Best Push Day Exercises: Lifts & Workout Splits

A push exercise is a energy coaching routine concentrating on the muscular tissues concerned in pushing issues away out of your torso.

You practice these muscular tissues by doing “push workouts.”

Sometimes, push day workouts are press variations, such because the flat, incline, and close-grip bench press, overhead press, and shoulder press.

On this article, you’ll study precisely what a push day exercise routine is, which muscular tissues you practice in a push day exercise, why push exercises are useful, one of the best push workouts to incorporate in your exercises, an instance push exercise plan, and extra. 

What Is A Push Day Exercise?

A push day exercise trains the principle higher physique muscular tissues concerned in pushing issues away out of your torso. Sometimes, they emphasize compound pushing workouts, together with the flat and incline barbell bench press and overhead press.

Additionally they normally embrace a couple of isolation workouts to focus on the components of your pushing muscular tissues that compound push workouts don’t practice nicely, such because the dumbbell facet lateral increase, overhead triceps extension, and triceps pushdown.

Push exercise plans are usually a part of “push pull legs cut up,” which is a technique of organizing your coaching that dedicates particular days to workouts that concentrate on both pushing, pulling, or coaching your decrease physique.

Muscle groups Labored in a Push Day Exercise

The principle muscle teams labored in a push day exercise are:

Right here’s how these muscular tissues look in your physique:

What Are the Advantages of Push Day Exercises?

The principle advantages of push day exercise are:

Time Effectivity: Push day routines practice your chest, shoulders, and triceps in a single session, eliminating the necessity for separate exercises for every muscle group and making it preferrred for these with restricted time.
Larger-quality coaching: If you practice one muscle group per exercise, its efficiency decreases because the exercise progresses. To compensate, you must use lighter weights or do fewer reps, which isn’t preferrred for muscle and energy acquire. Push day exercises keep away from this challenge by distributing the trouble throughout a number of muscular tissues.
Much less Soreness: Because you’re not overdoing it with anyone muscle group, most discover they’re much less sore from push day exercises and may get better sooner, making it simpler to take care of coaching depth throughout the week with out one session negatively affecting the subsequent.

The 14 Greatest Push Day Workout routines

1. Barbell Bench Press

The barbell bench press is likely one of the single finest push day workouts for constructing nearly each main muscle in your higher physique, significantly your pecs, triceps, and deltoids. Because of this nearly all well-designed push day exercises revolve round heavy benching. 

Easy methods to:

Lie on a flat bench and place your toes flat on the ground. 
Pull your shoulder blades collectively and down, and with out lifting your butt or shoulders off the bench, barely arch your again. 
Seize the bar with a barely wider than shoulder-width grip and unrack the barbell.
Decrease the barbell to your chest, maintaining your elbows tucked 6-to-8 inches out of your sides.
Press the bar again to the beginning place.

2. Incline Barbell Bench Press

The incline barbell bench press trains your chest, triceps, and shoulders, however it’s additionally probably the greatest push workouts for coaching your “higher chest.” Together with it in your push day exercises ensures you construct proportionate chest mass—“filling out” your complete pecs. 

Easy methods to:

Lie on a bench angled at 30-to-45 levels and plant your toes on the ground. 
Pull your shoulder blades collectively and down, and with out lifting your butt or shoulders off the bench, barely arch your again. 
Seize the bar with a barely wider than shoulder-width grip and unrack the barbell.
Decrease the barbell to your higher chest, maintaining your elbows tucked 6-to-8 inches out of your sides.
Press the bar again to the beginning place.

3. Dumbbell Bench Press

The dumbbell bench press trains your pushing muscular tissues equally to the barbell bench press. The distinction is the dumbbell variation permits you to use a larger vary of movement, which is useful for muscle progress.

Easy methods to:

Whereas sitting on a flat bench, maintain a dumbbell in every hand and relaxation them in your thighs. 
Lie again and convey the dumbbells up so that you’re holding them on both facet of your chest by giving them a nudge along with your thighs.
Press the dumbbells over your chest till your arms are straight and your elbows are locked. 
Decrease the dumbbells to the beginning place.

4. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The incline dumbbell bench press trains your chest (and significantly your “higher chest”), triceps, and shoulders in the same technique to the barbell variation. Nevertheless, the incline dumbbell bench press permits you to use a larger vary of movement and stretch your chest muscular tissues barely greater than the barbell bench press, which advantages muscle progress. 

