I know this was debated not too long ago but it doesn’t turn up in my searchs. Do pull-over belong with mass builders like squats, deads, dips, etc. or used sparingly?
I have heard it referred to as “the upper body sqaut” because it activates a lot of muscles. But I can’t back that up with technical data/proof.
Echo DA MAN’s comment. The term “upper body squat” is from Arthur Jones (the Nautilus guy), and it was the inspiration behind the Nautilus pull-over machine. There’s an article somewhere on the Cyberpump site that goes through Arthur’s study on it. Don’t know if it really gives any objective data, as it’s been a LONG time since I read it.
i wouldn’t do them at all. i could think of much better mass builders for the body than pull overs. the only person who i know that does them is my wife. and many of my friends have thick upper bodies.
I assume you are talking about when you lie on or across a bench with a dumbbell or barbell and swing the weight in an arc like fashion, while keeping the elbows at a constant angle. If so then I would say that they don’t belong in the same catagory woth squats, deads, beach, and pullups. First of all they are a single joint exercise, where as the others are multi-joint, and that seriously limits the load. Another concern might be function. How well would they apply to sports and such? If the main concern is hypertrophy then use them in that phase, but they aren’t a type of lift that should be used in all phases, like squats etc. If you are talking about another type of pullover feel free to enlighten my uneducated ass.
In the back issues, there’s an article by Jeryy Telle about back training. He describes his version of a pullover using a low pulley and decline bench. Performed properly, this gets your entire lat muscle screaming. Seems great for people who can’t get a good lat workout because of their arms fatiguing.
I think this is the article that Farnsworth is talking about:
As per Jerry Telle, I do all pullovers on a decline, much better range of motion.
thanks for the replies i will try telle’s pull-over during my hypertrophy phase