By temeers / Originally posted on June 18, 2023, Updated 6/4/2026
The push-pull split in strength training is a time-honored method for developing strength while minimizing overtraining and the risk of injury. It is based on the idea that muscles can take up to 48 hours to recover from significant stress. Exercising the same set of muscles every day isn’t effective and increases the risk of injury. For this reason, many powerlifters, bodybuilders, athletes, and personal trainers advocate splitting muscle groups into two primary categories: push and pull. Doing this makes it possible to work out every day without ignoring the reality of needing a 24-hour-or-more muscle recovery period.
Push muscles extend limbs in a pushing action. Examples include the muscles used for push-ups, bench presses, shoulder presses, and triceps extensions. Pull muscles, flex limbs, or pull them in. Examples of pull movements include pull-downs, rows, and biceps curls.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
If you work the push muscles one day, you can work the pull muscles the next day while the push muscles recover. Recovery periods vary based on several factors. The easiest way to gauge muscle recovery is to gauge soreness after a workout. That soreness you feel is called delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Most people experience DOMS after significant exercise or activity. If you’re working in the yard lifting and moving bags of mulch, for example, you might not feel sore until the next day or even a few days later. That’s DOMS setting in. As we age, the delay may be longer than when we were younger, but the same process occurs. Soreness from DOMS doesn’t have to completely diminish for the affected muscle group to be ready for more work. However, some time is required for the muscle fibers to recover and grow.
To address the need for a forty-eight-hour recovery, the push-pull approach allows you to plan your week with one set of muscles preceding the next each day. It’s common to think of the week starting on Monday when you work your “push muscles,” followed by Tuesday when you work your pull muscles. But the days of the week aren’t what’s important. The critical part of the approach is alternating between muscle categories each day. Here is an example of an upper-body push-pull routine;
| Mon (push) | Tue (pull) | Wed | Thu (push) | Fri (pull) |
| Bench Press | Lat Pull-downs | Rest Day | Bench Press | Lat Pull-downs |
| Shoulder Press | Cable Rows | Rest Day | Shoulder Press | Cable Rows |
| Triceps Extension | Biceps Curl | Rest Day | Triceps Extension | Biceps Curl |
Upper body push-pull plan
Exercise Order – Big To Small
Generally, it is best to work larger muscles before smaller ones. This is because smaller muscles support movement that is driven by larger muscles. For example, the brachioradialis, the top-inner part of the forearm muscle, helps stabilize the forearm when the arm is flexed using the biceps brachii (bicep) muscle. If you worked the brachioradialis before doing bicep curls to work the bicep, you would overwork the brachioradialis and risk losing control and stability for your bicep curls. While the brachioradialis must be conditioned and strong to get the most out of a bicep curl, you don’t want that muscle fatigued before doing curls. In fact, many people notice that when they start working their biceps, the brachioradialis becomes sore, while the biceps feels little or no soreness. It may take several sessions to sufficiently condition the brachioradialis muscles to withstand the stress-inducing resistance of the biceps.
Start with large muscle groups and move to smaller muscles later in your session. In the push-pull routine above, notice that the first exercises target large muscle groups and appear at the top. On a push day, you do bench presses first. The bench press primarily targets the chest, a larger muscle group than the shoulders. Although a bench press will work the anterior deltoids (front part of the shoulder) along with the pectoralis major (chest). It relies more on the chest muscles than on the shoulders. So, we work our shoulders after our chest. Likewise, both chest and shoulder exercises rely on the triceps (the back of the upper arm) to stabilize the resistance; triceps extensions are the last exercise we do on a “push” day. If we fatigue the triceps before working the shoulders or chest, the workout for those muscles would be less effective, and we might overwork the triceps, risking injury.
Emphasizing large muscle groups before smaller ones is especially important when using free weights. Machine weights provide greater muscle isolation and allow stress to flow more directly to the target muscle group. But even with machines, the principle of beginning with larger muscle groups is important.
What’s Missing?
In our push-pull routine above, we work on our push muscles one day and our pull muscles the next day. However, all the muscle groups in that routine are not included. You may have noticed that there are no leg or lower-body exercises or core exercises. Depending on how much time and effort you can commit to your sessions, you could add leg and core exercises to both the push and pull days. I may also be able to work legs and core on off days if you want to work out every day. However, consider a few things for each of these before loading up your sessions. I’ve addressed both legs and core below. Both are important but subject to overwork, so consider what I’ve shared.
