Dumbbell Pullover

How to perform the Dumbbell Pullover

1. Lie perpendicular across a flat bench with only your upper back on the pad and your hips dropped slightly below bench height, feet planted wide.
2. Hold a single dumbbell with both palms pressed flat against the underside of the top plate, arms extended over your chest with a small fixed elbow bend.
3. Lower the dumbbell back over and behind your head in an arc, keeping that elbow angle fixed while your ribcage expands and the lats and serratus stretch.
4. Descend only to the point where you feel a strong stretch without the lower back arching hard off the imaginary line from your hips.
5. Pull the dumbbell back over your chest along the same arc by driving through the lats and pulling the upper arms toward the torso, not by bending the elbows.
6. Stop the dumbbell above your face rather than fully vertical so tension stays on the lats instead of resting on locked-out arms at the top.

Suggested working range: 12–20 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Common mistakes

• •Bending and straightening the elbows to move the dumbbell rather than keeping a fixed arm and driving from the lats.
• •Arching the lower back hard off the bench line at the bottom to force a deeper stretch than the ribcage allows.
• •Pulling the dumbbell all the way to a vertical lockout where the arms rest and tension leaves the lats.
• •Dropping the hips too low and turning it into a lumbar extension exercise instead of a lat and serratus stretch.

Variations & alternatives

Swap in a related movement if equipment, recovery, or progression demands it.