Pulling Exercises For Building Muscles

Are you looking for a better, more systematic way to strengthen your muscles?

Consider the pull day and its polar opposite, the push day workout.

One of the simplest methods to design a fitness plan that allows you to change your motions, maximize your training time, and minimize injury is to divide your workouts into push and pull days.

Pulling Exercises For Building Muscles
Pulling Exercises For Building Muscles

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Pull Exercises For Your Body [Quick Facts]

What are a few examples of pull exercises?

  • Pull-Ups
  • Back rows
  • Deadlifts
  • Rear Shoulder Rlys
  • Biceps Curls

The Difference Between A Pulling Exercise And A Puling Exercise

A “pulling exercise” is simply a non-scientific means of categorizing specific movements.

All movements are, in reality, “pulling” actions since muscles pull across joints to modify the limbs.

A pulling movement is defined as one that either closes the joints or pulls weight towards you. There are, however, several exceptions to these rules.

  • Hip extension is a pulling motion that also opens the hip joint.
  • The set-up for a good morning is similar to that of a squat, but the former is a pulling exercise, whilst the latter is a pushing exercise.

Pulling actions use the muscles on the posterior (back) side of the body, which is the most obvious observation…

Even yet, because the biceps are on the anterior (front) side of the arm, this isn't always the case.

It is, as previously stated, highly “non-scientific.”

So, when we talk about pulling movements, we're referring to:

  • Those that involve the posterior side muscles and the biceps
  • They usually shut a joint because they are all complementary to one another.

In Pull Exercises, What Are Muscles Used?

Let's have a look at the muscles we'll be using to make sure there's no misunderstanding.

Pulling muscles will be broken down for lower and upper body activities.

Muscles Used In Pulling Exercises For The Lower Body

Glutes – The “glutes,” which are actually three muscles, are the largest and most strong muscles in the human body.

The glutes are also one of the defining muscular characteristics of humans, as they are what allow us to stand upright and walk on two legs.

They are:

  • The Gluteus maximus
  • Gluteus medius
  • The Gluteus minimus

These muscles work together to move the hip by:

  • When you stand up from a seated position, your hips are extended.
  • Hip abduction is a term used to describe the movement of the hips.
  • Extending the leg out to the side.
  • Turning your foot outwards is known as external rotation of the hips.

Hamstrings– it is made up of three separate muscles:

  • Biceps femoris
  • Semitendinosus
  • Semimembranosus

These three muscles are found on the back of the upper leg, on the posterior side.

The hamstrings cross both the knee and the hip joints, therefore they're in charge of two major movements:

  • Knee flexion is when the lower leg is pulled up and the knee joint is closed.
  • As the primary hip extensors, they function in tandem with the glutes.

Pull Exercise For Pulling The Upper Body Muscles

Lats – are the largest muscle group in the upper torso and is also called Latissimus Dorsi.

When fully matured, these muscles resemble “wings” dangling off the side of the body.

The lats are in charge of:

  • Shoulder Extension: Lower your arm in front of your body or lat pulldown.
  • Shoulder Adduction is when the arm is brought down to the side of the body.
  • Pulling your elbow backward with your arms out to the side is known as transverse extension.

Traps – No other muscle in your body can give you that “swole” look like the traps behind your neck.

The traps, which overlap the lats, stretch from about midway up the neck all the way down the back.

Traps run all the way across the shoulders at the top.

The traps are divided into three sections:

  • Upper portion
  • Section in the middle
  • Lower section

The primary function of the trap is to place and stabilize the scapula while also providing support to the spine.

This is critical because it helps to establish a stable foundation for practically all upper-body movements while also promoting excellent posture.

The posterior deltoids are one of the three deltoid (shoulder) muscles and are located on the posterior side of the shoulders.

They are in charge of:

Shoulder horizontal abduction is when you pull your arms back while your arms are completely extended to the side, like in a tennis backswing.

Work on the lats as well for:

  • Extension in the transverse plane
  • Extension of the shoulders

The Rhomboids are two muscles that are located beneath the traps.

Their primary responsibility is to work with the traps to govern and maintain the scapula's position.

The biceps is a single muscle that is made up of three muscles that form a short and long head.

Biceps cross both the elbow and shoulder joints as they run along the front of the arm.

It is responsible for three main functions.

Arm flexion is when the elbow joint is closed and the arm is pulled towards the body.

