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Push and Pull Bodyweight
A floor drill that pairs a push-up with a scapular pull-back of the body, training the chest and the retractor muscles of the upper back in one alternating pattern.
ChestBodyweightPush-pull combination
GoLightWeight mediapush-and-pull-bodyweight
Demonstration coming soon
Primary
Pectoralis majorLatissimus dorsi
Secondary
Anterior deltoidsTricepsRhomboidsCore
Equipment
Bodyweight
Pattern
Push-pull combination
Setup
- 01Set up in a push-up plank with hands under the shoulders.
- 02Use a smooth floor with sliders or towels under the feet if available.
- 03Brace the trunk into one straight line.
- 04Grip the floor with spread fingers.
Execution
- 01Perform a controlled push-up, lowering the chest to just above the floor.
- 02Press back up to the plank.
- 03Keeping arms straight, pull the body backward through the shoulders so the hips travel toward the heels.
- 04Pull yourself forward again with the lats to the plank and start the next push-up.
Checkpoints
- -The pull phase comes from the shoulders and lats, not from bending the knees.
- -The plank line holds through both the push and the pull.
- -Shoulder blades move deliberately: protract on the push, depress and pull on the slide.
- -Tempo stays even between the two halves.
Common mistakes
- -Piking the hips high during the pull-back.
- -Rushing the push-up and losing depth.
- -Letting the pull become a passive rock backward with no lat tension.
- -Sagging through the lower back in the plank.
Programming notes
- -Use 2 to 4 sets of 5 to 10 full push-plus-pull cycles.
- -Good as a warm-up circuit piece or a no-equipment upper-body pairing.
- -Slow the pull phase to 3 seconds to increase lat and scapular demand.
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