Bent arm barbell pullover?

[SlimTim]

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/LatissimusDorsi/BBBentArmPullover.html

Ive been doing these the past couple weeks at the start of my back routine to pre exhaust my lats. My gym doesn't have a pullover machine so I have to use the old school method. I can go heavier with the bent arm version and feel it more in my back instead of my chest and stabilizers compared to straight arm. My question is how effective is this movement in stimulating the lats? With limited to no machine options is there any better isolation movement for the lats?

[Frosty]

How sore does it get your lats? If you didn't do them for a couple weeks and then did 20 sets of them, where does it make you sore? If your lats aren't tender from this and your answer is "triceps, chest" then it just plain sucks as a lat movement :)

Wide grip pull-ups are good for the lats. With dumbbells if you do a 1 arm row where you start with the DB near the ground as far forward as your head and then row it back up very high and to the hip, you should hit the lats well.


My advice to anyone looking to isolate a muscle is to get a good idea of what lifts are SUPPOSED to do what and understand the kinesiology, and then go do 10-20 sets of it heavy and hard your first time out. In two days you will know exactly what the lift worked, and even what PORTION of the muscle is hit hard.

My biceps suck....and I found out why. Nearly all the curls I did only stimulated my brachialis when I experimented like this. Damn....haven't been stimulating my biceps this whole time! What a waste of time to "isolate" my biceps. I learned some physiology of the biceps and ThePhysicalTherapist helped me with some movements to hit the biceps better, and I did those and actually got sore in my biceps! Now I know what to do to increase my biceps size, and it ain't preacher curls or standing barbell curls!!

[Diabetic Muscle]

Just curious what is it that you found to stimulate your biceps so well. The only place I feel any pullover movement is in my teres major and minor.

[SlimTim]

Im curious as to what your doing for biceps now as well. Thanks for the advice on the back training too, I'll try doing just that movement for a number of sets and see what kind of soreness I get in my back the following few days, that seems like an effective method and Ive never thought of that so thanks again. I have a good mind muscle connection with my back on rowing movements but on the width movments ie pull ups, pull downs I dont seem to be able to feel them as well so im hoping doing an isolation movement first, to pre exhaust will help with this. Im working on building back width pretty hard, I have descent thickness but cant seem to get the width going as well.

[Frosty]

Just curious what is it that you found to stimulate your biceps so well. The only place I feel any pullover movement is in my teres major and minor.


Low incline dumbbell curls with an offset grip to make supination of the forearm more difficult is a good basic one. The other is a higher incline with the same offset grip and supination of the forearm during the lift, but ending with shoulder extension to also hit the shoulder extension function of the biceps brachii.