Mass Madness!
The purpose
of this article is to help bring back from the dead one of the often neglected,
all-time body building mass exercises….The Pullover! Few movements can
distribute mass and density over the entire upper body like the pullover does.
In fact, I compare its awesome muscle growth abilities in the same rank as the
squat, upright row, and dead lift! The pull over will literally carve out your
pecs, and chisel out your lats in a way that is unparallel to any other
exercise! In fact, I guarantee that if you put the effort into pullovers
that you do into bench presses and chins, you’ll have better thickness in your
pecs and lats than you ever imagined!
Compound
movement of the month!
The pullover
exercise works so many muscles that it boggles the mind! The muscles involved
in the pullover include:
1.
Latissimus dorsi
2.
Pectorals
3.
Triceps
4.
Teres major
5.
Deltoids
6.
Rhomboids
7.
Levator
8.
Obliques
9.
Intercostals
As you can see
the pullover could literally be placed next to the definition of “mass” in
Webster’s dictionary! Not to mention the stretch factor! A few light sets of
pullovers make an awesome warm-up to any chest or back workout! If you are
interested in using the pullover to bring your body to the next level, read on!
How to use the
pullover for size!
The pullover is
an excellent exercise for creating a mind-muscle link with your lats. In fact if
you are having problems “feeling” your lats in your back workouts, I highly
recommend mastering this movement! I’ve never
experienced an exercise that creates a better stretch or pull in the lats or any
exercise that works the lats harder! Along with
being one of the best mass building exercises ever, the pullover is also one
of the most versatile! It can be performed with both dumbbells and barbells!
Before we get into the different ways to perform the pullover lets discuss
exactly how to perform this movement properly.
Technique for
the pullover
The pullover
can be performed two different ways. One technique involves lying perpendicular
on a bench, with your hips lower than your back. The other technique involves
lying lengthwise on a bench, with your back flat on the bench. I have to
mention one important note. If you perform the perpendicular technique, do not
raise your hips during the movement! Often times I see people raising their hips
as they stretch back, then they drop their hips to help pull the dumbbell or
barbell over. That allows you to go heavier but it cuts short the range of
motion and eliminates the full contraction of the lats. All that really does is
move the dumbbell with their body and not their lats and pecs. I recommend
keeping your whole body as stable as possible throughout the movement. The only
thing that should be moving is your arms. If you can’t keep the movement within
the right range of motion then that is a good sign the weight is to heavy.
Dumbbells and
Barbells!
The main
difference when performing dumbbell pullovers and barbell pullovers is the range
of motion. With a dumbbell you can stretch back much farther and get a better
range of motion. The dumbbell allows for a better reach overhead. For this reason
most bodybuilders prefer to use the dumbbell for emphasizing the lats, with the
perpendicular bench technique. Both of these combined allow for the superior
range of motion for the pullover. This is just due to the fact that you can
reach back further with this technique and get more range of motion out of your lats.
The barbell is
more restricted so most like to use that for emphasizing the chest. Along with
lying on the bench lengthwise to better focus on the pecs. Even though it is
more restricted, barbell pullovers will pack on insane size! And allow for more
power! Try both ways
for each body part and see what works best for you! However, either way will
work both body parts super hardcore! I suggest using both!
Execution of
the pullover!
When I’m
performing the pullover I like to imagine a mental picture of myself driving a
heavy sledge hammer into a huge rail road nail! Keeping my body tight and my
mind focused on the task at hand! Think of the
name of the exercise as you are learning how to perform it. You are literally
pulling over the weight! Hence the name of the exercise. Begin the pull
by squeezing your pecs and pulling your lats downward. This will raise the
dumbbell from an arms’ length stretch behind your head. Then start it on its
forward ark. Remember to keep the rest of your body tight!
Here’s where
some variations come in.
By keeping your
elbows slightly bent (between 15 and 30 degrees), you’ll force more of the
pulling to be done by your lats. Keeping your elbows straighter will make your
chest do more of the pulling. When using a
barbell try taking a wide-grip then a closer grip. I find that a closer grip
pulls more on my lats while a wider grip targets more chest. I suggest using
both grips and everything in between!
Pull the
barbell or dumbbell over until it is above your chest for overall development.
The pullover is all about range of motion! Make sure you are using a weight that
allows you to keep the form strict! Going too heavy and cheating the weight can
cause serious tears due to the high degree of stretching the movement induces.
The
Multipurpose Pullover!
