Wide-Grip Decline Barbell Pullover

Starting position:

Choose the appropriate weight matching your fitness level. Lie on the declined bench, anchoring your feet in rests for that purpose. Grab the barbell using an overhand grip at shoulder-width, move the barbell over your chest and hold with your arms outstretched.

Exercise:

From the starting position move your outstretched arms holding the barbell behind your head until it is horizontal with your body at the lower position and inhale. Return to the starting position and exhale. Do the required number of repetitions.

Note:

Make sure your arms are in the correct starting position. Watch for dorsal elbow flexion when moving the barbell. The torso must remain firm throughout. Avoid lumbodorsal swayback (lordosis) especially when lowering the barbell down to horizontal level.

Recommendation:

Choose the appropriate weight taking account of your fitness level and coordination abilities and prefer starting with lighter weight. 

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Barbell pullover is an exercise that can be done with either stretched arms or with bent arms. The variant with stretched arms, which we describe here, is usually done on decline bench. This position makes the trajectory of the exercise longer and thus more effective. Also, the angle of the arms and torso is more beneficial for shoulder joints on decline bench.

The barbell or EZ-bar should be held somewhat wider than shoulder width (not too wide though).

Keep your arms stretched through the whole exercise.

The main muscles working in barbell pullover are actually laterals but on a decline bench pectoralis minor (the smaller chest muscle located underneath pectoralis major) does its fair deal of the work.

Decline barbell pullover, if trained correctly, will give you a sharp delineation around and under the chest muscles.

Although this is actually an isolated movement (in its orthodox meaning – only one joint is moving), every type of pullover is considered a great muscle packer with multiple muscle groups involved.

Because it combines mostly the muscles of the back and chest, it’s an ideal exercise for those who prefer to combine back and chest in one training session.