Legs
Your legs are in use all day, every day. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work them out. Many people want their legs, hips, and rear to be in better shape. That’s good, but consider a few things. First, if you have an active lifestyle and participate in other athletic activities, overtraining your legs through strength training can lead to overuse injuries. I’m a runner. My legs get a lot of work almost daily. I still work out my legs a few times a week, but I squeeze in leg exercises without much concern about push-pull. This is because I don’t want to develop more strength or size in my legs; I want to address muscles that help stabilize and round out my running. Also, I can’t work out my legs every day since I run. So, I don’t need to worry as much about DOMS recovery time, which push-pull routines help address. However, I do take time off from running after an intense leg workout.
Here are some pointers for working legs into your push-pull routine. The pull leg muscles include the biceps femoris (hamstrings) and soleus (calf). Push leg muscles include the quadriceps femoris (quads) and gluteus maximus (glutes). It isn’t critical to perform leg push exercises on the same day as upper-body push exercises, but it might be easier to remember everything if you use push days and pull days. A leg routine following the push-pull concept might look like this:
| Mon (push) | Tue (pull) | Wed | Thu (push) | Fri (pull) |
| Squats or Leg Press | Leg Curls | Rest Day | Squats or Leg Press | Leg Curls |
| Leg Extensions | Calf Extensions | Rest Day | Leg Extensions | Calf Extensions |
Legs push-pull routine can be added to the upper-body routine on the same days.
Core
Okay, I’ll admit it: I don’t like working my core. Working your abdominal muscles, external obliques, and lower back isn’t fun, especially when you start strength training. However, it is critical to work these muscles, as they are consistently “core” to everything else you do in terms of movement and posture. Core muscles don’t easily fall into a push-pull categorization, but since they represent neither the lower body (legs) nor the upper body (chest, shoulders, upper back, arms), it’s reasonable to work your core on either a push or pull day. Some people work their core every day. Since core muscles are similar to all other muscles and the forty-eight DOMS concept applies to them, working core muscles every day may be a mistake. I try to work my core at least three days a week, with a day in between “core days.” Many exercises target the core muscles. I try to keep it simple and consistent with two primary exercises:
- Reverse Crunches (works abdominals, obliques) – You likely have heard of sit-ups and the variation of sit-ups called “crunches.” I don’t love crunches because they stress the lower back. A modern approach is to reverse the concept. Lie flat on your back, bring your knees up to your chest, and hold them there for a few seconds, then lower them back down. To add some resistance, I don’t place my feet back down on the floor, which is fine and the correct way to do a reverse crunch. Instead, I extend my legs straight, holding my feet a foot off the floor. Then, I bring my knees back to my chest. That’s one rep. You can slightly adjust it by rolling to one side, then the other, as you bring your knees in. That will work your external obliques a little.
- Lightweight Dead Lift (works lower back) – It’s important to work your lower back as part of your core routine. Most people neglect their lower backs and encounter back problems as they age. Working your lower back will reduce back pain and related issues, improve overall mobility and physical performance, and make it easier to maintain proper posture. The “dead lift” is a time-honored strength training exercise. Serious weightlifters and powerlifters perform deadlifts with heavy weights, focusing more on the quadriceps (legs) and less on the lower back. You don’t need to use much, if any, weight, and you can keep your leg straight if you want to emphasize conditioning your lower back. To start, position your feet shoulder-width apart, cross your arms over your chest, and bend your knees slightly. Then bend forward, lowering your upper body as much as you can. You may feel tension in the backs of your legs (hamstrings); stop when you do; you’re not trying to stretch your hamstrings. Next, raise your upper body back up to a standing position. That’s one rep. To add stress, you can use a barbell or two dumbbells (one in each hand) to lift the weight with your back. However, be careful when starting out; using little or no weight is much better as the lower back muscles are vulnerable. You’re essentially lifting your upper body and any weight the way you’re told not to when moving furniture. In that case, you’re supposed to “lift with your legs,” but remember that your goal is to condition the lower back muscles. So, we’re breaking that rule, but start slowly and with no added weight. After a few weeks, you can consider adding lightweight, like two-, five-, or ten-pound dumbbells.
Summary
The push-pull split method for strength training is time-honored and effective. It’s a great way to get started with strength training. It also helps you learn to do several critical things to drive results. First, it forces you to be aware of DOMS and the need for muscles to have more than one day to recover. Second, it encourages you to work out at least four days a week. Working out three or fewer days a week tends to diminish your results, but when you’re not sure what you’re doing and try to work out everything every time, you’ll tend to work out less. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the push-pull approach prompts you to consider which muscles you are training and in what order. This knowledge increases your “intention.” Arnold Swartzenager has been known to say that the intention and intensity of your training effort are critical to realizing results. I couldn’t agree more.