Best Pull Day Workouts for Back, Traps, And Biceps

The push-pull-legs training split is a very powerful way to organize your workouts. Using this split ensures you train all your major muscles equally to build a muscular, balanced physique.

There are several ways you do the push-pull-legs routine, so you can modify it to suit the time you have available, your recovery ability, and how often you like to work out.

Popular configurations of the push-pull-legs split include:

Option One

• Monday – Push
• Wednesday – Pull
• Friday – Legs

Option Two

• Monday – Push
• Tuesday – Pull
• Wednesday – Legs
• Thursday – Push
• Friday – Pull
• Saturday – Legs
• Sunday – Rest

Alternatively, you could use a revolving approach with flexible rest days where you train for three days in a row and then take one day off, like this:

Option Three

1. Push
2. Pull
3. Legs
4. Rest
5. Push
6. Pull
7. Legs
8. Rest
9. Push
10. Pull
11. Legs
12. Rest, etc.

Regardless of how you use it, the P-P-L routine is a great way to ensure you train all your major muscles equally.

You can find a great push-day workout here, and there are plenty of leg training plans in our workout library. So, for this article. We’re going to share two tried-and-tested pull workouts designed to beef up your back, traps, and biceps.

Best Pull Day Workouts for Back, Traps, And Biceps

So, why are we giving you two pull workouts? Because we’re generous!

Actually, the real reason is that if you do two push, pull, and leg workouts per week, it’s usually best to avoid repeating the same program. Alternating between two different pull workouts will make your training less boring, more motivating, and therefore more productive.

However, if you plan on only doing one pull workout per week, just choose one program, do it for 6-8 weeks, and then switch to the other.

Either way, these two workouts will ensure all your pulling muscles get the best possible workout.

Of course, to get the most from your training and reduce your risk of injury, you must prepare your muscles and joints before you touch the weights. Warm up with 5-10 minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your upper body, such as the DeFranco Agile 8 program.

Complete your warm-up with a couple of light sets of your first exercise to dial in your technique and activate your muscles.

Pull Workout #1

#	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Rack pull	4	6-8	2-3 minutes
2	Medium grip lat pulldown to chest	3	8-10	90 seconds
3	Single-arm dumbbell row	3	10-12 per arm	60 seconds
4	Dumbbell pullover	2	12-15	60 seconds
5	Dumbbell power shrug	3	10-12	60 seconds
6	Barbell biceps curl	3	8-10	90 seconds
7	Dumbbell concentration curl	1	12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2	N/A

 

Pull Workout #2

#	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Pendlay row	4	6-8	2-3 minutes
2	Wide grip lat pulldown	3	8-10	90 seconds
3	Single-arm low cable row	3	10-12 per arm	60 seconds
4	Tuck front lever raises	2	6-8	90 seconds
5	Calf raise machine shrug	3	10-12	60 seconds
6	EZ bar spider curl	3	8-10	90 seconds
7	Dumbbell iso-dynamic biceps curl	2	10-12	60 seconds

Exercise Instructions

Pull Workout #1

There are two ways to do any exercise – the right way and the wrong way. The right way provides plenty of muscle-building tension while minimizing stress on your joints and connective tissue. The wrong way is usually less effective and more likely to cause injury.

1. Rack pull

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, erector spinae, biceps, forearms.

Your first pulling exercise rack pull is a total back builder. Working every muscle from the base of your spine to the nape of your neck, this exercise will build back thickness and strength.

Because you’ll be lifting from blocks, boxes, or pins, your lower body is less involved than it would be for conventional deadlifts. The raised bar should also mean you can go heavier, so grip it and rip it!

How to do it:

1. Using the safety bars in a squat rack, plyo boxes, or lifting blocks, set your barbell at just below knee height.
2. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart behind the bar, with your shins touching it.
3. Hold the bar with an overhand (not mixed) grip, using lifting straps to reinforce your grip if necessary.
4. Brace your core, pull your shoulders down and back, straighten your arms, and slightly but tightly arch your lumbar spine.
5. Drive your hips forward and stand up. Do not lean back at the top of the rep because doing so adds nothing to the exercise but does increase your risk of injury.
6. Set the bar back down, let it settle for 1-2 seconds (no bouncing!), and then repeat.