Easy methods to:

Whereas mendacity on a bench angled at 30-to-45 levels, maintain a dumbbell in every hand and relaxation them in your thighs. 
Lie again, hoisting the dumbbells up so that you’re holding them on both facet of your chest by giving them a nudge along with your thighs.
Press the dumbbells over your higher chest till your arms are straight and your elbows are locked.
Decrease the dumbbells to the beginning place.

5. Dip

The dip is a incredible push day train as a result of it trains your whole upper-body pushing muscular tissues on the similar time. What’s extra, should you use a dip belt, it permits you to use heavy weights safely, which is necessary for gaining muscle and energy.

Easy methods to:

When you’re utilizing a dip belt, wrap the chain round your waist, add the specified quantity of weight to the chain, and fasten the carabiner.
Seize each handles of a dip station, then press your self up by straightening your arms and gently leaping off the bottom so your arms are straight and supporting your complete physique weight. 
Bend your knees to maintain your toes from touching the bottom, then decrease your physique by bending your elbows till your higher arms are roughly parallel to the ground.
Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.

6. Shut-Grip Bench Press

The close-grip bench press trains your chest (and your higher chest particularly), shoulders, and triceps, making it an impressive push day train.

Easy methods to:

Lie on a flat bench and place your toes flat on the ground. 
Pull your shoulder blades collectively and down, and with out lifting your butt or shoulders off the bench, barely arch your again. 
Grip the barbell with a shoulder-width grip or barely narrower and unrack the barbell.
Decrease the barbell to your decrease chest, maintaining your elbows tucked 2-to-4 inches out of your sides.
Press the bar again to the beginning place.

7. Standing Overhead Press

Along with bettering upper-body energy and shoulder, triceps, and higher chest measurement, the overhead press develops your whole-body steadiness and coordination.

Easy methods to:

Set a barbell in a rack on the similar peak as your higher chest. 
Grip the bar with a shoulder-width grip and your palms dealing with away from you.
Unrack the barbell, step backward, and plant your toes simply exterior of shoulder width.
Push the bar towards the ceiling till your arms are straight.
Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.

8. Seated Overhead Press

The seated overhead press trains your shoulders, triceps, and higher chest just like the standing variation. Nevertheless, as a result of the seated overhead press doesn’t require as a lot full-body coordination, you possibly can raise heavier weights and progress sooner, which is usually higher for muscle progress.

Easy methods to:

Arrange an upright bench in a squat rack or use a seated barbell overhead press station.
Set a barbell within the rack at about shoulder peak when standing.
Sit down and grip the bar with a shoulder-width grip and your palms dealing with away from you.
Unrack the barbell and decrease it to your collarbone.
Press the bar towards the ceiling and return to the beginning place.

9. Shoulder Press

The principle good thing about the shoulder press is that it permits you to practice by an extended vary of movement than barbell overhead press variations, which is usually useful for muscle progress. 

Easy methods to:

Sit on an upright bench and maintain a dumbbell in every hand, resting them in your thighs. 
Hoist the dumbbells up so that you’re holding them simply above your shoulders along with your palms dealing with away from you.
Press the dumbbells towards the ceiling till your arms are straight.
Decrease the dumbbells and return to the beginning place.

10. Arnold Press

The Arnold press emphasizes your facet delts greater than different overhead urgent variations, making it a wonderful pushing motion for balanced shoulder growth. 

Easy methods to:

Sit on an upright bench and maintain a dumbbell in every hand, resting them in your thighs.
Hoist the dumbbells up so that you’re holding them simply in entrance of your shoulders along with your palms dealing with you.
Press the dumbbells straight overhead whereas rotating your wrists till your arms are straight and your palms are dealing with away from you.
Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.

11. Triceps Pushdown

The triceps pushdown is especially good for concentrating on the lengthy head of the triceps, particularly should you hold your elbows barely behind your torso. It additionally trains the triceps by a full vary of movement, which is right for muscle progress. 

Easy methods to:

Set the pulley on a cable machine to barely above head peak and fix the rope and straight bar deal with.
Stand upright or lean barely ahead (you possibly can undertake a staggered stance if it helps you steadiness), seize one finish of the deal with in every hand, and push it downward by straightening your elbows. 
As soon as your arms are straight and at your sides, reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.

12. Overhead Triceps Extension

The overhead triceps extension trains your entire triceps (particularly the lengthy head) when absolutely stretched, which maximizes progress.

Easy methods to:

Sit up on a bench. 
Grip one finish of a dumbbell utilizing each palms and raise it overhead so your arms are straight. Your palms ought to be flat towards the top of the dumbbell and dealing with the ceiling. 
Decrease the burden till it’s behind your head by bending your elbows, then straighten your arms and return to the beginning place.

