This pull day workout packs a LOT into 30 minutes, targeting your back, biceps and core with nothing more than a few dumbbells and a mat. 🔥
A Spicy Little Pull Day for Your Back and Biceps
This one is a short but seriously spicy upper body pull day, and you will definitely feel the pump by the end.
We open with RDLs. I know, not the first exercise you’d usually expect to see in an upper body workout, but your entire posterior chain has to work hard to keep you strong and stable through the movement. From there, we move into three solid strength supersets with plenty of focused work for your back and biceps.
Then comes one of my favourite parts: the Switch Back finisher. We combine back and core exercises, work our way through them once, then reverse the order for round two. After the slower, heavier strength work, it’s such a fun way to change the pace and finish the session strong.
Grab your dumbbells and let’s go.
What You’ll Gain
- ✔️ A complete pull day workout at home in just 30 minutes, no pull-up bar or machines needed
- ✔️ Focused strength work for your back, lats and rear delts
- ✔️ Plenty of direct biceps work for a seriously satisfying arm pump
- ✔️ Stronger pulling muscles to support everyday strength and better upper-body stability
- ✔️ A Switch Back finisher that challenges your back and core together
Workout Overview
| ⏱ Duration | 30 minutes including warm up and cool down |
| 🔥 Calories | Around 205 |
| 🏋️ Equipment | Four sets of dumbbells and a mat |
| 💪 Focus | Upper body pull: back, biceps, rear delts and core |
| 📊 Level | All levels, fully scalable |
| 🎯 Format | 3 supersets × 3 rounds (40s work / 20s rest), then a switchback finisher × 2 rounds (30s work / 15s rest) |
Why This Format Works for Women Over 40
Pulling strength deserves its own training time. From our late thirties onwards, maintaining muscle becomes increasingly important, which is one of the reasons I love giving pulling muscles their own dedicated training day.
Your back and biceps do a huge amount of work in everyday life, but in full-body workouts they can easily end up sharing training time with everything else. A dedicated pull day gives you more opportunity to load those muscles properly, focus on good technique and progressively get stronger.
Supersets make 30 minutes count. Each superset pairs two exercises so you can get plenty of quality strength work done without wasting time between sets.
Because we alternate movements rather than hammering exactly the same exercise over and over, you still get enough recovery to keep your reps controlled and your weights challenging.
That’s how we fit nine rounds of focused strength work plus a finisher into just 30 minutes, without making the workout feel rushed.
The Switch Back finisher keeps it interesting. Round one takes you from Renegade Row through to DB Wood-chops, then in round two we turn around and work our way back again.
I love this format because it completely changes the feel of the workout without needing a long list of extra exercises. Your back stays involved, your core has to work hard, and the reverse order gives you a completely different challenge the second time through.
After three strength supersets, it’s a very satisfying way to finish.
Consistency over intensity. Energised, not exhausted. Always.
The Full Pull Day Workout
Warm Up · 30 seconds each
1️⃣ Arm Swings
2️⃣ Shoulder Rolls
3️⃣ Good Morning to Reach
4️⃣ Forward Fold Rolls
Superset 1 · 3 Rounds · 40s work / 20s rest
1️⃣ RDL | 15kg/32 lbs
2️⃣ X Body Curl | 8kg/17.5 lbs
30 secs rest
Superset 2 · 3 Rounds · 40s work / 20s rest
1️⃣ Alt Arm Bentover Row | 10kg/22 lbs
2️⃣ Hammer Curl | 8kg/17.5 lbs
60 secs rest
Superset 3 · 3 Rounds · 40s work / 20s rest
1️⃣ Reverse Fly | 5kg/10.5 lbs
2️⃣ 2 DB Pullover | 5kg/10.5 lbs
30 secs rest
Upper & Core Switchback Finisher · 2 Rounds · 30s work / 15s rest · Round 2 in reverse
1️⃣ Renegade Row | 10kg/22 lbs
2️⃣ Leg Lowers
3️⃣ DB Bent Knee Sit-up | 8kg/17.5 lbs
4️⃣ Plank DB Pull Through | 8kg/17.5 lbs
5️⃣ DB Wood-chop | 8kg/17.5 lbs
5️⃣ DB Wood-chop | 8kg/17.5 lbs
4️⃣ Plank DB Pull Through | 8kg/17.5 lbs
3️⃣ DB Bent Knee Sit-up | 8kg/17.5 lbs
2️⃣ Leg Lowers
1️⃣ Renegade Row | 10kg/22 lbs
Workout Complete 🔥
Burn approximately 205 calories
Exercises Worth Calling Out
RDL. The slightly unexpected opener. Push your hips back, keep the dumbbells close to your legs and maintain a long, strong spine as you hinge. Your hamstrings and glutes are doing plenty of the movement, while your back and lats work hard to keep the weights controlled and your upper body stable.
