Dumbbell Pullovers The Forgotten Upper Chest Exercise

by GA R R Y DA V I DS ON on JU N E 1 4 , 2 01 3

In the old classic era of bodybuilding, before steroids were around, the squats and milk routine was the number one method for getting skinny hardgainers jacked. What most people forget though, is it was always the squats, pulloversand milk routine squats for the testosterone boost and whole-body muscle growth, and pullovers for that wide and thick barrel-chest, and great back development.

T h e du m bbel l pu l l ov er wa s a st a pl e for cl a ssi c ol d-t i m er s

Bodybuilding greats like Arnold, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman and Frank Zane, swore that the dumbbell pullover played a huge role in their upper body development. Ronnie Coleman and Dorian Yates complimented the exercise for developing sweeping wide lats; Arnold, and his mentor, Reg Park, considered pullovers to be a powerful chest exercise, while Frank Zane attributed pullovers to developing his infamous serratus muscles. Like many other bodybuilders of his time, Arnold performed pullovers throughout his bodybuilding career, because he believed the exercise was responsible for expanding his ribcage. Though nobody knows for sure whether pullovers can really expand your rib-cage, one thing we do know, is that it really is an excellent exercise for the upper chest. Arnold had such thick upper chest development, that he could balance a glass of water on his upper pecs. He used to credit his glass-balancing ability to the dumbbell pullover. Though itd be massively convenient for me to be able to balance a cup of tea on my pecs, there are other reasons why you might want thick upper chest development.

Why Would You Want A Thick Upper Chest?

Nowadays theres too much focus on the flat bench press, which overdevelops the mid and lower pecs. As a result, the flat bench press can end up making you look like you have man boobs, even if you dont. And for guys who do have man boobs, the flat bench press can man boobs look worse by making them stick out more.

T h er es a huge di ffer en ce bet ween per fect ev en ch est dev el opm en t (l i ke La r r y Scot t s a bov e) a n d t oo m u ch m i d/l ower ch est dev el opm en t .

A nice, thick upper chest can really give your chest that stone-slab-like appearance, where the surface of your pecs is like a vertical cliff-face rather than a sloping set of man boobs. A thick upper chest with a pec separation line that extends all the way up to the sternum, is a true mark of masculinity andreal chest development. Also, if you have man boobs, a thick upper chest can really help to improve your appearance, both by pulling the breast-fat up, and by evening out the slope made by your man boobs. The trouble however, is isolating those upper chest fibers is no easy feat. Most people think the incline bench press is the only solution. However the trouble with incline presses, is the greater the incline, the more stress is placed on the anterior deltoid muscles of the shoulders. I discussed in a previous article, how the incline dumbbell press helps to solve this problem. I mentioned in that article how the incline dumbbell press was Steve Reeves little secret to perfect square-pec development. Steve Reeves however, was also known to do pullovers, and pullovers are another tool you can use to develop that upper chest.

Why Are Pullovers Such A Good Exercise For The Upper Chest?
To really grow a muscle to its maximum potential, you have to attack it from multiple different angles. Your chest muscles control the movement of your upper arm at the shoulder joint. Any movement where your upper arm is moving in toward the front of your body, will in some way, involve the pectoralis major muscle of the chest.

Most people make the mistake of thinking that the only way to work the chest is to push something away from you, as you do in the bench press, or in a bear-hugging motion, as you would when doing dumbbell flys. This type of movement is called horizontal adduction of the upper arms. But this is only one of many different movements your chest muscles are responsible for. If you limit yourself to only this one type of movement, your chest will only develop so much.

T h e pu l l ov er wor ks y ou r ch est fr om a wh ol e di ffer en t pl a n e com pa r ed t o t h e ben ch pr ess.

Here are some of the other shoulder movements your chest is responsible for: Upper arm flexion, like when you are picking up a child Upper arm extension, when putting the child back down Upper arm adduction when flapping the arms downward by the sides Upper arm medial rotation, like when arm-wrestling (yeh, I always thought arm-wrestling was all in the arms, but the main muscle involved is really the chest). Dumbbell pullovers involve using upper arm extension. By doing this exercise, you work the upper chest from a whole different plane than if you were to do the incline dumbbell press (horizontal adduction). You stimulate different muscle fibers in a whole different way, that can spur on new muscle growth in the upper chest that youve never experienced before.

More Chest Than Lats

Though there are those bodybuilders who do pullovers to develop their lats, EMG studies have clearly shown that the pullover stimulates the pectoralis major of the chest more than the latissimus dorsi of the back.

My Experience With Dumbbell Pullovers

I started doing dumbbell pullovers without really understanding what they were for. I just did

them because I heard that the classics like Reg Park and Steve Reeves used to do this exercise religiously. It had to be for a reason, so I thought Id give it a go. The one thing I thought pullovers would do was expand my rib cage. Though my upper body never quite ballooned into a barrel-chest like Arnolds, I was surprised when just a few weeks into the exercise, I looked in the mirror and noticed my upper chest had somehow thickened up! I was totally shocked because I wasnt doing any incline work at the time. Needless to say, dumbbell pullovers are now a regular part of my routine.

How Do You Do Pullovers?

