Giulia Ralph is a qualified Nutritionist, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Weightlifting Coach, and Personal Trainer. She has a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutrition and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition.
A push-pull-legs routine, also known as PPL, is a popular training split among fitness enthusiasts and bodybuilders.
For push, you focus on exercises that require pushing movements, emphasising your chest, shoulders, and triceps. At the same time, pull exercise targets your back and biceps through exercises that involve pulling motions. And for legs, you work your entire lower body, including the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
These are motions that focus on specific muscle groups, ensuring each gets the attention and rest it needs to grow optimally. Following this type of split, you can effectively hit all major muscle groups within a week, promoting balanced development and preventing overtraining.
So here’s everything you need to know about the push day workout, ana essential part of this PPL routine, to maximize your upper-body gains.
A push day works out the upper-body muscles that you need to push against an external force. These muscles include the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The goal of a push day is to strengthen these muscle groups and improve their overall size, definition, and strength.
The pectoralis major is a thick, fan-shaped muscle that comprises the bulk of the chest muscles. It originates from the collarbone (clavicle), the breastbone (sternum), and the cartilage of the upper six ribs, converging to attach at the upper portion of the humerus (upper arm bone) (3).
The muscle is divided into two parts: the clavicular part (upper chest) and the sternocostal part (middle and lower chest). Both parts play a crucial role in a variety of movements of the shoulder joint.
The clavicular part is responsible for flexion of the humerus, as can be seen when you raise your arm. The sternocostal part aids in the extension of the humerus, as can be seen when you lower your arm from an elevated position.
Both parts of the pectoralis major work together in medial rotation and adduction of the humerus, as can be seen when you move your arm toward the center of your body.
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This is particularly noticeable when you perform exercises such as bench presses or push-ups where the pectoralis major is the primary muscle group that is engaged.
Essentially, the pectoralis major plays an integral role in pushing movements, and allows for a wide range of motion, and provides strength and stability to the upper body.
Of all the push day muscles, the pectoralis major is often the most targeted and sought after for its ability to create a well-defined chest aesthetic.
It’s important to note here that chest exercises aren’t only reserved for men. Despite what many might think, a push day workout is not something to be avoided by women, as the chest muscles are just as important for overall upper-body strength and aesthetics for both genders.
Furthermore, as highlighted in our blog post about push-ups – calories burned, chest exercises can also help burn calories and promote fat loss. This makes it a beneficial muscle group to target for weight loss goals too.
The deltoid muscle is located at the top of the shoulder and consists of three heads – anterior (front), medial (middle), and posterior (rear). These heads have distinct functions, but they work together to provide strength and stability to the shoulder joint (1).
The anterior head is responsible for flexion, abduction, and internal rotation of the humerus. This means it helps lift your arm to the front and side of your body, as well as rotating it inward.
The medial head aids in abduction (moving your arm away from your body), while the posterior head assists in extension (moving your arm behind your body). As a whole, the deltoid muscle also contributes to lateral rotation and horizontal abduction of the humerus.
Strong and well-developed deltoids will enhance your upper-body aesthetic while also improving overall shoulder strength and function.
Most exercises on a push day workout with dumbbells or barbells engage the anterior and medial heads of the deltoids, but specific isolation exercises such as lateral raises are essential for ensuring all three heads are targeted equally.
Exercises that target the deltoids include shoulder presses, lateral raises, front raises, and rear delt flyes.
The triceps brachii muscle is located at the back of the upper arm and consists of three heads – lateral (outer), medial (middle), and long (inner). These heads work together to extend the elbow joint and play an important role in pushing movements (2).
The lateral head is responsible for extending the elbow joint at the start of a movement, while the medial and long heads come into play as the movement progresses.
Strong and well-developed triceps contribute to overall upper-body strength and aesthetics while also assisting with a variety of daily activities including pushing and lifting objects.
Exercises that target the triceps include tricep pushdowns, skull crushers, and close-grip bench presses. On a push day workout at home, tricep dips and bench dips are also effective options.
Read more: Push Ups Calories Burned: How Many Calories Can 1 Push Up Burn
On push days, you’ll typically perform exercises that target the chest, shoulders, and triceps. These include compound movements that engage multiple muscle groups simultaneously, in addition to isolation exercises that specifically target each muscle group.
Below is a sample push day workout for beginners that can be modified and progressed as you become more advanced.
Target Muscle: Chest – Pectoralis Major
Target Muscle: Shoulders – Deltoid
Target Muscle: Triceps – Triceps Brachii
Target Muscle: Chest – Upper Pectoralis Major
Target Muscle: Shoulders – Deltoid
Target Muscle: Triceps – Triceps Brachii
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Doing a push day workout at home can be just as effective as going to the gym.
In our discussion of calisthenics push-ups, we show you how body-weight exercises are perfect for a push day workout no equipment as your own weight will provide enough resistance.
The push-up muscle groups are quite similar to the exercises that target your chest, shoulders, and triceps. However, this doesn’t mean that push-ups are the only exercise you can do to target your upper body.
Here is a sample workout that requires minimal equipment and targets all the major muscles in your push day routine:
Target Muscle: Chest – Pectoralis Major
Target Muscle: Shoulders – Deltoid
Target Muscle: Triceps – Triceps Brachii
Read more: Wide Grip Push Ups Muscles Worked and Proper Technique
Yes, shoulders are one of the main muscle groups that are targeted on a push day. Exercises such as push-ups and pike push-ups target the shoulders along with the chest and triceps.
Biceps are considered a pulling muscle as they are activated when you pull something toward you. However, some exercises on a push day, such as tricep dips, also engage the biceps as secondary muscles.
We recommend hitting the larger muscle groups first on a push day, such as the chest, shoulders, and triceps. This will allow you to give your full energy and effort to these muscles before you move on to smaller muscle groups with isolation exercises.
Abs are neither push nor pull muscles. They are considered core muscles that help stabilize and support your body during movements. However, they can be targeted on a push day with exercises such as plank variations or leg raises
People do push days to target their upper-body muscles, which include the chest, shoulders, and triceps. This type of workout helps build strength and muscle in these areas, in addition to improving overall fitness and body composition.
Push days are also a great way of switching up your workout routine and adding variety, rather than working out your whole body every day
Not necessarily. Which exercises you find more challenging is dependent on your level of strength and overall fitness. However, push exercises do tend to involve larger muscle groups, which some individuals may find more challenging..
The push day workout is an essential part of the PPL routine and targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Understanding the targeted muscle groups and their functions can help you create an effective push day workout that maximizes your gains.
It’s important to remember to always prioritize proper form and technique to avoid injury and ensure optimal muscle engagement.
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