As in all things, as the years pass bodybuilding evolves. Sometimes this evolution is good. We learn more about diet, muscle and motion. People try new things, some succeed and some fail. Old wisdom often becomes obsolete and new theories emerge.
Bodybuilding, however, poses a unique problem here. The small underground demographic that was the fitness world in the early and mid-part of the 20th century became big business starting in the 1990’s and continues to grow until this day. Because the industry has become so large (and so lucrative), there is a new gimmick every day. I do not want to say that there has been no progress because that would be wrong, but much of what has come along is worth ignoring and much of what has disappeared is worth rediscovering. It is in this spirit that I am beginning a new series on forgotten lifts and to begin the series I want to start with the most unfairly maligned lift of all, the dumbbell pullover.
I am going to skip a bunch of the controversy and just say out front that the dumbbell pull over is both an incredibly effective chest and back exercise. When done properly is an absolutely
If you go to a gym you should know who Alan Calvert is. His impact can’t be overestimated.
necessary lift for everyone (keep in mind that if you have serious shoulder injuries you should not do this, or any other, lift without first consulting with your doctor). The dumbbell pullover creates a huge chest pump, gives the lats a good stretch and builds the serratus up. In the golden age of bodybuilding, the chest pullover was listed with the squat in terms of importance. Just how pivotal was the pullover? Alan Calvert, the founder of Milo Barbell Company and of Strength Magazine, said that the pullover was “the best exercise known for developing the chest.” What we refer to today as “squats and milk” was originally “squats and pullovers and milk.” It is high time we bring this lift back into our routines and reap the benefits it offers.
The association with squats is a great one and the supersetting of high repetition squats and chest pullovers in a classic (subtle hint about this coming Friday challenge) superset, which is, in itself, an intense full body workout.
In the 1990’s two things happened in fitness which, amongst other things, chased the dumbbell pullover out of the gym. So called “functional training” started to get popular and gyms became more and more wussy. Experts started claiming that the pullover was not effective, that it would hurt the shoulders, and in time, the lift slowly vanished. Now, the expertise of these “fitness gurus” that started springing up in the 90’s aside, let’s take a look at what some people did say about the pullover. Arnold says his chest development was in large part created by dumbbell pull overs. Reg Park thought pullovers were the king of chest exercises. Dorian Yates and Mike Mentzer used to pullover in all of their lat work. Ronnie Coleman used pullovers in all his back training and Frank Zane credited pullovers with his intensely developed serratus muscles.
So before we start taking the word of crossfitters and soyboys or ego lifters or modern workout science gurus let’s remember that Arnold, Yates, Mentzer, Coleman and Zane were all huge fans of
Arnold
Greg Glassman, inventor of Crossfit. Thinks Arnold does chest wrong
this lift. Everyone in the fitness world is looking to make a buck and you don’t get rich by saying “just do what everyone is doing.” These people need to think of something new, but do not be fooled for a moment. They are into bank account development far more than they are muscle development.
I feel that the actual expert testimony totally counters the idea that the pullover is ineffective. The question that remains is whether the pullover is bad for your shoulder. Here is a quick way to find out if the dumbbell pullover with be bad for your shoulders. Do a set of strict overhead presses with a full range of motion. The range of motion for the overhead press starts from the shoulder and goes to the lock out at the top over the head. Can you do a set of these to failure without your shoulders hurting? Great. Next step. Do 5 pull-ups with a full range of motion. The full range of motion for a pull-up starts with a dead hang and pull to full contraction. Can you do a set of five pull-ups with a full range of motion? Great. You will not have any problems with the dumbbell pullover. If you can’t do both of those things I would suggest working on your mobility and if you can do them but they are painful I would suggest speaking with a medical professional.
Now let’s work on the dumbbell pullover. First lay on the bench in the standard way. Do not put your upper back across the bench so that you are perpendicular (yes, I realize this is how Arnold did his. He was better than you at this, much better). Don’t be a 
douche bag. The hip drop will act as a counterbalance removing some of the effectiveness of the lift, you will be cheating on your ROM and you will look like a total tool. Now take a light dumbbell, like 20 pounds, and put your palms against the plate. We want to use a light weight while we get the range of motion down. Begin the motion with both arms straight up holding the weight over your chest and then slowly lower the weight towards your head (pay very close attention to which muscles are stretching). Go as far back as you can while remaining comfortable. Leave your arms almost, but not actually, locked out. You want to get at least back far enough that your hands are level with the bench and, if you can do it comfortably, further. Think of being level with the bench to be a squat and the rest of the motion to be below parallel. You want below parallel, but not at the cost of discomfort.
Keep practicing the pullover with a 20 pound weight until you feel you have the full range of motion on track. After you do you can play with weights that get you to where you want to go. I do not recommend going to failure with the pullover. In fact, I would suggest keeping the RPE to about 8. Add an extra set or two rather than trying to exhaust the muscle to failure on reps.
Keep an eye out tomorrow for the weekend challenge which will involve dumbbell pullovers and remember that not everything new is worth keeping around and not everything old is worth superseding. Most of what we are doing here at WB Fitness is looking back to a time when bodybuilding was about strength and physique, before it became a billion dollar industry, and hopefully avoiding all the bullshit by looking behind the curtain.
Here is a form video of the dumbbell pullover that I think is well done. As always, if you have any questions or comments please leave them below.
Grind on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_lYFd8pl1M