This exercise puts your arms in a bit of a weak position, so be sure to start out with a light weight, and gradually increase the resistance as your body adapts over time. Many of the classic old-timers used to super-set dumbbell pullovers with squats. This was from the belief that deep-breathing during pullovers would help to expand the rib-cage, and there are few exercises thatll get you to breathe deeper than squats will. With supersets, you do one set of squats, followed immediately by a set of pullovers, then your second set of squats followed by your second set of pullovers and so on. Personally, I dont do this because its too tough. I cant hack it. Squats are tough enough as they are, and the only way I can survive them is by stretching, walking and sitting down between sets. What I DO do however, is do my pullovers immediately after my final set of squats.

1. Lie on a bench with your head hanging over the 2. 3.

end. Grasp the dumbbell from the side or from behind. Hold with hands under the inner plate of the dumbbell. Position the dumbbell over your chest with elbows slightly bent.

4. Slowly lower the dumbbell over and beyond your

head until your upper arms are in-line with your

torso, or below. Breathe in deeply while doing this.

5. Slowly pull the dumbbell up and over the chest, 6.

back to the starting position. Breathe out while doing this. Repeat

Like in the following video, you might like to bring the weight only up to the level of your forehead in order to maintain the tension:

What if you dont have a bench?

You can also do this exercise by lying on the floor, using a barbell.

Summary
Dumbbell pullovers were one of the most widely used exercises in the classic era of bodybuilding before steroids came on the scene. Because of the way it stimulates multiple muscle groups your chest, upper back, triceps and serratus anterior muscles, this was considered by many as the single most important exercise for the upper body. The latest studies show that the pullover is an excellent exercise for the chest, and I have

found it to work the upper chest particularly well. Just a few weeks on this exercise, and youll see your upper chest thickening, giving your chest that powerful stone-slab-like appearance. So, why not get started right now? Do a few sets and let us know how you get on by posting a comment below.

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{ 10 com m ents read them below or add one }

Fitz Houston
June 1 9 , 2 01 3 at 1 1 :3 4 am 1

Great info cant wait to apply it after years of trying. Thanks! Fitz
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venkat
Garry,

June 2 1 , 2 01 3 at 1 :06 pm

there is an imbalance between my left and right pec. my left pec seems bigger than my right pec. How do i even out the imbalance ?
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Garry Davidson

June 2 2 , 2 01 3 at 1 2 :4 2 pm

Hi Venkat It depends on how big the difference is. Some times it can be genetic, other times its because of a training defect a postural/positional problem, or using too much effort

with one side of your body. If its the latter, then you need to correct the defect in your training. Also, if you are concerned more about symmetry than overall size, then stop training the bigger side, and only train the smaller side using a dumbbell. Do this for as long as it takes for the smaller pec to catch up.
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damien

June 2 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 0:02 pm

Damien hey Garry I brought your how to loose man boobs love it on my way to work and Im 13 hours into a fast thanks for everything Ive lost near 5 kg in 4 weeks and getting pretty muscley and doing well pretty sure boobs are slowly going down but got a lot of loose skin to.
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Garry Davidson

June 2 5, 2 01 3 at 1 1 :01 pm

Awesome! Thats great to hear Damien. Dont worry about the loose skin, itll tighten itself up soon
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damien

June 2 4 , 2 01 3 at 1 0:4 7 pm

Damien Also Garry what do you thInk? I swapped cereal for yoghurt is that a good move or not I no its dairy and Im worried about it raising insulin? What do u think I should do I figured it was better than milk and cereal also any snack tips I can Have sometimes Ive been eating rice cakes? Sometimes I need something other than nuts and fruit to fill me a bit more, also what do u think about cuppa soup dont get a lot of time to eat at work but need something.
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Garry Davidson

June 2 6 , 2 01 3 at 5:2 9 pm

Swapping cereal for yogurt is an excellent way to go! Yogurt can be both good and bad. On one hand it can contain a lot of carbs (especially those flavor-enhanced commercial varieties), while on the other, it can contain healthful probiotics (i.e. the traditionally fermented stuff). Regarding snacks, its hard at first when youre going low-carb (no cakes, biscuits, croissants, potato chips, or chocolate), but with a little creativity, you can find lots of different high fat/high protein alternatives. Aside from fruit, nutsn seeds, here are a few examples: almond butter, eggs, jerky, canned salmon or tuna, sardines, smoked salmon and cold shrimp.

Soup is fine, as long as its meat/veg based, and not chock-full of carbs and artificial ingredients. Remember the 80/20 principle. You dont have to be obsessive with your diet by eliminating all carbs completely. Its ok to enjoy the occasional treat
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Tony

October 1 5, 2 01 3 at 7 :2 5 pm

Gret post. Its hard to beat the classics.

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Cmil

October 1 8, 2 01 3 at 6 :4 9 am

this excercises makes my sternum crack and pop.. And also hits my triceps a lot! Any remedies?
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Garry Davidson

October 2 0, 2 01 3 at 8:4 4 am

10

Your sternum will strengthen over time. I used to get some very concerning cracking, popping and even pain in my sternum when I was doing dips, but now I experience no such thing, even when doing very heavily weighted dips. If the cracking and popping is particularly severe, you might consider lowering the weight a little, and increasing the weight gradually over time. The exercise does hit your triceps, which isnt such a bad thing. A common mistake that people make with this exercise, is they bend their arms as they lower the weight, and straighten their arms as they raise the weight. This will increase the involvement of the triceps. You can reduce (though not completely eliminate) the involvement of the triceps by making sure your elbows stay fixed at the same angle (slightly bent) throughout the movement.