2. Medium grip lat pulldown to chest

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, biceps, forearms.

A lot of lifters use too much weight for lat pulldowns. Because of this, they can barely do a complete rep and struggle to pull the bar down to their chins, let alone their chests.

So, for this exercise, go a little lighter and really focus on pulling down and back with your elbows. This will light up your back – not just your lats but your mid-back muscles, too.

How to do it:

1. Grip your pulldown bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Sit down on the bench and plant your feet firmly on the floor. Lift your chest, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your abs.
2. Leading with your elbows and without flexing your wrists, bend your arms and pull the bar down to your upper chest. Squeeze your shoulders back and pause for 1-2 seconds at the bottom of each rep.
3. Extend your arms and repeat.
4. While it’s okay to lean back slightly to lift your chest higher, do not lean back so much that you turn a vertical pull into a horizontal pull.

3. Dead stop single-arm dumbbell row

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, biceps, forearms.

Where vertical pulling exercises like pull-ups and pulldowns develop upper back width, horizontal rows tend to increase back thickness. The single-arm dumbbell row is a classic back-building exercise that works even better when each rep starts from a dead stop with the dumbbell resting on the floor.

How to do it:

1. Place a heavy dumbbell on the floor next to a flat bench. Put one hand and knee on the bench and lean forward, so your torso is parallel to the floor. Reach down and grab the dumbbell. Brace your core, and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Pull the dumbbell off the floor and up to your lower ribs.
3. Extend your arm, lower the weight to the floor, relax slightly, and then reengage and repeat.
4. Do the same number of reps on both sides.

4. Dumbbell pullover

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, pectoralis major.

The dumbbell pullover is part chest exercise and part back exercise. Unlike almost every other back builder, it doesn’t involve your biceps, so it’s the ideal finisher for your lats. Focus on getting a good stretch during this exercise and putting your muscles under tension in an elongated position.

How to do it:

1. Lie on a flat exercise bench and hold a dumbbell in both hands over your chest. Plant your feet firmly on the floor, brace your core, and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Starting with your arms vertical and elbows slightly bent, lower the dumbbell down behind your head until your biceps are next to your ears. Try not to hyperextend your spine. Instead, make sure the movement comes mostly from your shoulders.
3. Pull the weight back up and over your chest and repeat.
4. You can make this exercise a little more effective by doing it on a slightly declined bench.

5. Dumbbell power shrug

Target muscles: Trapezius.

Cheats never prosper, or so the saying goes. While that might be true for marriage and taxes, a little tactical cheating can be good for building muscle, exposing your body to more tension than it can usually handle. The power shrug uses your legs to overwork your traps to help you get yoked!

How to do it:

1. Hold a heavy dumbbell in each hand, arms by your sides. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, brace your core, and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Bend your knees into a shallow squat and lean forward slightly.
3. Stand up explosively, rising up onto your tip toes if you wish, and use this momentum to pull the dumbbells up and shrug your shoulders to your ears. Bend your elbows as little as needed.
4. Lower the weights and repeat.

6. Barbell biceps curl

Target muscles: Biceps

The barbell curl is THE classic biceps exercise. It’s a proven mass builder that allows you to use relatively heavy weights. Use a narrow, medium, or wide grip as preferred or, better yet, do one set with each hand position to train your biceps from all the angles. Use a straight bar or EZ curl bar as preferred.

How to do it:

1. Hold your bar with an underhand wide, medium, or narrow grip. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, and core braced. Pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Keeping your upper arms close to your sides, bend your elbows and curl the bar up to around shoulder height.
3. Slowly lower the bar back to your thighs and repeat.

7. Dumbbell concentration curl

Target muscles: Biceps

Concentration curls are often viewed as a shaping exercise. Still, they can actually be a great mass builder, too, especially when you do them after a more challenging exercise like barbell curls. For this exercise, you will perform your reps as a descending rep pyramid with no rest between arms. This will leave your biceps pumped and burning.

