For many bodybuilders looking to add finish to their physiques or maintain mass while sculpting the size they have, a 5-day per week routine is the best route to go. They are able to give each body part the attention it deserves for one very intense training session, then the body part receives 6 days (almost 150 hours) to rest. We all know that it’s very rare that a full week rolls around and ANY body part is still sore, no matter how hard we train it.

Sometimes, a bodybuilder discovers the need to take a break from the rigors of this style of high-volume training. Maybe nagging shoulder soreness arrives, a byproduct of the 25-rep shoulder days. Maybe the knees are starting to ache from the 90 minutes of quad, hamstring, and calf work inflicted upon them on leg day. Maybe your head just isn’t in it anymore, and you need a break. Whatever the reason, if it’s time to give you muscle, joints, and mind a change-up, then push/pull training might just be for you.

Designing a push/pull training system is easy. Simply divide the body intro two groups – those muscles the push, and those that pull. Pushing movements move the weight/resistance away from the body. Those include chest, shoulder, triceps, quadriceps, and calf training. Pulling movements pull the weight to the body, and include body parts such as back, biceps, and hamstrings. On Monday and Thursday, train half of your body using the pushing body parts. On Tuesday and Friday, train the other half of your body using the pulling movements. On Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, you rest. You will need to reduce the workloads to 8 to 10 sets per body part, so that they’ll have time to recover before the following workout, 72 to 94 hours later.

For bodybuilders who train using AAS, the benefits of push/pull training can be even better. Many top national and professional bodybuilders combine push/pull with high-volume training. Due to their years of training experience, genetic advantages, high-protein diets, and of course, anabolic assistance, are able to train each body part twice per week, and use 20+ sets per body part when doing so. This allows them to stimulate each body part to the maximum, rest for 3 days, and then do it again. This creates 104 mini “growth cycles” each year, instead of the 52 growth cycles – one per week – that training once per week delivers. Be careful, however. Even experienced professional bodybuilders will sometimes burn out when training each body part twice per week, high volume.

The bottom line is that training each body part once per week is probably the best solution for most bodybuilders. Push/pull systems are great for beginners who are still learning their bodies. It’s a good option for intermediate bodybuilders looking to change things up. And it’s useful for advanced bodybuilders who are able to recover quickly and use high-volume at the same time. Give it a shot, and see if it’s right for you!

If you like this article, click here to share: