The push/pull formula

In a previous post I made “train like an athlete, look like a bodybuilder” I briefly touched upon the benefits of using a push/pull split versus a typical bodybuilders body part split. In this post I will take that a step further and present to you the formula you can use to construct your own push/pull split. So, here it is...

Push day

exercise	Movement type	examples
1	explosive	Power clean, jump squat, snatch
2	Knee dominant	Front squat, lunge
3	Horizontal push	Bench press, incline DB press
4	Vertical push	DB shoulder press,  standing BB press
5	Bridging/ trunk flexion	Plank, cable crunch
6	Trunk rotation	Seated Russian twists, cable wood chop

Pull day

exercise	Movement type	examples
1	explosive	Power clean, jump squat, snatch
2	Hip dominant	Good morning, back hyperextension
3	Horizontal pull	BB row, seated cable row
4	Vertical pull	Pull up, close grip pull down
5	Bridging/ trunk flexion	Plank, cable crunch
6	Trunk rotation	Seated Russian twists, cable wood chop

Your week may look like this:
MON-push day
TUE- rest
WED-pull day
THUR-push day
FRI-rest
SAT-pull day
SUN-rest

Regardless of how many days you train per week you would quite simply alternate between the push and pull days. What about arms and calves work I hear you say?! Well if you wish you can include an arms day within your weekly split or drop the abs/core work from one workout a week and replace it with some arms or calves isolation work. I’ve also been asked “because there’s only one exercise per push workout for chest (for example) I don’t feel very sore the following morning, am I training hard enough?” Well if you push the intensity to the absolute max on that one exercise like you should, its more than enough work. Then you’ll recover those pushing muscles for the following few days whilst training the pull muscles before you go back to the pushing muscles and do it all again!

Now you’ve got the formula, get straight to it like there’s nothing to it!