The Best Push Day Workout to Build Strength and Mass

There are endless ways guys structure their workouts. Some go with the classic bro split—arms one day, legs the next, back after that. Others lean on full-body training, hammering compound moves to torch everything at once. Then there’s the push-pull-legs split, a tried-and-true method that breaks workouts into three sessions across the week. Push one day, pull another, legs on the third. For guys chasing muscle mass, this approach is gold: It lets you pile on more volume and working sets for muscle groups that share the same function.

The push muscles have one job in common—moving a ton of weight with explosive force. Sure, pulling muscles can do damage too, but when it comes to projecting, throwing, pressing, or driving something (or yourself) away, push is king. That’s why a weekly push day isn’t just smart, it’s essential. It’ll make you stronger, more athletic, and, as a bonus, it’s the fastest way to pack size on your chest, shoulders, and triceps.

Related: Sports Scientist Reveals 5 Science-Backed Reasons Your Chest Isn’t Growing—and How to Fix It

What Are Push Muscles?

The push muscles primarily comprise the pectorals, triceps, and deltoids (shoulders). Working the push muscles begins with big, heavy lifts to ensure you’re performing at your peak. 

There’s a great advantage to training muscles for action—such as pushing or pulling—rather than focusing on specific muscle groups. This encourages balanced training that involves the entire body. As an added bonus, this type of training translates well to other areas of health, like fat loss, increased metabolic rate, and, of course, more power and strength.

What Is a Push Day?

A push day is the first day in the classic push-pull-legs sequence. Think of it as any workout built around pressing movements—like bench press, overhead press, and pushups—where you’re driving weight away from your body or pushing yourself off the ground. Push exercises differ from pull exercises simply due to the nature of the motion. It’s as plain as this: If you’re moving weight toward you, you’re exercising a pull pattern. If you’re moving weight away from you, that’s a push pattern. 

By grouping pushing muscles together, you can overload them with more sets and volume, which is exactly what you need to build strength and size. It also keeps your training efficient, since you’re hammering muscles that naturally work in sync.

The Best Push Day Workout

To help you reach your strength goals, I put together this rock-solid push day workout based on my decades of experience as a professional trainer.

Why is this workout so effective? It tackles all the big lifts while leaving juice in the tank to perform each of them well. The exercise order helps you maintain intensity, while also ensuring exercises don’t compete with one another by doubling up on the same muscle groups, thereby reducing their performance.

You’re going to work hard, and you’re going to work efficiently. Perform this push day workout weekly for six weeks to see both size and strength gains.

1. Barbell Pin Press

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, front deltoids

How to Do It

• Set up a flat bench inside a squat cage or a bench press station with adjustable height safety pins. Set the pins up about four inches higher than chest level when laying down on the bench.
• Load the barbell on the pins, and position yourself under it, so the bar is at its bottom point, resting above your chest.
• Use your standard bench press grip, get tight, and take a big breath in. Drive hard into the bar, into the bench, and into the floor, to drive the weight up to the ceiling. Lock out and hold.
• Lower the weight quickly, but under control, back down to the pins. It’s okay if it crashes down. Take a one to two second pause, and repeat for your next rep. 
• Perform five sets of five reps.

2. Plyometric Pushup

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, front deltoids, and abs

How to Do It

• Assume a classic pushup start position with arms straight and body aligned.
• Lower your body to the floor, then explosively press yourself up, bringing your hands off the ground.
• Don’t clap your hands. It’s a common habit, but can invite risk. Instead, simply focus on catching air and sticking a soft landing with the hands to smoothly transition to your next rep.
• Focus on sets for time rather than sets of a certain number of reps. As soon as your reps begin to slow down and you can no longer be explosive, the work will serve a lesser purpose.
• Perform four sets of 15 seconds.

Related: Want a Wide, Muscular Back? Strength Coaches Swear by This Underrated Pulldown Variation

3A. Seated Dumbbell Military Press 

Muscles worked: Front and mid deltoids, triceps

How to Do It

• Sit on an upright bench while holding a pair of dumbbells, supported on the thighs. Slide forward toward to the edge of your seat, while still maintaining your point of contact on the bench with your upper back.
• “Kick” the dumbbells up to your starting position, at shoulder level. Your elbows should be bent at 90 degree angles, with the upper arms positioned slightly ahead of the body.
• Press the weights directly upward over the shoulders to a full lockout. Lower the weights slowly to your starting position and repeat.
• Perform 10 reps, supersetting three times with 3B’s bodyweight dips.

3B. Bodyweight Dips 

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, front deltoids

How to Do It

• Set up in a dip station (parallel bars) and start with locked-out elbows.
• If you want to bias your chest, it’s okay to lean forward to angle the torso toward the ground. If you want to bias your triceps, remain an upright position as much as possible.
• Slowly bend at the elbow joint until you’ve reached an angle inside 90 degrees. Press hard and return to the top position.
• Perform 10 reps, supersetting three times with 3A’smilitary press.

4. Goblet Squat 

Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, spinal erectors

How to Do It

• Hold a heavy dumbbell on one end, at chest level. It’s easiest to cradle the weight end of one side of the bell.
• Set your feet to your ideal squat position, and maintain an upright posture.
• Squat down by spreading the knees apart and dropping the hips down. Be sure to keep the heels down.
• Pause at the bottom position, and return to the top position.
• Perform five sets of 10 reps.

5. Leg Press

How to Do It

Muscles worked: Quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves

1. Sit in the leg press machine with your back flat against the pad and feet shoulder-width apart on the platform.
2. Unrack the sled by pressing the platform away and unlocking the safety handles.
3. Slowly lower the weight by bending your knees until they’re just past 90 degrees (don’t let your lower back lift off the pad).
4. Drive through your heels to push the platform back up without locking out your knees.
5. Perform three sets of 12 reps.

Metabolic Finisher: Med Ball Slam EMOM

Muscles worked: Core

How to Do It

• Prepare a 10-minute timer and choose a slam ball no more than 10 percent of your bodyweight.
• Start the timer and, standing tall, raise the ball to full extension overhead with both hands.
• In one motion, aggressively squat down and throw the ball down hard, right in between the feet.
• Pick the ball up immediately and repeat for 10 reps. That should take about 20 seconds. 
• As the clock continues to run, begin your next set at the turn of the following minute (meaning you’d have gotten about 40 seconds of rest). Continue in this fashion until you’ve completed 10 sets, or 100 total med ball slams. 

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