How to do it:

1. Sit on an exercise bench with a dumbbell in one hand. Lean forward, rest your triceps against your inner thigh, and let your arm hang down.
2. Bend your elbow and curl the weight up to your shoulder. Extend your arm and repeat until you have completed the required number of reps.
3. Switch arms and immediately do the same number of reps on the other side.
4. Without resting, return to your first arm and pump out another set, doing a couple less reps because of fatigue.
5. Again, swap arms and repeat.
6. Continue going back and forth until you are down to just two reps per arm.

Pull Workout #2

This workout follows a similar format to workout #1, but the exercises are slightly different to prevent boredom and movement fatigue. As before, do each exercise with the best possible form to make them effective and safe.

1. Pendlay row

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, erector spinae, biceps, forearms.

Pendlay rows are named after US weightlifting and powerlifting coach Glen Pendlay. Each rep starts with the barbell resting on the floor, which helps reduce lower back fatigue while forcing you to engage your upper back more for better muscle-building results. Another benefit of this exercise is that it allows you to go heavier than traditional bent-over rows.

How to do it:

1. Start with your barbell on the floor. Stand with your feet about hip to shoulder-width apart, toes under the bar.
2. With your knees slightly bent, hinge forward from the hips and bend over until your upper body is parallel to the floor. Make sure your lower back is slightly arched and not rounded. Grab the barbell with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip.
3. Brace your core, squeeze your shoulder blades together, and pull the bar up into your abdomen. The bar should touch your stomach. Lead with your elbows, keeping your upper arms close to your sides. Your upper body should remain stationary throughout. Do not use your legs or lower back to lift the weight.
4. Under control, lower the barbell back down the floor and allow it to touch down, reset your core, and repeat.

2. Wide grip lat pulldown

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, biceps, forearms.

While doing lat pulldowns with a medium or narrow grip involves mainly shoulder extension, a wide grip involves more adduction, so it hits your lats slightly differently. As with bar-to-chest lat pulldowns, avoid the temptation to go too heavy. Instead, use a moderate weight, focus on your mind-muscle connection, and really concentrate on pulling your arms and shoulders down and back.

How to do it:

1. Grip your pulldown bar with an overhand, wider-than shoulder-width grip. Sit down on the bench and plant your feet firmly on the floor. Lift your chest, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your abs.
2. Leading with your elbows and without flexing your wrists, bend your arms and pull the bar down to your upper chest. Squeeze your shoulders back and pause for 1-2 seconds at the bottom of each rep.
3. Extend your arms and repeat.

3. Single-arm low cable row

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, posterior deltoids, biceps, forearms.

This exercise uses a hybrid of pulldowns and bent-over rows to hit your lats from several angles at once. Using a cable instead of freeweights also keeps muscles under tension for longer. This all adds up to a very effective lat exercise.

How to do it:

1. Attach a D-shaped handle to a low pulley machine. Adopt a half-kneeling staggered stance and hold the handle with one hand.
2. Lean forward from your hips and extend your arm in front of you. Get a deep stretch in your lats.
3. Next, bring your torso upright, bend your arm, and row the handle into your side. Squeeze your shoulder down and back.
4. Extend your arm and repeat.
5. Do the same number of reps on each side.

4. Tuck front lever raises 

Target muscles: Latissimus dorsi, triceps, core.

This exercise is basically a bodyweight pullover. As well as working your lats, the tuck front lever raise will also hammer your abs, and you should also feel it in your triceps. This is a very functional gymnastics exercise that will leave your lats begging for mercy!

How to do it:

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Pull your shoulders down and back and brace your core.
2. Push forward with your arms and bend your knees. Raise yourself up until your knees are near your hands. Pause for a couple of seconds.
3. Slowly lower yourself down, using your lats as brakes, and repeat.
4. You can do each rep from a fully extended dead hang or remain in a tuck position with your knees raised as preferred.

5. Calf raise machine shrug

Target muscles: Trapezius.

When you do barbell or dumbbell shrugs, you may find that your grip fails before your traps. With this variation, you don’t need to use your hands at all, leaving you free to focus on working your traps to the max!

