Dumbbell Pullovers – A Forgotten Exercise That Can Add Inches To Your Chest
Friday, January 29th, 2010The bench press is one of the most well known and effective exercises for working on the chest. It is the one exercise most guys think of when they want to get a stronger chest, and for good reason too. But, there’s another little body building secret that used to be a standard part of your average body builders’ chest workout; it’s called the pullover.
With the pullover, you basically lie on a flat bench and hold a dumbbell over your chest with two hands. Then you bend your elbows and slowly lower the weight towards your head; stopping when your elbows reach a 90 degree angle past your head. The rep is complete after you bring the weight back up above your chest.
Though you may not have seen many, or even any, people do this before, it is undoubtedly a great exercise. The problem with the majority of guys who workout their chest is that they don’t always workout their entire chest or, they might only workout some muscles in their chest a very small amount.
While the pectoralis muscles almost always get worked on, the serratus and subclavius, which are below the pecs, don’t get as much attention. The reason they’re important is that they give your arms and shoulders more maneuverability, which will improve your punching and pushing.
The most significant benefits of pullovers are that they stretch and expand your rib cage and put resistance on the whole of the upper body. Pullovers will therefore help you acquire a bigger and wider chest and rib cage.
A further benefit of pullovers is that you can do them at home with very little equipment. You don’t need a bench and upright racks to hold the bar that a standard bench press needs. All that you need to have is a barbell or a pair of adjustable dumbbells.
Both are good, so no need to analyze which one is better than the other. As always though, it’s important to use manageable weights so you don’t hurt yourself.
Besides, the chest pullover is supposed to stretch your body and not be a heavy lifting exercise. It is advisable to take your time doing it safely and properly. Just start off with a light weight and gradually build up until you get to a comfortable weight.
You should start off slowly and focus on the stretching and contracting of your muscles. Weight lifting experts emphasize that this is a stretching exercise; keeping this in mind will ensure that you get the maximum benefits from pullovers. As with other types of exercises, proper breathing, form, and body awareness are important too.
As a final point, performing pullovers toward the end of your chest workout will help maximize its effectiveness. The theory behind this is that since your muscles are full of blood and tight, stretching them will increase the amount of muscle you are able to build.
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http://IronChestWorkouts.com is a men’s fitness blog dedicated to writing about the best chest workout information, tips, and exercises on the internet.
