These exercises are not only a great workout for your lower body, but strengthen the core and improve balance as well. Next add a split leg workout, such as a split squat or front or rear lunge.

Although they shouldn’t replace squats in your routine, they make an effective addition. Hip thrusts allow you to work the glutes hard without the stress on your back and joints that occur from back squats. Hip thrusts come next, working the glutes and hamstrings. You can also get the same gains with less weight when performing the back squat. The front squat is nearly as effective at hitting the same muscles with less force applied to the back and knees. If you have knee or back pain that makes completing back squats uncomfortable, consider the front squat instead. It targets both quads and glutes, although the entire lower body, core, and even back get somewhat of a workout completing this exercise. The most common and most popular exercise for lower body development is the back squat. Targeting them effectively is hard work and can be mentally and physically taxing. The lower body is home to some of the largest muscles in the body. Push-Pull-Leg Routine: Your Guide to the PPL Workout Split If you are comfortable with lifting and want to be sure you are hitting all muscle groups hard, consider adding it in.Īccessory exercises, such as the barbell curl and face pulls allow you to finish off your workout strong. If you are new to weight training, this may be too much with leg day coming up tomorrow. Finally, hit the rear delts, which can be a challenge to target, with the chest-supported rear delt row.Īdding in deadlifts to your pull routine provides an additional workout for your lower back while also hitting the hamstrings as a secondary muscle group. Underhand lat pulldowns follow, working the lower back and biceps. Follow up with a bent row, which is another great back builder. Kneeling lat pulldowns replicate the muscular involvement of pull-ups, and are an effective substitute if you cannot perform a pull-up. There is no exercise as effective at increasing the width of your back. On your pull day workout, start by completing pull-ups. Some exercises to add include the flat dumbbell press, adding a pause at the bottom to prevent you from using momentum to lift the weight, laterals raises, overhead extensions, and decline cable flyes. These two exercises hit all of the push muscles you want to target.Īdd in auxiliary exercises, as time permits, to ensure you hit each muscle group hard enough to trigger growth.

This works the shoulders from all angles as well as the triceps. Next add some version of shoulder press, such as the dumbbell shoulder press or the military press. This is a great exercise for push days because it also works the muscles at the front of the shoulders (anterior deltoids) and the triceps. Push exercises for building muscle include exercises for the chest, such as the incline bench press. Push-Pull Workouts: Routines and Guide for Building Muscle

Push pull workout