Front Raise and Pullover

How to do it

1. Lie on a flat bench holding a barbell across the thighs with a grip about shoulder-width apart, arms straight.
2. Keeping the arms straight, raise the bar in an arc up over the chest.
3. Continue the arc back over the head, letting the bar travel until you feel a stretch through the chest and lats.
4. Reverse the arc, bringing the bar back up over the chest and down to the thighs.
5. Keep the elbows locked or very slightly bent throughout.
6. Repeat the full arc without pausing at the thighs.

Common mistakes

• Bending the elbows. This is a straight-arm movement from start to finish; bent elbows shorten the lever and hand the work to the arms.
• Arching the back as the bar goes overhead. The lower back stays on the bench; if it lifts, the spine is producing the range the shoulders should.
• Rushing the pullover half. The stretch behind the head is where control matters most; the bar slows down as it goes back, not speeds up.
• Going heavy. The arm is a long lever here and the shoulder is under load at both ends of the arc; the bar is light enough to be moved with straight arms.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Pecs

Secondary

• Lats
• Shoulders
• Triceps
• Teres Major