19 Expert-Recommended Moves to Enhance Your Routine

Every day, we engage in a variety of physical activities like pushing a shopping cart, hauling luggage over bumpy sidewalks, and moving furniture during cleaning or re-decorating. Given how routine these movements are, why not structure your workouts around them? By doing so, you can enhance your physical strength in ways that translate directly into daily life.

Many fitness enthusiasts plan their workout splits by focusing on specific body parts: upper body one day, core the next, and lower body another. This method is effective, but training with an emphasis on everyday movements can also be beneficial. Tailoring your workouts to mimic real-life activities can improve your functionality and overall strength.

“Push-pull routines are commonly used because they streamline resistance training,” explains Cedric X. Bryant, Ph.D., CEO of the American Council on Exercise. By alternating push and pull exercises, you allow muscle groups to recover while maintaining a balanced strength regimen.

Understanding Push-Pull Workouts

Push-pull workouts are a style of resistance training, as described by Alexander Rothstein, Ed.D., an exercise science professor at the New York Institute of Technology.

“Push exercises” involve exerting effort to drive weight away from your body. This can occur either horizontally or vertically and typically includes actions like pressing or extending the arms and legs, Bryant states.

Conversely, “pull exercises” involve drawing weight toward your body. This set of movements engages your muscles in a flexing motion, encompassing both horizontal and vertical movements.

Muscle Groups Engaged in Push-Pull Workouts

While push-pull workouts often spotlight upper body movements, they can effectively include lower body exercises as well.

Upper body push exercises engage the pectorals in the chest, deltoids in the shoulders, and triceps. When it comes to lower body push movements, engaging your hips and knees to drive resistance away works the quadriceps and glutes.

Pull exercises focus on bringing resistance closer to your body. They primarily target back muscles such as the latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, and trapezius, as well as the biceps. Lower-body pull exercises concentrate on the hamstrings and parts of the glutes.

Examples of Push Workouts

You might already be familiar with many push exercises, even if you haven’t labeled them as such. Common push movements include:

Upper Body

• Bench Press
• Push-Ups
• Overhead Shoulder Presses
• Dips
• Triceps Extensions
• Chest Flys

Lower Body

Examples of Pull Workouts

Engage your back, biceps, glutes, and hamstrings with these pull exercises:

Upper Body

• Pull-Ups
• Lat Pulldowns
• Bent-Over Rows
• Seated Rows
• Bicep Curls

Lower Body

• Deadlifts
• Romanian Deadlifts
• Hamstring Curls
• Good Mornings
• Cable Pull-Throughs

Incorporating Push-Pull Workouts

There are many ways to integrate push and pull workouts into your existing routine, without having to completely revamp your training approach.

“Beginners often benefit from full-body workouts that combine push and pull exercises two to three times weekly,” Bryant says. For more advanced practitioners, spacing push and pull workouts across different days can allow for greater focus and recovery.

The key is to ensure adequate recovery time between workouts and aim to engage each muscle group at least twice a week.

Transform One Workout into a Push-Pull Session

To shift one of your current upper or lower body sessions to a push-pull focus, incorporate both types of movements during that workout. Rothstein notes that many individuals unconsciously prioritize push exercises, so making a conscious effort to balance both will be beneficial.

Alternating Push and Pull Days

If combining push and pull in one session doesn’t appeal to you, consider dedicating separate workout days to each. Spend one session focusing on push exercises, while continuing with your usual routines for other days. The following week, switch gears and emphasize pull workouts.

Include One Push Day and One Pull Day

“If you train three times a week, alternating between push and pull sessions is an effective strategy,” Bryant suggests. For those training four or more days, separating push and pull workouts for both upper and lower body can be quite effective.

Begin with a 7-Day Push-Pull Workout Plan

If you’re ready to embrace a push-pull workout split, Dr. Ian Smith recommends the 4-2-1 approach, which consists of four days of strength training, two days of cardio, and one day focused on mobility or active recovery. If this feels too demanding, start with a 2-1-1 routine, which includes two days of push-pull strength training, one day of cardio, and one recovery day. Then work your way to a 3-1-1 regimen with three strength training days.

Once you feel ready to commit to four days of strength training and two days of cardio, structure your week as follows: Day one for push workouts targeting chest, shoulders, and triceps; Day two for pull exercises for biceps and back; Day three reserved for cardio; Day four focused on leg workouts; Day five for either push or pull, alongside core exercises; and finally, Day six for recovery.