Improving Push / Pull Calisthenics = Increased Volume
(Learn to Balance It with the PT RESET)

Having a muscular–skeletal strength imbalance can cause injury and other complications in your athletic performance or on the job. Here is a question from an officer seeking to improve his performance, keeping balance in mind.

“Stew, I have a question on how I should be progressing with opposing muscle group exercises. The last 3 set Dip/ Pull-up workout on the “assist” machine, my Dips increased to 8-10 per set and my Pull-ups are (stuck) at 6 per set and struggling. Should I be getting “even/equal” increases in strength and development of these "opposing" muscle groups and should I worry if I’m not?”

In a nutshell, no, I wouldn't worry about it too much, but it's something to consider regarding how you tackle the next few months of your workout. Depending on your athletic history, your pushing muscles could be stronger than your pulling muscles. I know people who are just the opposite. In fact, a buddy SEAL of mine who was a heavyweight crew captain could do pull-ups all day. At 230 lbs, he could still do 30 pull-ups. However, he couldn't bench press his body weight for 1 rep. So, he had the opposite imbalance of the push/pull muscles.

Dips are likely just easier for you than pull-ups. Typically, the maximum repetitions for dips will double those for pull-ups. One thing you can try is to mix in another push exercise, like push-ups or overhead press, into the workout, and you might find that the numbers are closer to even. However, you should still balance the workout with a few more pulling exercises, such as dumbbell rows or machine pull-downs.

He continues, “Also are there inherent problems with assist machines? Is there something else I should be doing? I have tried changing the order to pull-ups first, dips first, or alternating, but see no difference.”

Assisted machines like a Gravitron are excellent for performing pull-ups or dips when you can't do them anymore with your full body weight in a particular workout. We usually resort to an easier version of an exercise when we can no longer complete it due to fatigue in that set, to finish the set. However, as you lose body weight and gain strength over time, you will develop the ability to do more unassisted pull-ups and dips.

If you consider the muscle groups used in both exercises, you primarily engage your chest, triceps, and shoulders in pushing exercises like dips and pushups. In contrast, exercises like pull-ups and pull-downs mainly target the back, biceps, and some smaller rear shoulder muscles. These muscles have the potential to be very strong, but they often aren't, due to lack of exercise or minimal athletic history. The simple truth is this: If you do not practice pull-ups, you likely will not be able to perform them, especially if you are overweight.

Some ideas for balancing push and pull muscles in your workouts involve creating routines where the sets or circuits are equal. For example, I like to do a push-pull-leg-ab exercise circuit that includes different exercises. For example:

1 minute of each exercise:

Set #1 – pull-downs, bench press, leg press or lunges, abs of choice
Rest with 3 minutes of cardio
Set #2 – pull-ups, dips, squats, abs of choice
Rest with 3 minutes of cardio
Set #3 – Pushups, DB rows, DB squats, plank pose 1 min
Rest with 3 minutes of cardio
Set #4 – Lightweight Shoulder Workout and DB bicep curl, military press combo
Cooldown with 3 minutes of cardio

The PT Reset Workout: This is a classic and easy way to balance out workouts, where you perform many repetitions of push-ups, bench presses, or other chest and shoulder exercises.

Repeat 2 times (after a workout)
Reverse Pushups 10-20
Birds 10-20
Army Haulers 10-20
Plank pose 1 min

If you are a beginner, use an assisted machine for the pull-ups and dips set and light dumbbell (DB) weights for all the other exercises. If you are at an intermediate level, repeat Sets #1-4 a second time. If you are advanced, try a 3rd round of the above for a balanced full-body workout.

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