Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover
Trains the Lats.
- Equipment
- A barbell and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Pull
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Lie along a flat bench with your head near one end, holding a barbell above the chest with a grip narrower than shoulder width.
- Bend the elbows to about ninety degrees and keep them there.
- Lower the bar back over the head in an arc, keeping the elbows bent and pointing at the ceiling.
- Go until you feel a stretch through the lats and the chest, with the bar below the level of the head.
- Pull the bar back over the chest along the same arc, elbows still bent.
- Stop above the chest and repeat without letting the elbows straighten.
Common mistakes
- Letting the elbows straighten on the way back. The bent arm keeps the load on the lats and chest; a straightening arm turns it into a triceps extension at the bottom.
- Letting the elbows flare wide. They stay close together, pointing up; flared elbows put the shoulder in a poor position under the stretch.
- Arching the lower back off the bench. The stretch is in the lats and chest, not in the spine; if the ribs lift, the back is doing the reaching.
- Dropping the bar behind the head. The lowering is controlled all the way; the bottom is the most stretched position and the least forgiving.