A well-rounded workout routine should include both push and pull days, with pull days focusing on muscle groups like the back, biceps, traps, and rear delts. By performing pull exercises like pull-ups, rows, face pulls, and curls, you’ll gain strength to perform daily activities like lifting, carrying, and climbing while allowing your push muscles to rest.
Push–pull splits balance muscle activation and reduce overtraining. If you’re ready to program your perfect pull day, read below for a list of the key muscles to focus on, plus essential exercises and an example workout plan to get you started.
What Is a Pull Day Workout?
A pull day workout trains the back, biceps, traps, and lats. It should incorporate compound movements before moving on to isolation exercises and a mix of horizontal and vertical pulls. Typical exercises include pull-ups, chin-ups, rows, bicep curls, and reverse flyes.
A well-rounded pull day program will include a dynamic warm-up, heavy compounds (when your energy is at its highest), medium-intensity accessory work, and a few high-rep finishers or burnouts. Finally, a cool-down of static stretches helps reduce muscle soreness and improve recovery.
Key Muscles Targeted During Pull Day
Each pull day may look a bit different, but a comprehensive workout should include exercises that target each of these muscles:
Lats
The latissimus dorsi, or lats, are the largest back muscles. They’re responsible for creating the “V” shape physique and can create the illusion of a smaller waist. Exercises like pull-ups and pulldowns target them.
Traps
You’ll primarily focus on the lower and middle traps that retract and stabilize the shoulder blades. Think barbell shrugs, upright rows, and face pulls.
Biceps
Your biceps are the front arm muscles used to flex or bend the elbow. Biceps are typically targeted with hammer, standard bicep, or Zottman curls.
Rhomboids
A slightly less-known muscle group, the rhomboids, helps you to squeeze the shoulder blades together. You’ll feel them at work when performing scap pull-ups, cable rows, and face pulls.
Delts
Your rear deltoids are the back portion of your shoulder muscles. Popular moves like rear delt flyes and dumbbell rows help engage your delts.
Brachialis and Brachioradialis
These two smaller muscles are located in the arm. The brachialis is a deep arm muscle beneath the biceps, while the brachioradialis is the forearm muscle recruited in pulling. They likely won’t be the focus of any moves, but they’ll get put to work during hammer curls, reverse curls, and chin-ups.
Rotator Cuff Muscle
This muscle’s technical name is the infraspinatus, and it’s responsible for your shoulder’s stability. When squeezing your shoulder blades together during contraction, you’ll feel it at work during scap retractions, face pulls, and dumbbell rows.
Lower Back Muscles
Finally, your erector spinae, the lower back muscles that maintain your posture during rows, will also get a good workout from your pull day programming without needing specific exercises.
8 Essential Exercises for Pull Day
Start programming your perfect pull day workout by reviewing these top exercises targeting all the essential muscles described above.
Lat Pulldown
Use a gym cable machine or your Speediance Gym Monster 2 at home. Sit down facing a high-set cable with a bar attachment. Secure the knees down.
Lean back slightly, keep the chest up, and take a wide grip on the bar. Drive the elbows down and back, bringing the bar down to the upper chest.
Control the negative movement, preventing the weight from slamming down.
Row
Next, set up for some rows. You can do these with dumbbells, a barbell, or a cable machine.
Place one knee and that same hand on the bench for a bent-over row. With the other hand, grab the cable handle or dumbbell and assume a neutral spine position with your head diagonally forward.
Drive the elbows back, bringing the handle or dumbbell toward your pants pocket. Squeeze between the shoulder blades at the top.
You can also perform an upright row with cables. Set the cable to mid-height. Sit on the bench with your feet firmly planted, facing the cable. Avoid leaning forward or back, and start with your arms extended fully.
Then, pull your elbows backward and bring the cable handle to your lower sternum. Slowly control back to the starting position.
Face Pull
The face pull is primarily performed with a cable machine set to face height.
Take an overhand grip on the tricep rope attachment. Begin with extended arms, then bend your elbows and bring your hands back toward your face. Pause at peak contraction and squeeze your rear delts.
Deadlift
The deadlift is the ultimate compound lift. Deadlifts engage multiple muscle groups for full-body pulling strength. Find a heavy barbell or two dumbbells to get started.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and place the barbell over the middle of your feet.
Hinge at the hips as if you’re closing a door or tapping the wall behind you with your glutes, keeping your arms close to your legs as you bend toward the ground to pick up the weight.
Drive through your heels and squeeze your glutes and hamstrings as you power back up to a straight standing position.
Ensure you maintain a straight back with your neck diagonally forward to keep your head neutral. When hinging down with the weight, don’t go much further than mid-calf to prevent straining the lower back.
Bicep Curl
This pull move is for the biceps. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with palms facing forward for a standard bicep curl. Bend your elbow, bringing the weights up toward your shoulders.
A hammer curl is a similar variation that instead uses the palms facing in toward the body as you curl up. You can also perform standard or hammer bicep curls using a cable machine.
