An intersting topic - I had a purely gliding background before taking up aviation as a career, so my personal preference is the pull up to wash off speed. In a glider I would use a 2-2.5G pullup and a 0G pushover, obviously that's a bit dramatic in a light a/c for passenger comfort and the maps etc bound to be strewn around the cockpit.
My reasoning is this - a light a/c drag curve is quite steep, that is to say that if you are not very very close to your best glide speed the aircraft will be performing poorly. For a normal single engine piston you will probably be a good 40-50kts over your best glide in the cruise which will absolubtly destroy your glide ratio.
The pullup method therefore gives the benefit of extra height and time over the straight and level method. Of course like many things in aviation this is just my preference and there is not a single correct and accepted method.