Side Pullover

[TasteLikeChicken]

The side pullover is an exercise that is featured in this article(in my opinion the greatest series on the entire site):
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/backanatomy2.php

You never see it mentioned anywhere or hear anybody talk about it. Before reading the article, I was completly oblivious to its existence.

I created this thread to encourage others to at least try this exercise, it is one of my favorites now.

It is done as follows.

1. Lie on your side, on a flat bench with a dumbbell in your top hand.

2. With your palm facing the same derection as yourself, bend your elbow 90degres, like in a bent armed pullover.

3. Lower the dumbbell behind your head in a controlled manner(it's easy to determine if your weight is too heavy for the exercise because at a certain weight, you suddenly can't do a controlled movement.)

4.Go absolutly as low as possible and let the dumbbell tug on your lat. You will have to further increase the bend in your elbow after your upper arm passes parallel, because gravity can only pull the dumbbell downwards.

5.Raise the dumbbell like you lowered it. As you raise your upper arm, bend your elbow back to 90degres.

On the way up, push trough with your triceps, your elbow might open ever so slightly(and I mean barely noticeable, almost not at all). This is better than it closing, because the lats don't work nearly as much that way. Think of it as hammering a nail. This trick is very usefull for anybody who can't seem to feel or control a bent armed pullover.

You can occasionaly do this with a cable, it does offer constant tension and a longer range of motion.

I prefer to use the dumbbell version primarily, because with a cable your torso could have a tendency to bend in all sorts of ways to help move the weight. Therefore, this version of the exercise is only realy useful as a constant tention/full ROM but light weight exercise.

The primary reason for doing the exercise with a dumbbell however, is that it offers a stretch that is the best ever. The stretch cannot be achieved with a cable, because the same angle that allows you a fuller ROM does not pull towards the opposite shoulder, but upwards instead.

The limited ROM is not actualy an issue, because it is the opposite half of the ROM from a wide grip pull-up/pulldown. They complement each other perfecly. One is a proven mass builder, while the other will create extra stretch and width.

This combination is amazing and belongs on the list of great mass/stretch combos like bench/flies , squats/sissy squats, barbell curls/preacher curls.

That being said, don't assume that the side pullover can only be used as a complementing light weight/stretch exercise! It can be easily adapted to work as a mass builder. Heavy weight/low reps works well on this exercise and the weight can be controlled.

Another benefit of this exercise is that it is unilateral, one arm at a time. If you have some symmetry issues(like me), this is one of the many unilateral movements that you should consider including in your back workouts.

Pullovers work great in a back program, because they use the triceps as a helping muscle instead of the biceps. Using pullover-like, flexor-less movements with exercises like deadlifts, shrugs and rows to the neck/face in between exercises that use the biceps like rowing and chinning movements in your back program avoids the biceps from getting too fatigued within your workout. If your biceps tend to go before your back in certain exercises, you can superset a flexor-less isolation exercise to completly work the lats. Using these exercises will finaly make you able to feel your back muscles.

Usualy about a day after doing a lot of pullover movements, you will get good DOMS in your triceps, even though they where not realy used(I even seemed to experience intercostal DOMS). Because of this great feeling in the triceps, the long head in particular(it crosses both the elbow and shoulder joints), you may want to consider working triceps with back(back is a very complex muscle group though, and you might not have time to do triceps on top of back). You could even superset stuff like kickbacks with striation rows for a great burn in both muscles.

Finaly(I hope I didn't forget something), I would encourage everybody to read the Anatomy of the Pullover by Adam Knowlden. It's a great article, unfortunatly the side pullover isn't talked about in it:
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/anatomyofapullover.php

Everybody should read/reread the articles on the anatomy of the back by Jacob Wilson. They are realy, realy good, I can't stress it enough. Also you will probably find a part of the back that you probably didn't even know existed and great ways to work it. The second one(on lats) is the one that features side pullovers:

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/backanatomy1.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/backanatomy2.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/backanatomy3.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/backanatomy4.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/deepbackmusclesI.php
http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/deepbackmusclesII.php

A lot of the things mentionned in this article also work for the regular pullover too. If you havn't mastered that movement and consider it innefective, think again. Use these techniques(primarily the fact that you do have to press with your triceps to an extent) and you will quickly learn the reason why some people absolutly love this exercise!

Well, I think thats it, I hope everybody will go out and try this virtualy unknown exercise. It's that good.

[TheShanMan]

Great suggestion! I will try this in my next back workout. Always looking for ways to mix up my lat routine.

[Growth In Motion]

Nice post bro! *hands TasteLikeChicken the post of the week award!* I will certainly try this exercise. Maybe try supersetting with an exercise that reverses it. Such as wide grip pullups or wide grip pulldowns

Happy Lifting!

[TasteLikeChicken]

Wow! "The Post of the Week Award"! I'll have to put that in the front of my trophy case!

[TasteLikeChicken]

I found this yesterday without knowing that it existed. I would suggest that this or a thread serving the same purpose be stickyed permanently to the hardcore training forum and that we start adding to the list again! It would be a great addition, particularily for newer members who can learn new exercises from it.

Exercise of the Week Index And Members Contributions

[stillflabby]

i remember reading about this, but had COMPLETELY forgotten about it.

I'll have to give it a try.

[TasteLikeChicken]

It's like the preacher curl for the armpit! lol

[TheShanMan]

Did them today. I like it! Nice stretch, and on my last set I followed it with fascia stretching by letting the weight hang. [img]/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[TasteLikeChicken]

I did side pullovers today and they where definatly a highlight of my workout. They are quickly becoming my favorite exercise.