and grouped together based on their mechanics, how they work. In addition to a push and pull day there is a legs/core day and a rest day.

Push day - arms and shoulders

Getting out of the bed in the morning, carrying heavy things
Focus on movements that uses pushing movements - typically anything with ‘press’ or ‘extension’ in the exercise name.
Targets triceps, and muscles in chest and shoulders
Ex: pushups, shoulder press, bench press, chest fly, triceps extension, lateral raise

Pull day - primarily back

Opening doors
Forces you to pull weight towards you
Targets biceps, forearms, and back
Back strength is vital to overall physical fitness - promotes better posture to protects spine and helps prevent pain
Exercises with ‘row’, ‘curl’, or ‘pull’ - Pull-ups, bent over rows, renegade rows, bicep curls, zottman curls

Legs and core - skip upper body and focus on core and lower body muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves)

The great thing about the push-pull split, from a functional strength perspective, is that all throughout our days we are engaging in pushing and pulling movements. Sure, strength training has great benefits when it comes to losing weight and increasing strength, but it's also great because your workouts can directly translate to your everyday activities.

Reasons to try out a push pull routine:

To gain muscles mass
To have evenly distributed results
Allows time for body to recover
If you have access to gym equipment
Measurable progression through reps and weight
Simplifies training - straight forward, you are only working certain things on specific days.

How to maximize your push pull routine:

Add variety - don’t do the same workouts for weeks and months at a time
- You can also change the weekly around, to what works best for you and your schedule
- Ex: M: push, T: pull, W: legs/core TH: Rest F: push S: pull
Use the correct reps and weight - dependent on your goals and ability
Rest - you need at least 1-2 rest days for your body to recover and you to progress
Warm up and cool down - each should be at least 10 minutes