Pull-ups
You can incorporate pull-ups into your pull-day workout as an excellent exercise for the lats. Face the pull-up bar and take a wide grip, starting in a full hang position.
Squeeze your shoulder blades together and draw your elbows toward your sides, lifting your body upward toward the bar until your chin passes it. (This is technically a chin-up; for a full pull-up, continue pulling yourself up until the bar reaches your chest.)
Keep your descent slow and controlled, and lower back down until you reach a full arm extension again.
Barbell Lat Pullover
Lie on a bench with a barbell overhead for a lat pullover.
Gripping the barbell with both hands, slightly bend your elbows and bring your arms down toward your thighs, creating an arc motion.
Feel the stretch in your lats at the bottom, and hold for a moment before slowly releasing the arms back up overhead to the starting position.
Lat pullovers should be performed slowly for best results, tapping into the mind-muscle connection.
Shrugs
Spend a little time on the traps by working in a few shrugs to your plan. You can place dumbbells in each hand or grip a cable in each hand with the cable at the lowest setting.
Keep the weights on either side of your body. Lift your shoulders straight up toward your ears as you squeeze your traps together. Pause and hold at the top, then slowly lower your shoulders down.
Sample Pull Day Workout Plan
Let’s combine all of these exercises into a pull-day workout plan. Whether you work out at the gym or from home, follow along for an excellent pull workout.
Warm Up:
Spend 5-10 minutes in a dynamic warm-up to prep your muscles, increase your heart rate, and reduce the risk of injury.
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Arm circles
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Band pulls
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Bodyweight activation exercises: lat pulldowns, rows, face pulls
Main Exercises:
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Deadlift - 4 sets of 6-8 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets.
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Pullups - 3 sets of 6-10 reps, 2 minutes rest between sets. Use assistance if needed.
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Cable or Barbell Rows - 3 sets of 8-12 reps, 90 seconds rest between sets.
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Face Pulls - 3 sets of 12-15 reps, 60 seconds between sets.
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Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 10-15 reps, 60 seconds between sets. Use a barbell, a dumbbell, or a cable machine.
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Lat Pullover - 3 sets x 12-15 reps, 60 seconds between sets.
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Shrugs - 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps or as many sets until burnout, 45 seconds between sets.
Cool Down:
Spend 5-10 minutes performing static stretches, such as lat and chest stretches, and foam rolling the upper back.
Tips for Effective Pull Day Training
Keep these tips in mind to get the most out of each pull day workout. They’ll help you perfect your form, timing, and workout programming.
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Retract Your Shoulder Blades: Before initiating any pull movements, start by squeezing together your shoulder blades to protect them from injury and feel your muscles engage effectively.
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Control the Negative Segment: Slowly return to the starting position over 2-3 seconds to maintain tension.
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Lead With Your Elbows: Rather than pulling with your hands, drive the elbows back or down, depending on the pull angle, to improve muscle activation.
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Use a Full ROM: Perform each exercise using a full range of motion to get a complete stretch and contraction, maximizing muscle growth.
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Track Everything: Write down your weights, reps, sets, and rest periods in a workout log to gradually increase the challenge.
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Progress the Load in Small Increments: To overload the muscles progressively, use 2.5-5 lb increments or add 1-2 extra reps per session.
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Deload Every Few Weeks: Reduce the intensity every month or six weeks to prevent burnout while keeping the muscles working.
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Perform Compound Movements First: Start with compound movements like deadlifts or pullups when your energy is highest at the beginning of the workout.
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Balance Pulling Planes: Use horizontal and vertical pulls and hip hinges to target all essential muscle groups.
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Avoid Ego Lifting: Trying to lift too much weight will sacrifice your form and won’t yield the results you may think. It also places you at a higher risk of injury.
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Don’t Neglect the Rear Delts: Incorporate movements like rear delt flyes to maintain good posture and prevent shoulder imbalances.
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Allow for Rest: Wait 48-72 hours between pull sessions to allow the muscles to repair fully before working them again. You can still work out, but explore push, legs, cardio, or low-intensity movements while your pull muscles recover.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are 4 Exercises Enough for Pull Day?
Yes, four exercises can be enough for a pull day if you’re short on time. Choose the right movements and structure the workout correctly. Include a vertical pull, horizontal pull, hip hinge, and bicep isolation. Use proper form to ensure each movement counts.
How Many Exercises Should I Do on Pull Day?
You should perform at least four movements in each pull day, although you may include up to eight exercises if you’re at an advanced level. Beginners can start with four to learn movement patterns and avoid overwhelm, while intermediate trainers can program about six exercises to balance volume and progression with recovery.
Pull Day Workouts Target Key Muscle Groups for Balanced Strength
Structuring your workout split to include pull and push days is a great way to balance the training on your muscles equally. Pull workouts primarily target the traps, lats, biceps, and the posterior chain lower body, including the glutes and hamstrings. Pull day exercises work well on cable machines like the Speediance Gym Monster 2, allowing you to pull weight without extra strain on your joints. Include exercises that work each muscle group, or use the sample workout above to get started and feel the results of a well-programmed pull day.
