Pull workout routine: the complete pull day workout

What is a pull day workout?

Pull day is the session in a push pull legs split that trains every muscle used to pull. When you row or pull down, the back moves the upper arm and the biceps bend the elbow, so the muscles that work together also recover together. Your push day and leg day stay free for chest, shoulders, triceps and lower body.

A good pull day has both directions of pulling. Vertical pulls (pull-ups and pulldowns) bring the arms down from overhead. Horizontal pulls (rows) bring them back toward the ribs. Doing only one leaves part of the back with less work, so the routine below uses both in each session.

The best pull day workout routine

Pull A is the main session. It opens with the barbell row while your lower back and grip are fresh, moves to the lat pulldown, and ends with rear shoulders and curls. Pull B is for weeks when you train pull twice: it leads with pull-ups and uses a chest supported row so the lower back gets a break. Switch between them in the planner.

Each session is 16 sets and takes 50 to 60 minutes with full rest. If you are short on time, drop the hammer curl or the shrug first. Keep the two main back lifts, the rear shoulder work and one curl.

Why the exercises go in this order

Put what you most want to improve first. A review of exercise order studies found that people complete more reps on an exercise placed at the start of a session, and that untrained lifters gained the most strength on the first exercise and the least on the last (Simão et al., 2012). Rows and pull-ups need your grip, biceps and back all at once, so curls before them would only make them weaker.

1. Heavy row or pull-up: 6 to 10 reps, longest rest.
2. Second back lift in the other direction: 8 to 12 reps.
3. Third back lift: 10 to 12 reps, machine or cable so it stays stable when you are tired.
4. Rear shoulders: 12 to 20 reps.
5. Biceps: one curl with a stretched arm or a barbell, then a hammer curl if time allows.

Best pull day exercises and why they made the list

Every pull day exercise in the planner earns its place by adding something the others do not. This table is the reason behind each pick and what to swap it for if your gym lacks the equipment.

Does grip width matter on pulldowns and pull-ups?

Less than most gym advice claims. When 40 men with at least five years of training did seven lat pulldown variations, muscle activity did not differ significantly across the variations overall; the only difference found was more rear shoulder activity with a wide overhand grip and a 30 degree lean back (Buonsenso et al., 2025). EMG shows activity and not growth, but it is a good reason to stop chasing the one perfect grip. Choose the handle that feels strongest and lets you pull with a full range of motion.

Palms facing you do change things a little on the bar. In a comparison of 25 adults, the lats worked hard in pull-ups and chin-ups alike, while the biceps and chest were more active in the chin-up and the lower traps were more active in the pull-up (Youdas et al., 2010). If you want more biceps from the same exercise, use chin-ups. If they are too hard, a machine assisted pull-up gives the same movement with less bodyweight.

Do you need curls if you already row?

If bigger arms are a goal, yes. In an eight week study, ten untrained men trained one arm with dumbbell rows and the other with curls. The elbow flexors of the curl arm grew 11.06%, against 5.16% for the row arm (Mannarino et al., 2021). It is a small study in beginners, but it matches the logic: rows are limited by the back and grip, so the biceps rarely get pushed as hard as they do in a curl.

Should you deadlift on pull day?

You can, but it is not the default here. The deadlift is a hip and back extension: most of the work comes from the glutes, hamstrings and spinal erectors, with the upper back holding position. Done first, it leaves the lower back and grip tired for the barbell row, which is the lift this session is built around. Many pull days list it first simply because you are pulling a bar off the floor.

Pull day sets, reps and rest times

Most pull days need 13 to 18 hard sets across 5 to 6 exercises. Stop most sets with one to three reps left in the tank; the RPE scale explains how to judge it.

Do not rush the big lifts to save time. In a study of 21 trained men on the same program, the group resting 3 minutes between sets gained more strength and thigh muscle than the group resting 1 minute (Schoenfeld et al., 2016). The study did not test back exercises directly, but tired rows mean fewer reps on the next set. Save the time on face pulls and curls.

Weekly sets per muscle

Once a week, Pull A gives the back 8 hard sets and the biceps 5 direct sets. That is enough to grow on a 3 day split, especially early on. Twice a week, the back gets 16 sets and the biceps get 8 on top of all the rowing, which is a solid dose for an intermediate lifter.

Dumbbell pull day and beginner pull day

The dumbbell pull day needs only dumbbells and an adjustable bench, so it works at home. The beginner pull day uses a pulldown, a cable row and curls on a cable stack, which are easy to learn and safe to push hard without a spotter. Both keep the same order: back first, small muscles last.

The dumbbell version has 18 sets. Its one gap is a vertical pull, so if you have a bar at home, replace the second row with pull-ups. The beginner version has 13 sets on five exercises, which is enough while every session still brings new strength. After two or three months, move to Pull A. For a whole week of dumbbell training, see the dumbbell workout plan.

Women can run any of these pull days as written. Nothing in them needs changing. If upper body is not a priority, the beginner session works as a once a week pull day beside lower body days, as in the workout split for women.

How often should you do pull day?

Pull once a week if you train three days, twice a week if you train six. Both work. Pooling 25 studies, Schoenfeld and colleagues found no significant difference in muscle growth between training frequencies when the weekly sets were the same, and concluded that people can choose by preference (Schoenfeld et al., 2019). Two sessions simply make 16 back sets easier to do well.

Leave at least two days between pull sessions. Avoid scheduling a heavy deadlift the day before, since your lower back and grip will carry the fatigue into your rows. The full week plans are in the 3 day workout split and the 6 day workout split.

How to progress your pull day

Use double progression. Pick a weight that lets you reach the bottom of the rep range with one to three reps left. Keep it until every set hits the top of the range, then add the smallest jump and work back up. Write each set down so you know what to beat next week.

Warm up before the first lift with two or three lighter sets; the warm-up calculator works out the weights and the plate calculator loads the bar. Grip often fails before the back on heavy rows. Straps are a fair tool for the last set if your back still has reps left, but train without them on your warm-ups so your hands keep up.

Common pull day mistakes