If your main aim is to build muscle, you might want to consider following a push-pull workout routine, as opposed to a more traditional approach when you work a body part at every session you spend in the gym. Here we listed three of the main benefits of push-pull workouts so you can workout smarter and more often.
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Push pull workouts are a great for beginners and pro alike: they are modular and can be scaled up and back down if needed. You can also focus on different areas of the body: train your gus and pecs with an upper body push-pull workout or tone the glutes and quads with a push-pull legs workout routine. The possibilities are truly endless.
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What are the main benefits of following a push-pull workout routine? We'll discuss some of these below. If all else fails, you can always go back do the best HIIT workout at home or doing this 5-move full body workout instead.
Benefits of push-pull workout #1: easy to understand
One of the best thing about push-pull workouts, especially for beginners, is that they make it easier to understand how to structure workouts. Most buff dudes like to use the latin names of the muscles when they give advice to people in gyms, you'll hear a lot of "this isolation exercise really works your erector spinae" and the likes.
When putting together a push-pull plan, you only have to pay attention to one aspect of the exercise: is it a pulling or a pushin movement? No need to fiddle around with micro-muscle involvement and more complex analysis, you can focus on this one thing and you are good to go with a plan.
Some examples of pull exercises: deadlift, chin up or pull up, bent over row, bicep curl, upright row, inverted row.
Some examples of push exercises: push up, squat, bench press, triceps dips, overhead press.
And then there is the abs which can be trained on both days but even so, make sure you rest these muscles too for a bit in-between sessions. Some personal trainers suggest that it's only a myth that abs can be trained every day.
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Benefits of push-pull workout #2: gives your muscles the rest they deserve
Push pull workouts can be performed pretty much back to back as when the push muscles are in work, the pull muscles are resting. This benefit of push-pull workouts could be particularly good for people whose training volume is higher and like to hit the gym more often as they can train push muscles one day and then pull the day after, then repeat.
Providing adequate amount of rest to muscles is equally as important as the workout themselves. You might think that your muscles grow during workouts but as a matter of fact, they grow when you rest as they being repaired. You damage the muscle fibres during the workout and what makes them grow is your body patching up of these damaged areas, using protein.
By following a push-pull workout routine, you can make sure you give enough rest to your muscles and you don't overtrain, which would result in muscle loss and not the sweet, sweet gains you are after. Don't forget to eat your protein either, let it be protein powder shake or jerky or a protein bar.
Benefits of push-pull workout #3: time-efficient and scalable
Push-pull workouts are super flexible and can new exercises can be added and taken out of the routine easily. Swapping exercises is also easier as you can almost swap different movements in and out like-for-like, getting rid of the deadlift if it's too hard and add in bent over rows instead.
Because you can increase the frequency of workouts using a push-pull method, you can also get buff sooner without muscle fatigue, making push-pull ideal for pre-beachbody season. Need to cram in a few extra sessions before your holiday to Ibiza? Go push-pull.
