A Basic Guide to the Pull Day Workout

If you’re diving into weightlifting or fitness regimes generally, you’ve probably already come across the term PPL. This initialism stands for Push, Pull, and Legs, a popular training split. Push days focus on pushing motions and the muscles used to push things away from your body.

Pull days, naturally, are all about the pull muscles, or the muscles that drive pulling motions—especially the back and biceps. A push pull workout routine targets mostly upper-body muscles, which is why the other third of the training is the legs, covering the lower body. All together, a PPL workout routine is a good way to get a total-body workout throughout the week. For information on leg day, check out our leg day workout guide.

So let’s dive into what you need to know about pull day workouts, including the muscles involved in pulling, some key exercises, and tips for optimizing your routine.

What Is a Pull Day Workout?

As we said, a pull day workout targets the muscles responsible for pulling motions in the upper body. These exercises typically involve movements that bring a load toward your torso or curl it upward. Pull days are an integral part of the PPL training split, and they often include a mix of both compound and isolation exercises to for a comprehensive engagement of the muscles.

What Muscles Are Used in a Pull Day Workout?

During a typical pull day workout routine, you’ll be working the following “pull muscles”:

  • Latissimus dorsi (lats): The broad muscles of the your back. These are used when you pull your arms closer to your body.
  • Trapezius (traps): Upper and mid-back muscles. There are actually three parts to your traps—upper, middle, and lower. Altogether they help you lift your shoulders, bring your shoulder blades together and and pull them apart, and bring your shoulder blades down.
  • Posterior deltoids (rear delts): The back portion of your shoulder muscles. These are used to bring your arms back and rotate your shoulders.
  • Rhomboids: The muscles between your shoulder blades. These are essential to supporting and moving your shoulder blades.
  • Lower back muscles: This includes the erector spinae and quadratus lumborum. These support and help move your spine and are used in pretty much all everyday tasks.
  • Biceps brachii and brachialis: Together, these make up what we commonly call the biceps. The biceps brachii is the primary muscle of your upper arms. The brachialis is a deeper arm muscle assisting the biceps brachii. Naturally, we all understand that the biceps help you curl your arm toward yourself.
  • Forearm muscles: These support your grip and pull strength.

Key Pull Day Exercises

Here are some easy yet effective pull exercises for your pull day routine, complete with instructions:

Deadlifts

Deadlifts are a go-to exercise for a pull workout, and just for fitness routines in general. It’s a great exercise for your back muscles and also your glutes and hamstrings.

How to Perform Deadlifts:

  1. For your starting position, stand close to the bar with your feet hip-width apart.
  2. Lean forward and grip the bar, then brace your core and lift.
  3. Keeping your back straight, stand up straight and pull the bar close to you.
  4. Lower the bar back down in a controlled manner.

Tips: You can also use a hex bar for this. If you don’t have a barbell or a hex bar, or don’t want to use one, you can also use dumbbells or kettle bells, or really anything with weight that you can hold and still correctly perform the movement.

Chin-Ups

Chin-ups are a tried-and-true bodyweight exercise that primarily targets your lats and biceps. If you still have some chin-up trauma from your middle school PE class, we understand. But it’s a great exercise that should absolutely be part of your routine.

How to Perform Chin-Ups:

  1. Grab a pull-up bar with an underhand grip, with your hands shoulder-width apart.
  2. Hang with your arms fully extended.
  3. Pull yourself up until your chin clears the bar.
  4. Lower yourself back down in a controlled manner.

Tip: Add weight with a dip belt for added resistance if needed or desired. Keep in mind that lowering yourself down is part of the exercise, so do all you can to maintain control during that phase.

Bent-Over Dumbbell Fly

This simple isolation exercise effectively targets your rear delts and upper back.

How to Perform Bent-Over Dumbbell Fly:

  1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip.
  2. Hinge at your hips until your torso is nearly parallel to the ground.
  3. With a slight bend in your elbows, lift the dumbbells outward and upward. (You’re flying! Get it?)
  4. Lower the weights back down in a controlled manner.

Tip: Focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.

Dumbbell Rows

Dumbbell rows are another very basic exercise, excellent for developing the lats, traps, and rear delts.

How to Perform Dumbbell Rows:

  1. Place one knee and hand on a bench for support.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in the other hand, with your arm extended.
  3. Pull the dumbbell toward your torso by driving your elbow upward.
  4. Lower the weight back to the starting position.

Tips: Avoid twisting your torso. Keep your back flat and don’t lift your head while you perform the exercise. Be sure your head is higher up than your hips. If you don’t have dumbbells, feel free to use another object, like a gallon of water or anything that you can grip and move without awkwardness.

Pullovers

Pullovers isolate the lats and can be done with either a dumbbell or a cable machine.

How to Perform Pullovers:

  1. Lie on a bench with a dumbbell held over your head.
  2. Lower the dumbbell behind your head, keeping your arms straight.
  3. Pull the dumbbell back to the starting position.

Tips: To prevent straining your shoulders, don’t overextend when you bring the weight down.

Dumbbell Shrugs

This is probably the simplest exercise on our list, but it’s an effective way to strengthen your traps.

How to Perform Dumbbell Shrugs:

  1. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, arms at your sides, feet shoulder-width apart.
  2. Keep your arms straight and shrug your shoulders upward toward your ears.
  3. Lower your shoulders back down, again, in a controlled manner.

Tips: Focus on a full range of motion to maximize the effectiveness of this exercise. With the movement being so small, you may be tempted to rush, but don’t do it. This isn’t about breaking a world record for shrugging. If you don’t have or don’t want to use dumbbells, a hex bar can also work.

More Tips for an Effective Pull Day Workout Routine

Progressive Overload

To build strength and muscle, gradually increase the weight, reps, or sets over time. Monitor your progress and challenge yourself to lift heavier weight as you improve, whether for your pull workout or other workouts. But remember that this progression is gradual. If your priority is on muscle growth, you’ll want to increase your weight. If your priority is on toning, focus on increasing reps.

Prioritize Form

Using proper technique is important for preventing injury. Be sure to maintain control during each rep and avoid using momentum to lift the weight. Cheating on the exercise is only cheating yourself out of progress.

Balance Your Training

Incorporate pull day workouts into a well-rounded routine. If you’re looking to utilize a typical PPL split, then you’ll be training each muscle group 1 or 2 times per week.

Warm Up and Cool Down

Prepare your muscles with dynamic stretches and light cardio before lifting. But don’t overdo the stretching when your muscles are cold. After your workout, do some more stretching to improve flexibility and reduce soreness.

One Example of a Pull Workout Routine

Here’s a beginner-friendly pull day workout:

  1. Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8–12 reps
  2. Chin-Ups: 3 sets of 8–12 reps
  3. Dumbbell Rows: 3 sets of 10–12 reps per arm
  4. Bent-Over Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets of 12–15 reps
  5. Pullovers: 3 sets of 10–12 reps
  6. Dumbbell Shrugs: 3 sets of 12–15 reps

Ultimately, the number of sets and reps is up to you. And how you order the exercises is also according to your preference. If you’re just starting out and feeling a bit nervous, starting with 2 sets of 5 can be an easy way to get the feel for the workout.

The most important thing when starting a fitness routine (aside from not overdoing it) is to develop the habit. Make it as easy as you need to get to that point, then increase the difficulty once the habit is established.

There are many other exercises that you can do for a pull workout, including bicep curls, preacher curls, and seated cable rows. We’ve just given you some of the simpler exercises to start out. Feel free to look up more exercises to add variety to your routine.

Consistency Is Key to Success

The best pull day workout is the one that makes it easy for you to be consistent, whether that means switching things up or sticking with a predictable set of exercises. Schedule your workouts, track your progress (but don’t get bogged down in the details), and aim for steady improvement. Over time, you’ll see gains in strength and muscle development, if that is what you seek.

Whether you’re new to using weights or more seasoned, a pull day workout routine is essential for a balanced and effective training program. Following these tips and incorporating these exercises will help you make the most of your pull days and your overall health.