#Pullover machine full
#Pullover machine free

This provides a slight improvement over the dumbbell version since the resistance is now being pulled down and back rather than straight up and down.

One option here is to simply place a bench a few feet away from a cable stand and to perform your cable pullovers in the same basic position as the dumbbell variation, but using a straight bar attachment instead. On top of that, most people find the cable pullover variation to be easier on the shoulder joints in comparison to performing them with a dumbbell. The main downside here, however, is that most gyms simply don’t have a lat pullover machine available.įor that reason, most lifters will want to move on to the next best option, and that is to perform your lat pullovers using a cable.Īlthough not quite as effective as the pullover machine, cable pullovers are still superior to the basic dumbbell variation when it comes to targeting the lats, again, because they place the lats under more consistent tension throughout the range of motion.

#Pullover machine free

This exercise is a great example of where a machine lift allows you to do something that you cannot mimic using free weights.

#Pullover machine full

The lat pullover machine allows you to use the fullest range of motion possible and keeps full tension on the lats from the very bottom of the movement all the way to the top. The first (and best) way of performing this exercise is by using a lat pullover machine. The Two Best Ways Of Performing Lat Pullovers You can improve this by performing your dumbbell pullovers on a decline bench, but for even better results I’d recommend one of the following two options… The lats end up being hit very hard in the first half of the range, but as you pull the dumbbell further and further toward your chest, the stress gradually decreases until there’s very little to no tension at all on the lats in the finishing position. The traditional way that pullovers are executed is by laying perpendicular across a bench and performing the movement using a single dumbbell.Īlthough still an effective exercise, the problem with dumbbell pullovers is that they don’t provide consistent tension on the lats throughout the entire range of motion due to the straight-up-and-down direction that gravity pulls the resistance. Why Traditional Dumbbell Pullovers Are Not The Best Option Just as chest flys are a good follow-up to compound presses for isolating the chest and ensuring full stimulation and growth, pullovers can be treated in the same way for the lats. Unlike standard pull ups, pulldowns, and rows, pullovers allow you to directly isolate your lats through a large range of motion and with minimal involvement of these other muscle groups. This is why the lats are often a lagging muscle group on many lifters’ physiques.

Most lifters (especially beginners) tend to have a hard time activating the lats effectively using traditional vertical and horizontal pulling movements, as other surrounding muscles (such as the biceps, shoulders, traps, rhomboids, and teres groups) end up taking on a high percentage of the load. But in any case, pullovers definitely are a great exercise when it comes to isolating the lats for increased width and thickness and work very well as a finishing movement to round out your complete lat workout.

Whether or not pullovers really are the “king” of all upper body exercises, and whether or not they actually do expand one’s ribcage, I highly doubt. Just as the barbell squat is considered the king of all lower body exercises, the pullover was given the same respect for its muscle building effects on the upper body and was even said to “expand the ribcage” when performed using deep breaths in between each rep. You won’t see these being performed in the gym very often nowadays, but a basic lat pullover is actually one of the oldest bodybuilding movements in the book and was considered an absolute staple exercise back in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Just as I’ve suggested to use cables for bicep curls, I also highly recommend trying standing cable pullovers to effectively train your lats.