When the arm is supinated, the hand is turned over, and when the arm is flexed, the hand is pulled upwards.

What Exactly Is A Pull Day?

Pull-day workouts often comprise of upper-body movements that use a pulling motion.

The biceps, forearms, and back muscles are predominantly engaged.

Plus, whether you're paddling a kayak or lifting grocery bags, pulling is essential for everyday functional movement.

What Makes It Unique From Push Day?

Pushing movements that target the opposing muscles, such as the chest, shoulders, and triceps, are the focus of a push day workout.

You can engage one group of muscles while the other rests by switching between pushing and pulling movements.

This is why, after a pull day session, you can conduct a push day training without having a rest day.

Finally, this training strategy helps you to get more strength training done in less time.

Which Pull Exercise Works Best?

To get the most out of your pull day workout, try including these movements into your training regimen.

1. Dumbbell Bent Over Row

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with your feet hip- to shoulder-width apart.

Brace your core, bend your knees slightly, and lower your torso until it's nearly parallel to the floor by hingeing at the waist to push your hips back.

To protect your lower back, keep your glutes engaged.

With your palms facing each other, hang the dumbbells at arm's length.

To keep your shoulders pushed back, engage your shoulder blades.

This is where you'll begin.

Row the weights to your sides while squeezing your shoulder blades together, without shifting your body and maintaining your elbows tucked and back flat.

Make sure your elbow is bent 90 degrees so you're rowing to your ribs rather than your armpits.

Return the weights to their starting position after a brief pause.

2. Pull – Up

With an overhand grasp that's little wider than shoulder width, grab a pull-up bar. Hang at arm's length with your arms straight and your ankles crossed behind you (known as a dead hang).

Engage your lats and push your shoulder blades together as you pull your chin to the bar without swinging or kipping (using momentum to propel you upward).

Lower yourself to a dead hang after a little pause.

3. Renegade Row

Assume a push-up position with two hex dumbbells in your hands.

Your hands should be slightly wider than your shoulders and in line with them.

This is where you'll begin.

Lift the dumbbell with your right hand to the side of your torso while keeping your core engaged, elbows tucked, and body straight from head to heels.

Make sure your elbow is bent 90 degrees so you're rowing to your ribs rather than your armpits.

Rep using the dumbbell in your left hand this time. Alternate sides as needed.

4. Curl of Dumbbell Biceps

Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a pair of dumbbells by your sides, palms facing front, at arm's length.

Curl the weights toward your shoulders while keeping your core engaged and elbows at your sides.

Swaying your body is not a good idea.

Return to the beginning position by pausing and carefully lowering the weights.

5. Dumbbell Row In The Upright Position

Hold a pair of dumbbells at arm's length in front of your thighs, palms facing you, while standing tall.

Lift the dumbbells until your elbows reach shoulder height, keeping your core engaged, back straight, and weights close to your body.

Return to the beginning position by pausing and then reversing the movement.

6. Curl Of Zottman

Curl the weights toward your shoulders while keeping your elbows tucked and locked by your sides.

Turn the dumbbells around 180 degrees so that your hands are facing down.

Return to the starting position by lowering the weights to your sides and flipping your grip (to underhand).

What Is A Good Schedule For Push/Pull Days?

Combining leg and core movements and alternating between the three types of workouts is one method to develop a push/pull training regimen that targets the entire body.

As an example, consider the following weekly training schedule:

  • Monday's workout is a push day.
  • Tuesday is pull day at the gym.
  • Wednesday's workout focuses on the legs and core.
  • Thursday's workout is a push.
  • Pull-day exercise on Friday
  • Saturday's workout will focus on the legs and core.
  • Sunday: Take it easy.

It's also OK if you want to take a mid-week rest day or mix core or leg work with your push and pull days.

Make sure you do your push and pull workouts on different days.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Are lunges push or pull?

Squats, lunges, and leg presses are all pushes for your legs, but deadlift variations, glute bridges, and back extensions are all pulls.

Is hyperextension push or pull?

Lower-body pull exercises are sometimes referred to as hip- and hamstring-dominant exercises because they primarily use the glutes and hamstrings.
Deadlifts and hyperextensions are examples of these exercises.

Is 100 pull-ups a day good?

It's worth noting that doing 100 reps of any bodyweight exercise every day for a month without providing time for rest and recuperation will wear you out, and that you won't notice substantial gains unless you add progression to your exercises.