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How to Set Up a Push/Pull Routine

by Teresa Warner


To break this down to a very simplified explanation, your body works in motions. You either push something away from your body, or you pull something toward it. In other words, in everyday life, this is how the body works. You can't even answer the phone without enlisting many different muscles in that movement. SO, you want to train it that way or you will get an imbalance where one muscle gets stronger than another, which will cause issues down the road. 

 

Where to start.....
Stick to basic compound movements, like squats, bench, rows, deadlifts and pull-ups, to name a few. A compound movement is one that requires more than one joint to do the motion.  For example, when you squat, your hips, knees and ankle joints all move in order to make your body move in that manner.  When you bench, your shoulder and elbow joints move.


There are 4 different motions for upper body.... horizontal push (bench), horizontal pull (row), vertical push (overhead press) and vertical pull (pull-ups). For lower body you have quad dominant (squats) and hip dominant (stiff legged deadlifts).  These are examples of exercises for each movement, not a complete list.  You'll see that in a minute.
 

Upper body....
Pick one exercise for each movement mentioned below.  You will be putting heavier emphasis on two of the movements and the other two are done a tad lighter.  Not light, but lighter.  For example, go heavy on the horizontal movements, and the next workout do the opposite two motions heavier, the vertical movements. 

Seeing it in writing might make more sense:
 

horizontal push:
bench press (incline, flat or decline)
dumbbell (db) press (incline, flat or decline)
pushups
machine press of some sort (last resort)
close-grip bench
 
horizontal pull:
barbell (bb) row
db row
t-bar row
seated cable row (any grip)
inverted row (bodyweight row)
 
vertical push:
bb overhead press (seated or standing)
db press (seated or standing)
push press
dips
close-grip tri pushup
 
vertical pull:
chin/pull-ups (use different hand placements)
chin/pull-ups with a spotter
jump pull-ups/negatives (for beginners, jump up and do a slow negative on the way down)
Gravitron
lat pulldowns
straight arm pushdowns
 
accessory exercises:
bicep curls
tricep anything (pushdowns, extensions, kickbacks)
flyes
lateral raises (front, side, rear)
wrist curls (had to put that one in there)
abs

 

On to lower body....
The two main movements for lower body are classified as quad dominant and hip dominant.  I know that sounds confusing, but in simple terms, that means that quad dominant exercises generally put more emphasis on the front of your legs (quads) and hip dominant exercises put more emphasis on the back of your legs (glutes and hamstrings).
 
When training lower body, squats and conventional deadlifts should be your staple. These will work every muscle in your legs, with the most emphasis on your quads. To avoid an imbalance front to back, you then need a hip dominant exercise to work your hamstrings & glutes. 
 
To avoid any imbalance left to right, end with a single leg movement for a complete lower body workout.
 
quad dominant:
squats
conventional deadlifts (cdl)
leg press
 
hip dominant:
stiff-legged deadlift (sldl) also called Romanian deadlift
hyper extensions
good mornings
 
single leg movements:
step-ups
lunges
single leg press
split squats
Bulgarian squats
 
accessory move:
calf raises

 

As far as how many reps to do....
The lighter a weight is to you, the more reps you can do. The heavier a weight is, the less you can do before you hit failure.
 
SO, for upper body you want to do 2 of the exercises heavy (one push, one pull) and the opposing 2 a bit lighter, but not too light. 
 
For lower body, do a heavy quad dominant exercise with a lighter hip dominant, and every once in awhile reverse it. End each session with a single leg movement.
 
There are different rep schemes that you can use, like 5x5 (that would be 5 sets of 5 reps), 4x6, 3x8, etc.  No ONE way is the best for everyone since there are so many different factors to consider, like diet, age, sex, injuries, goals, etc.  You will eventually know how your body responds to each rep scheme and you can adjust from there.
 
To start out, try this...for the heavy sets you want to fail on the 5th rep of the 5th set, so whatever weight that is for you, that's considered heavy. For the lighter sets, whatever weight you can do where you fail on the 8th rep of the 3rd set, that's a good weight. Training to failure on every set is counterproductive.  That puts too much stress on your central nervous system which takes too long to recover and causes overtraining and injuries.
 
