Workout of the week: 25-min pull strength workout

16th June 2025

pull strength workout - girl on the bench doing one armed pull ups

ALL LEVELS / pull strength workout / 25 minutes

Equipment: Lat pulldown machine, seated row machine, dumbbells, preacher curl machine, cable machine

After last week’s push workout, following up with a pull workout made sense. If pushing is about moving something away from you, pulling is like opening the fridge door — using strength to bring something closer. That’s why pull workouts focus on the muscles responsible for those motions: the back, biceps, and forearms.

Those are the muscles you’ll target in this pull strength workout. It includes 5 exercises, performed over 3 rounds with decreasing reps — 12, 10, and 8 — as the weight increases. Take 1 minute of rest between each exercise and each round. The whole session should take around 25 minutes to complete.

Lat pull-down
Seated row
Dumbbell bent-over row
Preacher curl
Cable bicep curl

Ready? Let’s do this!

WORKOUT SETUP

5 exercises
12, 10, and 8 reps
3 rounds
1-minute rest between reps and rounds
25 minutes
Equipment: Lat pull-down machine, seated row machine, T-Bar, preacher curl machine, cable machine

WORKOUT EXERCISE LIST

3 rounds

1 – LAT PULL-DOWN

12, 10 and 8 reps

Adjust the pad on your legs to reduce the movement.
Grasp the bar above your head with a wide grip. Keep looking forward with your torso upright.
Engage your shoulder blades, then pull the bar down before you, at upper chest level.
Squeeze your lats at the bottom of the move and avoid leaning back too much to facilitate the movement.
Slowly return up and repeat.

2 – SEATED ROW

12, 10 and 8 reps

Adjust the seat so the handles are level with the top of your shoulders.
Set the chest pad so you can reach the handles with your arms extended.
Grab the grips (narrow or wide), pull the handles toward your sides, and squeeze your back muscles.
Slowly return to the starting position without letting the weights touch the stack.
Repeat.

3 – DUMBBELL BENT-OVER ROW

12, 10 and 8 reps on each side

Place your left knee and left hand on a flat bench for support, keeping your back straight and core engaged.
Hold a dumbbell in your right hand, arm fully extended toward the floor, palm facing in.
Pull the dumbbell toward your waist by bending your elbow and keeping it close to your body.
Squeeze your shoulder blade at the top, then slowly lower the weight back down.
Complete your reps, then switch sides.

4 – PREACHER CURL

12, 10 and 8 reps

Sit and adjust the seat so your upper arms rest flat on the pad and your armpits are just over the top edge.
Grab the handles with an underhand grip, arms fully extended.
Curl the weight towards you, bending your elbows and keeping your upper arms on the pad.
Squeeze at the top, then lower the weight back down slowly.
Repeat.

5 – CABLE BICEP CURL

12, 10 and 8 reps

Stand tall facing the cable machine with a straight bar attached to the low pulley.
Grab the bar with an underhand grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
Keep your elbows close to your sides and curl the bar toward your shoulders.
Squeeze your biceps at the top, then slowly lower the bar back.
Repeat.