I would first like to take the other posters for gathering all those beginner articles because that was very valuable to me. Having read through at least 3/4 of them to help set my goals, I know find myself stuck on how to design a program.
I read through Christian Thibaudeau’s How do Design a Damn Good Program and found myself wanting to start there. But looking through the list of exercises, I was not sure which were pulls and which were pushes and which would be considered horizontal pushes and pulls and which vertical push and pulls. It would really be great if someone tell me how to distinguish between the two!
Horizontal push = bench press and similar exercises
Horizontal pull = rows, etc
Vertical push = military press, etc
Vertical pull = pulldowns/pullups, etc
They are all exactly how they sound, horizontal push/pull means you are pushing forward or pulling backward, vertical push/pull means you are pushing up or pulling down
I love alternating push/pull exercises in my work out and do it where ever I can.
An example of what I do is :
Bench(push)/T-Bar Row(pull), Inclined DB Press(push)/HS High Row(pull), Neutral Grip DB Press(push)/HS Iso Row(pull)