WORKOUT

EMOM Push-Pull Upper Body Strength

Gain Strength and Endurance with Dumbbells · 42 min · 198–381 kcal
View on TV:
17/1745 – EMOM Push-Pull Upper Body Strength

This work­out serves as Day 3 of our Strength and Car­dio with Bri­an 10-Day Chal­lenge but can be used as a stand­alone work­out anytime!

Hey Team, wel­come to Day 3 of our 10-day chal­lenge! After kick­ing off with a full-body drop set cir­cuit and our body­weight pyra­mid yes­ter­day, today we’re zero­ing in on build­ing a stronger upper body with our Pow­er­ful Push-Pull EMOM work­out. This work­out is all about work­ing those key mus­cles — chest, back, shoul­ders, and arms — using a com­bi­na­tion of push and pull move­ments. If you want to build mus­cle endurance and strength in your upper body, today’s work­out is perfect!

Equip­ment needed:

  • Dumb­bells (Light, Medi­um, Heavy)
  • Mat (Option­al)

The beau­ty of an EMOM work­out is that it push­es you to find your rhythm, focus­ing on com­plet­ing each set of reps with­in the minute. It also allows you to lift a lit­tle heav­ier if you like. We will switch between push exer­cis­es like floor press­es and push-ups and pull exer­cis­es like dumb­bell rows and reverse flys. We will also tar­get the mus­cles that help us push and pull with iso­la­tion exer­cis­es such as bicep curls and tri­cep extensions.

The work­out is struc­tured to accom­mo­date dif­fer­ent fit­ness lev­els, with options to adjust the reps based on your cur­rent strength. Whether doing 8 reps, 12 – 15 reps or push­ing your­self to 20 reps per exer­cise, there’s room for every­one to progress at their own pace.

One key thing to remem­ber dur­ing this work­out is main­tain­ing good form, espe­cial­ly as you start to fatigue. The EMOM for­mat can be intense, and let­ting your form slip is easy when rac­ing against the clock. Remem­ber, qual­i­ty over quan­ti­ty; if you find your­self strug­gling to com­plete the reps with good form, it’s bet­ter to reduce the num­ber of reps or take a quick pause rather than push through with poor technique.

Anoth­er tip to keep in mind is to con­trol your breath­ing. With exer­cis­es like the floor press, dumb­bell rows, and push-ups, it’s impor­tant to exhale as you push or pull and inhale as you low­er the weight. This sim­ple tech­nique can make a big dif­fer­ence in main­tain­ing strength through­out the work­out. And remem­ber to take full advan­tage of the rest peri­ods built into the EMOM. You should try to fin­ish with at least 15 – 20 sec­onds left. These are moments to catch your breath before mov­ing on to the next set.

Today’s work­out is designed to be chal­leng­ing but also adapt­able. If you’re feel­ing strong, push your­self with increased weight and aim for low­er reps, or use a high­er rep range with lighter weights. If you’re start­ing out or return­ing from a break, stick with lighter weights and few­er reps, focus­ing on mas­ter­ing the move­ments. The goal is to push your­self just enough to make progress with­out over­do­ing it.

As we wrap up this work­out, we will move into a 9‑minute cooldown, focus­ing on stretch­ing the mus­cles we’ve worked hard on today. You’ll tar­get your shoul­ders, chest, biceps, tri­ceps, and fore­arms, giv­ing them the atten­tion they deserve after an intense upper body workout.

Remem­ber, Team, this chal­lenge is all about progress, not per­fec­tion. Every rep, every set, and every work­out is a step toward your goals. Trust the process, lis­ten to your body, and keep show­ing up.

Let’s make Day 3 count! Let’s grab those dumb­bells and get to work!

-Bri­an

Work­out Structure

Warm Up: 2 Rounds, 30 Sec­onds Each (6 Minutes)

  • Arm Swings (Forward/​Backward)
  • Chest Open­ers
  • Bear Crawls
  • Body­weight Rows
  • Dynam­ic Fore­arm Stretch
  • Cat-Cow Stretch

EMOM Push-Pull Upper-Body Strength Work­out (24 Minutes)
Rep Options:

  • Lev­el 1: 8 Reps
  • Lev­el 2: 12 – 15 Reps
  • Lev­el 3: 20 Reps

Minute 1:

  • Sin­gle-Arm Dumb­bell Floor Press (Left)

Minute 2:

  • Sin­gle-Arm Dumb­bell Floor Press (Right)

Minute 3:

  • Sin­gle-Arm Dumb­bell Row (Left)

Minute 4:

  • Sin­gle-Arm Dumb­bell Row (Right)

Minute 5:

  • Dumb­bell Shoul­der Press

Minute 6:

  • Dumb­bell Rene­gade Rows

Minute 7:

  • Dumb­bell Lat­er­al Raises

Minute 8:

  • Bent-Over Dumb­bell Reverse Flys

Minute 9:

  • Alter­nat­ing Dumb­bell Front Raises

Minute 10:

  • Dumb­bell Pull-Overs

Minute 11:

  • Dumb­bell Zottman Curls

Minute 12:

  • Dumb­bell Tri­cep Kickbacks

Water Break

Minute 13:

  • Dumb­bell Upright Rows

Minute 14:

  • Alter­nat­ing Dumb­bell Shoul­der Press

Minute 15:

  • Dumb­bell Wide Rows

Minute 16:

  • Floor Press with Bridge

Minute 17:

  • Tri­cep Exten­sions (Over­head)

Minute 18:

  • Stand­ing Dumb­bell Bicep Curls

Minute 19:

  • Push-Ups

Minute 20:

  • Ham­mer Curls

Minute 21:

  • Close-Grip Dumb­bell Floor Press

Minute 22:

  • Dumb­bell Neu­tral Rows

Minute 23:

  • Arnold Press

Minute 24:

  • Dumb­bell Shrugs

Water Break

Cool Down: 1 Round, 45 Sec­onds Each (9 Minutes)

  • Cross-Body Shoul­der Stretch­es (Left/​Right)
  • Seat­ed Bicep + Chest + Shoul­der Stretch
  • Fore­arm Stretch
  • Tri­cep Stretch­es (Left/​Right)
  • Side Stretch (Left/​Right)
  • Seat­ed For­ward Fold
  • Gen­tle Neck Stretch­es (Left/​Right)
  • Childs Pose