Q: You include dumbbell pullovers in your Old Man, Young Muscle workouts. You won’t make your ribcage any larger, and it doesn’t seem like a very efficient exercise. What’s the point?
A: I’m not using it to expand my rib cage. It’s an add-on exercise, which I usually do at the end of my upper-body workouts. And I only do one or two sets but get multiple size effects…
1) It helps fill out the long head of the triceps. I notice when I stop doing pullovers, I lose some triceps sweep.
2) It provides a unique stretch for my lats. Studies continue to show how important stretch-position work is for hypertrophy.
3) It’s a unique way to train the clavicular fibers of the pecs. Those are under the main pectoral muscle just at the upper region (illustration by Larry Eklund)…
Even though the two-dumbbell style above provides more freedom of shoulder movement than the one-dumbbell or barbell variety, you may not be able to do them if you have biceps tendon damage at the origin near the shoulder joint…
My shoulder damage is an impingement from overhead presses and heavy bench in my early days of gym foolery, so luckily I’m able to do pullovers with zero pain—as long as I adhere to one unbreakable rule…
Do not lower the dumbbells below head level.
Your hands should not drop lower than the bench, and most trainees should stop in line with the top of the head.
Also, stay in complete control and don’t go too heavy—unless you’re practicing bench-assisted backflips.
Latest Release: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
IMAGINE NO MORE SHOULDER PAIN
Shoulder pain can affect your workouts forever. That’s not good!
That’s why we’re recommending advice from injury specialist Rick Kaselj, MS. His tips can help make your shoulders nearly bullet-proof.
Here are a few general tips from Rick (he goes into more detail in his program)…
Top 5 Tips To Bullet-Proof Your Shoulders
- Build Tension in Your Lats. When doing shoulder exercises, activate your lats and keep your shoulders happy.
- Prime Up Your Muscles. Most people do a warm-up that just lubricates the joint, but you need to activate and turn on all the muscles in your upper body.
- Technique, Technique, Technique. This is the number one reason why people injure their shoulders. You can’t go to the gym every day and work on your max lift.
- Watch Out for Fatigue. Cooking your smaller muscles in your shoulder complex, and that increases the risk of shoulder injury and pain.
- Work on Your Shoulder Blade Muscles. Many strength coaches will say you’re wasting your time on this, but if you want to have bullet-proof shoulders, you need to work on them.
Get all of Rick’s tips and tricks for pain-free workouts below: