The bench press is one of the most well known and effective chest exercises around. It is the one exercise most people immediately think of when they want to get a stronger chest. But, there’s another little body building secret that used to be a staple of your average body builders’ chest workout – the pullover.

With the pullover, you basically lie on a flat bench and hold a dumbbell, with two hands, over your chest. You then bend your elbows and gently lower the weight towards your head; stopping when your elbows reach a 90 degree angle past your head. The rep is complete when you bring the weight back over your chest.

While you may not have seen many, or even any, people do this before, it is a real classic. The problem with the majority of people who workout their chest is that they don’t always workout their entire chest or, they may only workout some parts of their chest a very small amount.

While the pectoralis muscles typically always get worked on, the more subtle chest muscles like the subclavius and serratus, which are located below the pecs, don’t get as much attention. The reason they’re important is that they give your arms and shoulders more maneuverability, ideal for pushing and punching.

The main benefits of pullovers are that they stretch and expand your rib cage and put resistance on the entire upper body including the chest, arms, shoulders, and lats. Pullovers will therefore help build a bigger and wider chest and rib cage.

A further benefit of pullovers is that they can be done at home with hardly any equipment. You don’t need a bench and upright racks to hold the bar that your normal bench press needs. In fact, they can simply be done with a pair of adjustable weight dumbbells or a barbell.

Both are good, so don’t get caught up on which one is best. As always though, it’s important to use manageable weights so you don’t hurt yourself.

Besides, the chest pullover is supposed to stretch your body, as opposed to being a heavy lifting exercise. Your best bet is to take your time doing it properly and safely. Begin with a relatively light weight and work your way up until you get to a weight that pushes you, but which you are still comfortable with.

You should start off slowly and focus on your technique. Weight lifting experts emphasize that this is a stretching exercise. Keep this in mind as it will ensure that you get the maximum benefits from pullovers. Again, proper breathing, form, and body awareness are helpful too.

Additionally, doing pullovers toward the end of your chest workout will help maximize its effectiveness. The theory behind this is that as your muscles are tight and full of blood, stretching them will increase the amount of muscle you can build.
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http://IronChestWorkouts.com is a men’s fitness blog dedicated to writing about the best chest workout information, tips, and exercises on the internet.