The pullover is
an extremely versatile movement! This is really great, as you can constantly
keep the movement fresh to keep your intensity higher and your body guessing and
growing! I already
mentioned the two types of ways to do pullovers on a bench. But don’t let the
fact that one is a little better for pecs or back prevent you from using both
for back and chest! For example,
decline barbell pullovers are one of my favorite back blasting exercises! The
stretch is out of this world! Try applying static contraction with this
exercise! Find the spot where you feel either your pecs or lats contracting the
hardest and hold the bar there! The pain is searing! Also try them on a
low-incline bench for a harder tug on the lats!
Are you a fan
of working chest and back together? T hen try applying the “Double your Pain,
Double your Gain” technique! In this instance you would begin your workout with 3 hardcore
sets of dumbbell pullovers, and then at the end of your workout perform 3 sets
of barbell pullovers at to finish these body parts off!
Drop sets of
pullovers will not only add slabs of meat to your lats, but also mad vascularity
to this tough to target area! Another
variation of the dumbbell pull over is to use two dumbbells! One in each hand!
Mimic the same motion, but this form works each lat and pec independently! I
like to move the dumbbells together unilaterally until failure. After initial
failure of both arms I like to apply the alternating reps technique.
Editors note:
The technique Adam just discussed is one of
the most incredible ever put together! If you are serious about building
mass, you will incorporate this immediately! It is that productive!
Rest-pause also
works wonders with this exercise, especially if you are going super heavy! Pick
a heavy weight and go to initial failure. Wait 10 seconds then go again until
failure. Pause, wait 15 seconds and go again. Finally rest 20 seconds and go one
last time! Can you handle the pain? If you’re hardcore you will!
Try applying
forced and emphasized negatives for a little bit of advanced pullover madness!
If you have a partner try doing implementing forced negatives! This is ultra-insanely
painful! Make sure your partner pushes really slowly on the negative to prevent
injury. If you’re alone try emphasizing the negative! Go for a really slow
descent of 30 seconds!
Partial reps
work wonders for any exercise. This holds true for the pullover as well! I find
that my lats are most contracted during the pullover just as my arms reach my
forehead. So, if your goal is to burn your lats perform partial burn reps in
this area of the exercise! As far as the pecs, I feel a maximum contraction as
the dumbbell or barbell passes over my upper chest. To apply the partial rep
technique here, simply move the dumbbell to this area and perform mini-burn
reps!
After you
experiment with pullovers you will notice some extreme soreness in your triceps! I never thought
of this before, but The Man Jacob Wilson had the incredible idea of working
triceps on the same day as pullovers! After he told me about it I just had to
try it! I had never worked triceps with back before, but now I do on a regular
basis!
In fact, I came
up with a really cool superset that I did at the end of my back workout right
before I started my tricep workout. The exercise is a flowing superset of
dumbbell pullovers with old school extensions! The pump in my tris was awesome!
What we have here is a definate must! This is a great
way to go from working the back into the triceps or the end of a back and tris
day to finish off both muscle groups!
Pullovers can
also be used in conjunction with cables! Try them with both types of bench
techniques. With the lying bench technique try them on both an incline and
decline bench! The constant tension and stretch these provide are fantastic!
Stiff-arm push
downs are also a variation of the pullover, only you are standing up. To perform
these simply go to a tricep pushdown station and extend your arms out straight
in front of you. Now simply mimic the pullover motion while standing up. I like
to bend my knees enough so that I can get the bar up high enough to obtain an
optimal
stretch in my lats. We again come to another great way to perform the tricep/pullover
superset! Except substitute the pullover with stiff-arm push downs and the old
school extensions with tricep pushdowns for extreme, flowing supersets! Speaking of
supersets, pullovers are an awesome exercise to superset with. Some of my
favorite exercises to superset them with are wide-grip upright rows, close-grip
pull downs, dumbbell flys, or dumbbell presses! In addition to this, you
can create some of your own deadly
combos!
Conclusion
As an overall
mass builder the pullover is hard to beat! We all know how important a well
built back and chest are to a bodybuilder! This one exercise alone works both of
these areas to the max! And can develop them in a way that is unique to this
exercise. Heavy compound
movements like the pullover can’t help but add slabs of meat to your physique!
Not to mention loads of strength. Begin
incorporating the many variations into your workouts! I guarantee the pay off
will be nothing short of a miracle!
Keep pumpin’
Old School
