Whether you use a body part split, or you prefer full-body workouts, push-pull combos are a great technique to utilize when trying to become more efficient at building muscle mass.
Arnold was well known for his chest-and-back superset workouts that put massive amounts of muscle on his frame and if it worked for him it can definitely work for you.
One great thing about push-pull combos is they allow you to get a kill workout it a short period of time. That doesn’t mean that they are easy though, far from it.
Push-pull combos are done in superset fashion. A superset is a pretty common training technique where you do one exercise followed by another with no rest in between exercises. An example of a superset would be doing a set of bicep curls followed immediately by a set of triceps extensions. You then rest in between sets and repeat. This technique is great for increasing your workout intensity and is also a huge time saver.
Push-Pull Training
When you train opposing muscle groups like chest and back in a superset fashion, you allow one of the muscle groups to rest while you train the other. This is nice barbecue it means you can still train heavy without any excuses. This will challenge your muscles with heavier loads while also being an intense fat burning workout.
Another nice thing about push-pull combos is that they work more than one muscle at a time, in fact, they basically work your entire upper body all at once. This causes a nice growth hormone spike as well as increased blood flow to burn fat and your muscle synthesize protein for more growth.
There are other forms of supersets that also work opposing muscle groups like a quad/ham superset or a biceps/triceps superset but the push-pull combo is the big daddy of them all. Nothing also quite matches the feel of a heavy upper heavy push-pull combo. Your entire upper body will be totally pumped and you will be sweating with veins popping all in your own personal weightlifting glory.
Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Perform each of these workouts one time per a week, with at least two days of rest between each workout to enhance your gains.
Push-Pull Workout 1
Supersets Sets Reps
Bench Press with Bent-Over Rows 4 5-10
Shoulder press with Pull-ups 4 5-10
Push-Pull Workout 2
Seated dumbbell press with lat pull-downs 4 8-12
Incline dumbbell press with cable rows 4 8-12
No resting between exercises within a superset. Rest 90 seconds before starting the next superset.
