What Is Push Day?

Let’s start with a brief introduction to the definition and terminology of push day to ensure we are all on the same page.

Your body can be divided into front and back, left and right, and top and bottom. These segments are called the coronal (frontal), sagittal, and transverse planes in exercise physiology.

In addition, we can classify exercises in these two-dimensional planes based on the direction of movement. For instance, push exercises usually involve the weight moving forward, upward, away from the center, or a combination of these. 

Dividing Push Day Exercises by Muscle Group

Push exercises can work muscles from head to toe on the back and front of your body. So it’s helpful to group push day exercises into a few buckets when designing your workout.

An upper body push day consists of exercises that work the muscles of your chest, front and side shoulders, and triceps, such as presses or extensions.

A lower body push day includes exercises that work the muscles of your quads, glutes, and calves, such as squats and calf raises.

You can also combine upper and lower body exercises for a total body push day workout or do an upper lower split.

Designing a Push/Pull Workout Split

Push workouts are part of a push/pull or push/pull/legs training split. The advantage of push/pull splits is they are relatively easy to program, and you can train each muscle group twice each week if you want.

Each push/pull split variation has pros and cons. So which one you use depends on your schedule, experience level, and fitness goals.

For example, the basic push/pull split includes upper-body and lower-body movements in every workout. This split allows you to train your whole body in fewer days per week. However, each muscle group gets less individual attention.

By comparison, a push/pull/legs split involves only upper body push days and pull days, while the leg day includes both push and pull movements for the lower body. Therefore, this split allows more training volume for the upper body.

Example: Chris Bumstead’s Push Pull Legs Routine

Next, let’s dive into the complete list of push day exercises. I’ve segmented the list into different upper and lower body muscle groups to make it easier to find specific exercises.

Upper Body Push Exercises

Upper body push day exercises include movements targeting the chest, shoulders, and triceps. And this section includes exercises you can use to work those muscle groups.

Push Day Exercises for Chest

The pectorals, or pecs, are the largest muscles on your chest, and they are involved in several types of pushing movements. Here are the top push day exercises for the upper, middle, and lower chest.

1. Bench Press

The bench press is a foundational powerlifting and bodybuilding movement due to its effectiveness in building chest strength and muscle size. The standard flat bench setup works the majority of the chest with emphasis on the middle of the pecs.

2. Incline Bench Press

Lying on an incline bench at an angle of 15-60 degrees changes the direction of the force relative to your arms and body. As a result, the incline bench press is better for targeting the upper pectorals.

Push Day Exercises for Shoulders

Let’s move on to the best push day exercises for your anterior and lateral deltoids. The anterior delts are the muscles on the front of your shoulders, while the lateral delts are on the side.

12. Overhead Press

The standing barbell overhead press is like a vertical bench press, which shifts the loading from the chest to the shoulders. As such, this exercise is superb for building shoulder size and strength.

Most often, this exercise is performed with strict form to minimize momentum generated by the lower body.

Push Day Exercises for Triceps

Here are the best triceps exercises for upper body push day. Don’t underestimate their importance!

20. Skull Crushers

Skull crushers are a dangerously cool-sounding tricep exercise that involves lying on a bench and lowering a weight toward the top of your head. But don’t worry, they are relatively safe!

Moreover, skull crushers are an excellent exercise for loading up your triceps and building size and strength in the back of your arms.

Lower Body Push Exercises

Here are some of the best push day exercises for your lower body. The list is segmented into different muscle groups: quadricep exercises, glute-focused exercises, and calf exercises.

Quad Push Day Exercises

Quadriceps exercises include knee extension movements that target all the major muscles on the front of your thighs. The most common example of which is the squat.

26. Narrow Stance Squats

The conventional squat is the king of lower body exercises. But it works every muscle in your legs, including pull day muscles like the hamstrings, which isn’t ideal for a push-pull split where you train hamstrings the next day.

Therefore, I recommend using quad-focused squat variations on your push day to minimize overlap and overtraining. One example is the narrow stance squat, which has been shown to activate more quads and less hamstrings compared to a wider stance.

Learn More: Wide vs Narrow Stance Squat Mechanics & Muscle Activation

Glute Push Day Exercises

Next, let’s change gears and look at some push day exercises for working your glutes.

33. Conventional Barbell Squat

Back squats effectively work the glutes, with wider stances providing deeper hip flexion. Low bar squats shift your center of gravity back for a glute-dominant movement.

34. Box Squat

Box squats are a variation of squats that focus on targeting the glutes more than the quads. This exercise involves stopping at the bottom of the squat, which is great for building explosive power.

Calves Push Day Exercises

Last but not least are some push day exercises for working your calves.

37. Standing Barbell Calf Raises

Standing calf raises are the best exercise for working the gastrocnemius of the upper calves due to the straight leg position. And performing this exercise with a barbell creates the added challenge of balancing the weight on your toes.