This 4-move pull session is your shortcut to building a bigger back and biceps

A man performing a lat pulldown — (Image credit: Getty Images)

of Bored of your regular back and biceps session from your regular push-pull-legs workout split? Sweat App Founder, Kayla Itsines has delivered a simple four-move session that’ll not only have you in and out the gym in 40 minutes (if you crack on and limit your phone scrolling), but also leave your upper body feeling pumped.

Having a strong back and arms isn’t just important for good posture and making everyday tasks easier, pull workouts also play a big role in strengthening your forearms. This leads to better grip strength, which doesn’t just help you lift heavier in the gym but can also have wider health benefits. In fact, a study shows that weaker grip strength is linked to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

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You will need to be in a gym for this particular workout, as it uses various machines. If you don’t hit the gym though, you can try this dumbbell workout instead, which hits the same muscles, as well as your triceps. Perform all your reps for exercise one for three to four rounds, before moving on to the next exercise. Rest for 90 seconds to two minutes between each exercise round. Here’s what you’ve got:

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Seated narrow grip cable row – 10 reps
Half kneeling single arm row – 10 reps per side
Lat pulldown – 10 reps
Pull ups/banded pull ups – 4 reps

Now that you’ve done pull for the week, that means you need to schedule in a push session. Here’s a three-move push workout, it does focus on barbell exercises, but if you aren’t hitting the gym and have dumbbells, you can easily swap for these. Legs (obviously) can’t go amiss either – here’s a lower body dumbbell workout you can have done in 30 minutes.

Bryony is a former Staff Writer in T3’s Active vertical. She is a certified personal trainer and part-time fitness instructor. In her spare time, she could usually be found in her natural habitat – the gym – where her training combined bodybuilding and powerlifting. She used to write about accessible workouts, nutrition and innovative fitness products that could help people reach their fitness goals and take their training to the next level.