A pushup and pullup workout you can finish in 20 minutes
Pushups and pullups are the two halves of one upper body. Alternating them set for set means each muscle group rests while the other works, so a complete, balanced session takes about 20 minutes instead of 40. The usual ratio is roughly three pushups for every pullup, because that is roughly the difference in how many most people can do.
If pushups are the only upper-body thing you do, you are training the front of your body and ignoring the back. Over months that shows up as rounded shoulders and a nagging ache between the shoulder blades. Adding a pull fixes it, and it costs you almost no extra time.
Why alternating works
A pushup is a horizontal press. A pullup is a vertical pull. They use largely opposing muscle groups, which means the recovery of one overlaps with the work of the other.
Run them as a pair, sometimes called a superset:
- Set of pullups
- 45 seconds rest
- Set of pushups
- 45 seconds rest
- Repeat
Your back gets about two and a half minutes of recovery between pullup sets, which is enough, but you spent that time doing pushups rather than waiting. That is the whole trick, and it is why this structure survives contact with a busy week.
Workout A: the balanced 20 minutes
For anyone who can do at least three pullups and eight pushups.
Five rounds of:
- Pullups: 3 to 5 reps, stopping two short of failure
- Rest 45 seconds
- Pushups: 10 to 12 reps at a 2-second down, 1.5-second up tempo
- Rest 45 seconds
That is 15 to 25 pullups and 50 to 60 pushups in about 18 minutes. It is a genuinely complete upper-body session.
Keep the pullup sets well short of failure. Pullups punish grinding much harder than pushups do, and a set where the last rep takes six seconds and a lot of kicking is not building anything you want.
Workout B: no pullup bar
Substitute an inverted row. Lie under a sturdy table, grip the edge, keep your body straight, and pull your chest to the underside. The more horizontal you are, the harder it is; walking your feet in makes it easier.
Five rounds of:
- Inverted rows: 8 to 12 reps, pausing for one second with your chest at the table
- Rest 45 seconds
- Pushups: 10 to 12 reps at tempo
- Rest 45 seconds
The one-second pause at the top matters. Without it, rows turn into a fast tug and your back barely participates. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold.
Workout C: the ladder, for when you have more time
A ladder alternates and climbs, and it is the most enjoyable version of this pairing.
Round 1: 1 pullup, 3 pushups. Round 2: 2 pullups, 6 pushups. Round 3: 3 pullups, 9 pushups. Continue until you cannot complete a round cleanly, then climb back down the same way.
Rest as needed, but keep moving. A ladder to 5 and back down is 25 pullups and 75 pushups. It takes 20 to 25 minutes and it is a much better test of endurance than any fixed set scheme.
Ladders are also easy to scale: if pullups are your limit, run the ladder on pushups only and hold the pullups at a fixed 2 per round.
The ratio, and why it is not one to one
Most people can do somewhere between two and five times as many pushups as pullups. Matching them rep for rep either makes the pushups trivially easy or makes the pullups impossible.
Three to one is a good working ratio. If you can do 10 pullups and 30 pushups, that is balanced. If you can do 10 pullups and 12 pushups, your pushing is behind. If you can do 3 pullups and 40 pushups, your pulling is behind, which is by far the more common case.
Train the lagging side first in the session, while you are fresh.
Tempo applies to both
The same rule that makes pushups productive makes pullups productive: control the lowering phase. A pullup where you drop from the top in half a second throws away half the work.
Take two seconds to lower on both movements. On pullups this is often the single change that takes someone from stuck at four reps to comfortable at eight, because the lowering phase is where most of the strength gets built. There is more on this in pushup tempo and cadence.
Keeping a tempo on two alternating movements while counting rounds is more mental bookkeeping than anyone wants mid-workout, which is where an app that speaks the pace and the transitions earns its place. WorkoutPacer will run the sets, the rest, and the cadence out loud so you can put the phone down between rounds.
How often
Two to three times a week, with a day between sessions. This pairing is more demanding than pushups alone, and pullups in particular need recovery.
If you want to train more often than that, alternate: pullup-and-pushup days twice a week, plus lighter pushup-only days from the daily volume guide in between.
Common questions
Can you do pushups and pullups on the same day?
Yes, and pairing them is one of the most efficient ways to train. They work opposing muscle groups, so one recovers while the other works, which is why alternating sets lets you finish a balanced upper-body session in about 20 minutes.
How many pushups and pullups should I do in a workout?
A reasonable target is roughly three times as many pushups as pullups, since most people can do far more of them. Five sets of ten pushups paired with five sets of three to four pullups is a solid session for an intermediate trainee.
What can I do instead of pullups with no bar?
Inverted rows under a sturdy table, a doorway or resistance-band row, or a bodyweight row using rings or a suspension strap. Any horizontal pull that lets you squeeze your shoulder blades together will balance out the pushing.
Should I do pullups before or after pushups?
Do whichever one you want to improve most first, while you are fresh. If you are training both equally, alternate them set for set. Pullups are usually the weaker movement, so most people benefit from putting them first.
How long should I rest between pushup and pullup sets?
If you alternate movements, 45 to 60 seconds between them is plenty, because each muscle group gets roughly two minutes of recovery by the time it comes around again. That is what makes the pairing so time-efficient.
Try it with the pace running
WorkoutPacer counts the tempo out loud over your podcast or music, so you can put the phone down and just move. Free, no account, works offline.