The pullover machine is a unique beast in the gym. Many bodybuilders will approach it, but won’t be quite sure where to place it in their workout week. If they use it at the conclusion of their workout on chest day, they can scorch their chest to oblivion. The stretch is superb, and the results are undeniable. Bodybuilders including Frank Zane and the great Arnold Schwarzenegger swear by pullovers for rib cage expansion and overall chest and torso development. However, they often combined their chest and back days, something that today’s bodybuilders usually do not do. Today’s judging requires such a level of chest thickness and back detail that the body parts usually require their own day. Therefore combining the movements is not a viable option.

Using the movement on chest day is great for chest. However, the next day, the back is usually sore as well. The pulling movement isn’t limited solely to the chest. The back is forced to contract at the maximum stretch point of the movement, which leads to soreness in the lats and serratus the following day. It’s a quagmire that leaves many bodybuilders walking past this movement and sticking to something which more effectively isolates the front of the body. And it’s a shame, as the pullover is very good for chest and serratus development, as well as for rib cage expansion.

The secret to success in this movement is “feel”. In other words, if you are able to contract the muscles of the chest, they will receive more of the brunt of the workout and grow as a result. If you use the movement on back day, you should flex the lats much more. The nature of the machine is that it very tightly limits the range of motion. This can prevent some of the flexion as recommended. Dumbbell pullovers allow much more control over this variance, but also

Additionally, placing back day directly after chest day may be counterproductive. No matter how much you work to flex the chest during the movement, there will undoubtedly be some portion of the movement which hits the lats and other muscles of the back. The best solution to this problem is to move back day a bit further into the week to allow for the lats to recover from their support role in the pullover movement. Chest can be trained on Monday, with legs following on Tuesday. Make Wednesday a rest day, and you’ll be fresh and ready for back day on Thursday. Then, you will have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the back to heal before the lats will be needed in a support role the following Monday once again.

Perhaps the pullover machine will enjoy some sort of revival and return to a place of prominence in bodybuilding training. Schwarzenegger himself cites it as one of the most important exercises a bodybuilder can do. Many of today’s athletes have not heeded his call. As a result, we don’t see the tiny waists and gracefully spreading rib cages we saw in years past.

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