Dumbbell Pullover | Illustrated Exercise Guide

Primary muscles: Chest
Secondary muscles: Back
Equipment: Dumbbells

Dumbbell Pullover Instructions

1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand or hold only one dumbbell with both hands and lie down on a mat with your knees bent.
2. Press your arms up and keep your hands together with the palms facing each other.
3. Lower the dumbbells over and beyond your head until your upper arms are in line with your torso.
4. Pull the dumbbells up and over your chest and repeat.

Proper Form And Breathing Pattern

When doing the dumbbell pullover keep your elbows slightly bent and don’t move them during the entire exercise. Keep your core tight, your wrists straight and breathe out as you pull the dumbbells up and over your chest.

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Exercise Benefits

Dumbbell pullovers work two opposing muscles simultaneously: the chest and the back muscles. This is a great exercise to add to a full body workout since it improves the strength of most of the muscles in the upper body.

Dumbbell Pullover Demonstration

Sets And Reps

Start doing the dumbbell pullover with only one dumbbell and do 2 or 3 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions. Be extra careful because the dumbbell is positioned directly above your face, so start slowly and use light weights. Combine this exercise with the dumbbell shoulder press and the dumbbell punches, for a quick upper body workout.

Calories Burned

To calculate the number of calories burned doing the dumbbell pullover, enter your weight and the duration of the exercise:

Related Upper Body Exercises

Try these other upper body exercises to tone, tighten and sculpt your triceps, biceps, chest, upper back and shoulders:
Dumbbell chest press
Dumbbell punches
Dumbbell shoulder press
Chest fly

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