Men's Fitness Online

A Timeless classic pair of exercises, done together to give you a classic V-shape torso.

Army bases, city parks, church gyms, and state prisons are full of guys with broad shoulders, thick backs, and big chests and arms. And if you asked them what they do to achieve this look, you’d always hear the same answer: pullups and pushups. These simple, timeless exercises work the entire upper body and can be performed virtually anywhere.

We’ll show you how to fully utilize these moves and some of their most effective variations to build your back, arms, chest, and shoulders—no weights or jail sentence required. 

How the pull-up push-up workout works

You engage your lats, mid-back, rear delts, biceps, forearms, and core when you do a pullup. Pushups train your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. So, between these two movements, you’ve got the whole upper body covered.

Another benefit of body-weight training is that it’s low-impact. As a result, you can train more frequently than if you were using heavy weights, and the more often you work out, the greater your potential to build muscle. 

The only caveat to high-frequency training is the risk of overuse injuries, but you can avoid those by changing up your exercises so you don’t recruit the same muscles the same way every time. That’s why each workout on these pages pairs up a different variation of the pullup and pushup.

Directions for pull-up push-up workout

Perform each workout once a week, resting a day between sessions. Alternate the exercises marked “A” and “B”: You’ll do one set of A, rest 1–2 minutes, then one set of B. Rest and repeat until all sets are complete.

On days between workouts, you can perform lower-body training. Or squeeze some leg training in after the pullups and pushups on up to three of the workouts we’ve provided.Do not do any additional upper-body training.

Day I: 1A) Feet Elevated Push-up

Sets: 5 Reps: As many as possible

Place your feet on a bench or other elevated surface and get into a pushup position with your hands shoulder-width apart. Brace your core and lower your body until your chest is just above the floor.

Day I: 1B) Chin-up

Sets: 5 Reps: As many as possible

Hang from a chin-up bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing you. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.

DAY II: 1A) Neutral Grip Chin-up

Sets: 4 Reps: 4 x 1.5

Use a chin-up bar with parallel handles, or hook a V-grip bar over a straight chin-up bar. Pull yourself up from the bar until your chin is over it. Hold for a second, then lower yourself halfway. Come back up, then lower yourself to a full hang again. That’s one full “1.5” rep.

DAY II: 1B): Close-Grip Push-up

Sets: 4 Reps: 20–25

Get into pushup position and bring your hands inside shoulder width. Keep your core braced and perform a pushup.

Day III: Push-up

Sets: 3 Reps: Count down from 6

Perform six pushups, then lower your body into the bottom position so your chest is just above the floor. Hold for six seconds, then perform five more pushups followed by a five-second hold in the bottom position. Continue counting down, alternating reps and static holds, until you reach one rep and a one-second hold.

Day III: 1B): Sternum Chinup

Sets: 3 Reps: As many as possible

Hang from the chinup bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing you. Lean back and pull yourself up, aiming to touch your lower chest to the bar.

Day IV: Pull-up

Sets: 6 Reps: 5

Hang from the bar with hands outside shoulder width and palms facing away from you. Pull yourself up until your chin is over the bar.

Day IV: 1B: One-Leg Push-up

Sets: 6 Reps: 10 (per leg)

Get into pushup position and raise one leg behind you. Keep it elevated while you perform 10 pushups. Lower the leg, then raise the other one and perform another 10 pushups.

NOTE for Beginners: If you need help getting more than a few pull-ups done, you can use assistance bands, available through Amazon, to help you hit the numbers.