X Body Curl. Instead of curling straight up, bring the dumbbell across your body towards the opposite shoulder. It changes the angle slightly and brings your biceps and forearms into the work. Paired with those heavier RDLs, it’s a great way to kick off the first superset.
Renegade Row. Start in a strong plank position with a dumbbell in each hand, then row one side at a time while trying to keep your hips as still as possible. Your back is working, your core is working, and that combination makes it the perfect exercise to kick off the Switch Back finisher. Widen your feet for more stability or use the kneeling modification if you need it.
Trainer Tips
- ✔️ Set out your dumbbells before you press play. We change weights between exercises and you don’t want to spend your rest periods hunting for them.
- ✔️ On every row, think about driving your elbow back rather than simply pulling the dumbbell up.
- ✔️ Keep your elbows close to your sides during the curls. If you have to swing the weight to finish the rep, it’s probably time to go lighter.
- ✔️ On the reverse fly, focus on controlling the movement and squeezing across your upper back rather than trying to lift the dumbbells as high as possible.
- ✔️ During the leg lowers, keep your lower back gently pressed into the mat and only lower your legs as far as you can maintain that position.
Who This Pull Day Workout Is Perfect For
This pull day workout is for you if you want to build a stronger back and arms at home using dumbbells.
There’s no pull-up bar, bench or machine required, and every exercise can be done either standing, bent over or on the mat. If your back and biceps tend to get squeezed into the last few minutes of a full-body workout, this gives them their own dedicated 30 minutes.
It’s also a great option when you want to give your knees a break. There are no squats, lunges or jumping in this workout, so you can still get in a really solid strength session while keeping the focus almost entirely above the waist.
And because the renegade rows, leg lowers and sit-ups can all be modified, the finisher is easy to scale to suit where you’re at today.
Save This Workout
I’ve made an interactive workout card for this one so you can record the weights you use for every superset round and both rounds of the finisher.
Save it and use it again next time you do the workout. Instead of guessing what you lifted last time, you’ll know exactly where you can try to progress.
👉 Upper Body Pull Day Workout Card | Interactive PDF
What to Try Next
- Upper Body Push Day Workout for Women Over 40
- 60 Min Full Body Dumbbell Workout to Build Muscle at Home
- Knee Friendly Strength Workout for Women Over 40
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this pull day workout suitable for perimenopause?
Yes. Strength training is an important part of maintaining muscle and strength through your 40s and beyond, and giving your back and arms some dedicated training time can help you keep progressing rather than simply adding more workouts.
If your energy is lower on the day, adjust the weight or take a little more rest rather than feeling like you have to skip the workout completely.
What weight dumbbells should I use?
I used 15kg/32 lbs for the RDLs, 10kg/22 lbs for the rows, 8kg/17.5 lbs for the curls and most of the finisher, and 5kg/10.5 lbs for the reverse flys and pullovers.
Your weights don’t need to match mine. Choose something that makes the final few reps of each interval genuinely challenging while still allowing you to keep good form.
You’ll probably also find that you can use considerably more weight for exercises such as RDLs and rows than you can for curls and reverse flys, so having a couple of options ready makes the workout much easier.
Why are RDLs in an upper body workout?
RDLs are primarily a posterior-chain exercise, but your back and lats still have an important job to do.
As you hinge, your torso needs to stay strong and stable while your lats help keep the dumbbells close to your body. I like using them here as a heavier opener before we move into the more direct back and biceps work.
Can I do this pull day workout as a beginner?
Yes. Start with lighter dumbbells, take extra rest whenever you need it and use the modifications shown during the finisher.
The goal isn’t to match my weights, it’s to choose weights that challenge you appropriately and gradually build from there.
How many calories does this workout burn?
My watch recorded around 205 calories for this workout, but yours may be very different depending on your body, the weights you use and how hard you’re working.
Treat calorie burn as an interesting bit of information rather than the goal of the session. The real win here is the quality strength work you’re putting into your back and arms.
How often should I do this pull day workout?
Once or twice a week can work really well depending on the rest of your training.
Give your back and arms enough time to recover before training them hard again, and pair this with your Push Day, lower-body training and whatever walking, cardio or mobility work fits into your week.
Do I need a gym?
No. Dumbbells and a mat are all you need.
There’s no pull-up bar or machine required, so this is a proper Pull Day you can do completely at home.
Give this pull day a go and then tell me in the comments on YouTube which superset gave you the biggest pump. 💪
Remember: consistency over intensity. Strong and energised, not exhausted. Always. 🔥
Penny x
