Dumbbell Pullover

Stretches the lat (and the pec somewhat) through a range few exercises reach. With dumbbells and a bench it is one of the best lat options when there is no pull-up bar.

• Isolation
• Dumbbell
• Intermediate

How to do it

• Lying across or along the bench, dumbbell over your chest
• Lower it behind your head with your elbows softly bent and fixed
• Chase the maximum stretch without arching your lower back
• Pull back from your armpits, not with your arms

Sets, reps and tempo

Ranges: 10–15 reps · 0–2 RIR

Tempo: Lower for 2–3 s behind your head into a stretch, pull back for 1 s

Common mistakes

• Bending and straightening your elbows (it changes the muscle worked)
• Going beyond a comfortable shoulder stretch
• Arching your back too much

Muscles worked

Primary

• Lats

Secondary

• Chest
• Triceps

Alternatives

• Straight-Arm Pulldown
• Lat Pulldown