Oct 1, 2020Guide to Push-Pull Workouts
The push-pull workout is one that is very popular among bodybuilders and other athletes to maximize recovery time between workouts and create a balanced physique.
This style of training structures workouts based on each muscles’ movement patterns. Basically, you alternate training sessions that focus on, for example, upper body pushing movements followed by upper body pulling movements.
A recent medically-reviewed article from Healthline.com gives a guide to executing the push-pull workout routine. Below is an excerpt from that article.
“The push-pull style of training allows you to exercise all the major muscle groups a maximum of twice per week — assuming you trained 6 days a week with 1 day off. This is a popular training split performed by bodybuilders and other types of athletes, like football players and wrestlers. However, push-pull workouts are great for anyone looking to gain muscle size and strength, including beginners.
Note that how frequently you train per week may depend on your experience level.
Traditional bodybuilding style workouts involve training one body part per day. This means you might train your chest one day, shoulders the next, triceps the day after, and so forth. In this way, you’re training many of the same body parts multiple days in a row, which may overstress your muscles with time. Conversely, following a push-pull training regimen allows your muscles the full 72 hours it takes to recover before you train them again.
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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 (six months to two years of training) and advanced (greater than two years of training) resistance training experience can train up to six times per week with one rest day separating each split.”
Examples of Upper Body Push Exercises
- Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press
- Dumbbell Incline Chest Press
- Bodyweight Triceps Dips
- Cable Rope Triceps Pushdown
- Incline Dumbbell Chest Fly
- Dumbbell Lateral Shoulder Raises
Examples of Upper Body Pull Exercises
- Bent-Over Barbell Row
- Cable Pulldown
- Dumbbell Shrugs
- Barbell Biceps Curls
To read the full story from Healthline.com on the benefits and full guide on push-pull workout routines, click here.