13. Mendacity Triceps Extension (“Skullcrusher”)

The skullcrusher is an impressive train for coaching all components of the triceps, guaranteeing you’ve got outlined, proportional higher arms.

Easy methods to:

Whereas mendacity on a flat bench, maintain an EZ Bar above your chest with a shoulder-width grip. 
Convey the bar right down to your brow by bending on the elbow, then reverse the motion to return to the beginning place.

14. Dumbbell Aspect Lateral Elevate

The dumbbell facet lateral increase isolates the lateral (facet) head of the deltoids, which is necessary if you’d like your shoulders to have full, proportionate growth.

Easy methods to:

Arise straight with a dumbbell in every hand. 
Elevate the dumbbells out to your sides till your higher arms are parallel to the ground.
Reverse the motion and return to the beginning place.

The Greatest Push Day Exercise Routine

Under are two top-tier push day exercise routines. When you solely have time for one push day exercise weekly, do Push Day Exercise #1.

When you’ve got extra time to coach, do each push exercises every week, separated by no less than two days. For instance, you can do Push Day Exercise #1 on Monday, relaxation or do a leg or pull day on Tuesday and Wednesday, after which do Push Day Exercise #2 on Thursday.

Push Day Exercise #1

Bench Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Shoulder Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Dumbbell Aspect Lateral Elevate: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation

Push Day Exercise #2

Overhead Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Incline Bench Press: 3 units of 4-to-6 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Shut-Grip Bench Press: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation
Overhead Triceps Extension: 3 units of 6-to-8 reps with 2-to-3 min relaxation

3 Suggestions for Extra Productive Push Exercises

1.   Finish each set 1-to-3 reps shy of muscle failure.

As I clarify in my health books for males and girls, to maximise your outcomes, you will need to take many of the units in your push exercises to inside a rep or two of failure.

Ask your self on the finish of every set, “If I needed to, what number of extra reps may I’ve gotten with good kind?” If the reply is greater than two, improve the burden or reps to make your subsequent set tougher.

2.  When you hit the highest of your rep vary for a set, transfer up in weight. 

In case your push exercise plan requires 4-to-6 reps of the bench press and also you get 6 reps for a set, add 10 kilos to your subsequent set.

When you handle 3 or fewer reps with the brand new weight, scale back the burden by 5 kilos to make sure you keep within the 4-to-6 rep vary. 

Observe this sample of attempting so as to add reps or weight to each train in each exercise.

3. Take the suitable dietary supplements. 

These dietary supplements will help you optimize your push day exercise efficiency and beneficial properties:

Protein powder: Protein powder offers your physique with the vitamins wanted to construct muscle tissue and get better from exercises.
Creatine: Creatine boosts muscle and energy acquire, improves anaerobic endurance, and reduces muscle injury and soreness out of your exercises. 
Pre-workout: A high-quality pre-workout enhances power, temper, and focus, will increase energy and endurance, and reduces fatigue.

(When you’d like much more particular recommendation about which dietary supplements you need to take to achieve your well being and health objectives, take the Legion Complement Finder Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know precisely what dietary supplements are best for you. Click on right here to test it out.)

Push Day Exercise FAQs

FAQ #1: What workouts are in push day?

Push days exercises usually comprise compound workouts that practice the muscular tissues concerned in pushing issues away out of your torso, together with the flat and incline barbell and dumbbell bench press, standing and seated overhead press, and dip. 

They usually additionally embrace isolation workouts that practice the components of your pushing muscular tissues that compound push workouts practice insufficiently.

FAQ #2: What number of workouts ought to I do on push day?

The variety of workouts you do throughout a push day exercise is determined by your expertise stage. 

As a rule of thumb, learners (these with lower than one yr of coaching expertise) ought to do 3 units of 3-to-4 push workouts as soon as weekly.

Extra superior weightlifters (these with greater than a yr of coaching expertise) ought to goal to coach every main muscle group concerned in pushing actions (pecs, shoulder, and triceps) with 15-to-20 weekly units unfold over 2-to-3 exercises. 

FAQ #3: What ought to I do first in push day?

Which train you do first in a push day exercise is determined by your objectives. To deal with chest growth, start with the bench press. If constructing your shoulders is your focus, begin your push exercises with the overhead press. And if you wish to emphasize your triceps over your different pushing muscular tissues, do the close-grip bench press or dip first.