Pull ups or Push ups?
Why not do both?
Pull ups or push ups?
Why not both?
In today’s article I am going to explain why you should do both exercises.
Similarities between the two exercises
These exercises share many similarities. But they are not so similar as to constitute reasonable substitutes for one another.
‘These are both exercises that strengthen the upper body. They are also both bodyweight exercises. And finally, they are both closed-chain exercises.
This mean your hands (the distal body part) stays still while you move your body closer or farther from a fixed point.
Both exercises are very joint friendly, and both can be progressed by the addition of extra weight.
Differences between the two exercises
However, both exercises strengthen entirely different muscle groups.
Pull ups primarily strengthen the lats, traps, rhomboids, biceps and forearms while push ups primarily strengthen the chest muscles, front of the shoulders, triceps, serratus anterior, abdominals and hip flexors.
This means that you should not use push ups as a substitute for pull ups.
You should use both exercises independently to strengthen your upper body.
Push ups are a horizontal movement pattern. Pull ups are a vertical movement pattern.
Push ups may be better paired in a superset with some type of horizontal row movement instead of a pull up exercise.
Pull ups may be better paired in a superset with a vertical pushing exercise like an overhead press than a push up.
Both exercises can be used within the same workout, however, they are not technically well suited for supersets.
Should you do more of one or the other?
It’s impossible to say without knowing more details about you, your muscular balance or your injury history.
Generally speaking, however, most people need more pulling exercises to help balance out all the neck craning we do to look at our iphones.
Physical Therapist John Rusin suggests a 3 to 1 ratio of pulling to pushing.
He also suggests you do twice as much vertical pulling (rows) as you do vertical pulling (pull ups and pull downs).
This means you will be well served to do ample volumes of horizontal rows, a slightly smaller volume of vertical pulls like pull ups, and an even smaller volume of push ups and other horizontal pressing exercises.
Now, that does not mean that you should take it easy on the push ups and other pressing exercises.
What it means is that you should plan to hit even more pull ups and especially other horizontal row exercises like chest supported and bent over rows.
So do both exercises, and include them in a well balanced exercise routine.
So instead of asking which exercise you should do, just do both!