The opposite of that is not effective either.  You don't want to just be "tired" on that last set, you want to be "very, very fatigued and can't do another one".  THAT is the proper intensity and THAT'S what gets results.

 

How often to lift...
You can do an upper/lower split, full body, or a combination. As long as each motion gets worked 2-3 times a week, it doesn’t matter…whatever fits into your schedule that allows you to stay consistent and motivated.
 
Setting up a weekly routine is pretty easy....ex: upper, lower, rest, u, l, rest, etc. That way you hit each upper and lower 2-3 times a week. You can also do something like u, l, rest, full, rest, u, rest, l, etc.
 
For now, stick with one exercise for each motion. This is plenty for the majority of your workouts.  Every few workouts or so, you can add some accessory stuff at the end if you want.  Accessory exercises are single joint movements like a bicep curl for example.  The only joint used to make your arm raise the weight that's in your hand is the elbow joint.
 
You may eventually want/need to add in more exercises for a movement if you feel certain bodyparts are lagging, or you notice an imbalance of some sort.  An example of an imbalance would be if you feel that your shoulders are starting to round forward.  This could be an indication that your pec and shoulder muscles are stronger than your back muscles.  You might want to add in another rowing motion (horizontal pull) to offset this imbalance.  The more advanced you get, the more this comes into the picture. 

 

An example of how to put it together....

Upper Lower Upper Lower Upper Lower
bench 5x5 squats 5x5 t-bar row 5x5 cdl  5x5 bench 5x5 squats 5x5
pull-ups 5x5 sldl  3x8 incline db press 3x8 hyper ext 3x8 bb row 5x5 sldl 3x8
dips 3x8 step-ups  3x10 str arm pushdowns 3x8 lunges 3x10 chin-ups 3x8 split squats 3x10
bb row 3x8   bb oh press 5x5   standing db press 3x8  
        bb bicep curls 2x10  
        tricep pushdowns 2x10  
           

 

A few notes about a good routine:
The object is to be as consistent as possible with the exercises, but switching them up just enough. 
 
It is not a good idea to do overhead presses before benching (see third example above) because the bench press is much more of a power movement and if you fatigue the shoulders prior to benching, you will set yourself up for a shoulder injury.
 
For lower body, you always want to start with your power movement like squats, conventional deadlifts and leg press.
 
Chances are, if you’re a female, you can't get many pull-ups...not too many women can get even one, so don't feel bad.  Use a spotter if you can.  If not, do negatives and work your way up. If you can only get say 5 negatives the first set, 4 the next, and only 3 the next, maybe try finishing with the lat pulldown for the other 2 sets. At least start with the pull-ups and finish with something "easier".   Try though to do the chin/pull-ups...they are definitely harder, but your gains will be much quicker!  It's not the exact number that matters, it's the intensity.
 
Notice that there are no "ab days"?  When doing compound movements, you are using your abs for every exercise.  Adding them in as you would other accessory moves is a better idea for now.  If your abs are sore, then your form for these exercises will be jeopardized and you could get injured.
About every 3-4 weeks you should take a week where you use all lighter weights, or something like complexes, to give your body a slight break from lifting really heavy, but still working the muscles. Then about every 3 months, take a few days to a week completely off.
 
You have to lift heavy to get results, but lighter days and rest DO have their place.
 
Form is extremely important!  For bench, go right down to your chest. For back, stick your chest out, squeeze those chicken wings and keep your elbows by your ribcage. For squats, it's A2G (that’s "ass to grass" for you that haven't squatted properly yet).
 
You may get sore at first, which is perfectly normal, but you don't want to intentionally train for soreness.  Soreness is not indicative of a good workout.
 
Rest is just as important as doing these exercises...it's all part of a good, well-rounded routine.  No rest, no best!!

 

Keep in mind:
There is no ONE way that is "the best", but if every workout (for the most part) includes this general outline, you're on the right track.
Also, if these exercises are new, your body needs to get used to doing these motions. Muscles, tendons, ligaments and your brain, all need to work together to do the motion properly.  Once you get these motions down and your form is spot on and you have a full range of motion...then start upping the weight...and keep upping it.

Consistency, intensity, correct form and proper eating, are the ingredients for success, whether it be to gain muscle or lose bodyfat.          ....go heavy or go home.                                         

 

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