Dumbbell Pullover

1. Lie back on a flat bench with your head near the end, feet planted on the floor.
2. Hold one dumbbell with both hands cupped under the inner plate, arms extended above your chest.
3. Keep a slight, fixed bend in your elbows throughout the movement.
4. Inhale deeply and lower the dumbbell in an arc back over your head until you feel a strong stretch through the lats and chest.
5. Keep your ribs down and lower back in contact with the bench as the weight travels back.
6. Exhale and pull the dumbbell back over your chest along the same arc, thinking of driving with the armpits rather than the arms.
7. Stop when the dumbbell is above your chest, not your face, to keep tension on the target muscles.
8. Repeat with a slow, even tempo.

Common Mistakes

• Bending the elbows during the rep: letting the elbow angle change turns the pullover into a triceps extension; set a slight bend and lock it in.
• Arching the lower back: letting the ribs flare as the weight goes overhead fakes range of motion and strains the spine; brace the core and keep the ribs down.
• Going too heavy: an overloaded pullover in the stretched position is a shoulder injury waiting to happen; increase the load slowly over weeks.
• Cutting the stretch: short partial arcs near the chest skip the lengthened position that makes this exercise worth doing.