Wide-Grip Decline Barbell Pullover

How to do it

1. Set a decline bench, hook your legs under the pads and lie back holding a barbell over the chest with a wide overhand grip.
2. Keep the arms straight with a slight bend at the elbows.
3. Lower the bar back over the head in a wide arc until you feel a stretch through the chest and lats.
4. Pull the bar back over the chest along the same arc without bending the arms.
5. Stop with the bar above the chest and repeat.
6. Keep the back on the bench throughout.

Common mistakes

• Bending the elbows as the bar goes back. A bent arm shortens the movement and turns it into a triceps extension; the elbows stay where they started.
• Lifting the hips or arching the back. The decline holds the body in place; if the back leaves the bench the spine is producing the range.
• Dropping the bar behind the head. The lowering is controlled all the way; the most stretched position is the least forgiving.
• Going too wide. The grip is wide enough to open the chest, not so wide that the shoulders cannot control the bottom.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Pecs

Secondary

• Shoulders
• Triceps
• Teres Major