How to do it:

1. Place your shoulders under the pads on your calf raise machine and stand either on the footrests or on the floor as preferred. Brace your core and look straight ahead. Your arms should be down by your sides.
2. Shrug your shoulders upward as high as you can.
3. Lower your shoulders and repeat.

6. EZ bar spider curl 

Target muscles: Biceps

Spider curls are similar to preacher curls. However, you don’t need a special bench to do them. Like preacher curls, they all but eliminate momentum and cheating, making them a pure biceps exercise.

How to do it:

1. Adjust a bench to a 45-degree angle.
2. Lean against the bench, so your chest is supported. Your arms should be extended perpendicular to the floor in front of your body. Grab some dumbbells or a barbell.
3. Curl the dumbbells or barbell up, squeezing your biceps as hard as possible. Your elbows can move slightly forward but try to not move your upper arms too much.
4. Slowly reverse the motion to lower the weights and repeat. Extended, but don’t lock out your elbows at the bottom of each rep.

Read also: Spider Curls: How To Do The Spider Curl

7. Dumbbell iso-dynamic biceps curl

Target muscles: Biceps

Many lifters have a weak mind-muscle connection, making it much harder to build bigger, stronger muscles. This exercise starts with an isometric or static contraction which helps connect your muscles to your mind and also pre-fatigues your muscle fibers for a more challenging biceps workout.

How to do it:

1. Seated or standing, hold a dumbbell in each hand, pull your shoulders down and back, and brace your core.
2. Bend your elbows and raise the weights until your forearms are parallel to the floor.
3. Hold this position for 15-20 seconds.
4. Then, without resting, pump your reps out as usual.
5. Rest a moment, and then repeat this sequence one more time.

Pull Workout FAQs

1. Is this a bulking or cutting workout? 

The main difference between cutting and bulking is your diet rather than the workout you are following. For example, if you eat 300-500 calories above your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), you should bulk up and build muscle.

In contrast, if you reduce your calorie expenditure to 300-500 calories BELOW your TDEE, you should burn fat and get leaner.

So, adjust your diet according to your body composition goal. Eat more to build muscle and less to lose fat. Train hard to stimulate muscle growth or preserve your existing muscle mass during your cutting diet.

2. Can I change the exercises?

Providing you use similar exercises, you are free to make changes to the programs. However, don’t increase training volume or use different rep ranges. Also, try and use similar exercises if you choose to make alterations.

For example, replacing rack pulls with conventional deadlifts is fine, but doing back extensions instead of rack pulls is not. Always remain faithful to the spirit of the workout.

3. I’m super sore after doing the first workout – is this a problem? 

Muscle soreness is simply a sign that you’ve done something new and isn’t necessarily an indicator that anything is wrong or that you aren’t recovered from your last workout.

If you are sore, spend a little extra time warming up and do 3-5 ramped sets of the first exercise to ease yourself into your workout.

 For example:

1. 20 reps (empty barbell)
2. 12 reps 40kg/90lbs
3. 8 reps 60kg/135lbs
4. 3 reps 80kg/175lbs
5. 6 reps 100kg/220lbs (1^stwork set)

Soreness should become less of an issue as you become accustomed to this workout.

4. How long should I do this workout? 

Stick with this program for 6-8 weeks or until you feel it is no longer productive. During that time, do your best to use more weight, do more reps, or just do each set with greater technical proficiency. These “micro progressions” are what keep your muscles growing.

If your gains start to stall, switch to a different back-building program that utilizes different exercises and set/rep schemes.

Pull Day Workouts – Wrapping Up

The push-pull-legs workout has been popular for decades, which means it works. By grouping body parts by function and rotating muscle groups workout to workout, you can train hard every day but still get plenty of recovery between training sessions.

That said, the P-P-L workout is just one of many equally effective bodybuilding training splits. Other options include upper body/lower body, anterior/posterior, and body part splits where you train just 1-2 muscle groups per workout.

Ultimately, the best split is the one you can stick to and enjoy; they all work!

Try the P-P-L workout and see how it works for you. If it’s not the perfect fit, move on to another approach until you find the one that works best for you.

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