Hands up if you’ve nodded along while gym-goers talk about a push/pull split, but never quite understood what that meant. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Push and pull exercises simply mean movements that predominantly involve a pushing motion or a pulling motion, respectively, while a push-pull workout plan normally refers to a gym routine that cycles through a push day, pull day and legs workout.
Push and pull exercises can also be combined in the same workout, often as a superset, to help build size and strength evenly across your upper body.
If all you ever do in the gym is the push-up, bench press and overhead press, then you’re neglecting pulling movements that will target the back, biceps, and forearms.
“Most pulling movements train the muscles that make up your posterior chain, which runs from your hamstrings up to the trapezius in your upper back,” explains Jordan Fernandez, a personal trainer at Trainer Academy. “This helps improve your overall posture by encouraging shoulder and thoracic spine mobility, counteracting a lot of the hunching that comes with sedentary jobs.”
Introducing more pulling exercises into your workouts will ease various aches and pains, as well as prevent injury. They also help develop core strength and stability, which in turn can remedy spinal issues and lower-back pain.
The functional benefits of pulling exercises are notable in and outside the gym, too. “Pulling exercises will enhance the strength of your grip, which will benefit all your other lifts and boost your grip strength for everyday activities like carrying your shopping,” says Fernandez.
Plus, if you play sports such as rowing, swimming, climbing, or contact sports, pulling exercises might be some of the most useful movements you can train to improve the way you move.
Fernadez has listed eight of the very best pulling exercises you should look to add to your regular upper-body workouts.
Eight Pull Exercises To Include In Your Routine
Grasp a pull-up bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing away from you. Retract your shoulder blades to engage your upper-back muscles, then pull your chest towards the bar until your chin clears it. Lower under control. This variation targets your mid- and upper-back muscles, while also strengthening your core muscles.
Grasp a pull-up bar with your hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart and palms facing towards you. Retract your shoulder blades to engage your upper-back muscles and tilt your chest towards the bar. Pull your chest towards the bar until your chin clears it, then lower under control. This variation shifts the focus onto the biceps as well as the upper-back muscles.
Hold a barbell with your palms facing you and a slight bend in your knees. Hinge forward from your hips until your torso is almost parallel to the floor. Pull the barbell towards your lower rib cage, squeezing your shoulder blades together, then lower under control.
With a dumbbell in one hand and the opposite knee and hand on a bench, pull the dumbbell towards your hip. Switch sides and repeat.
Using a rope attachment on a cable machine set at head height, pull the rope towards your face, then rotate your forearms vertically to target the smaller muscles in your upper back, while squeezing your shoulder blades together.
Sit in a lat pull-down machine or at a cable machine with a wide bar attachment. Grasp the bar with hands wider than shoulder-width apart and palms facing away from you, retract your shoulders then pull the bar down to your upper chest. Control the ascent of the bar.
Set a bar at waist height using a Smith machine or a barbell in a squat rack. Lie with your chest underneath the bar and reach up to hold the bar. Keeping your body in a straight line, pull your chest towards the bar, squeeze your upper-back muscles, then lower under control.
Load one end of a barbell into a landmine attachment and the other into a close-grip handle. Straddle the bar facing away from the landmine attachment. Pull the bar towards your chest, squeezing your back muscles, then lower under control.
