One from the history books

There are some exercises that you hardly see anyone do in gyms any more. With the proliferation of high-tech equipment, where you even have machines to assist you to do chin-ups and dips, pure freehand exercises seem to be out of fashion. Why, my gym even has a machine to help you do abdominal crunches, which, according to me, are best done on the floor with the most high-tech equipment being a lowly exercise mat!

Many once-popular exercises even run the risk of becoming extinct in the face of the onslaught by machines and other new-fangled gizmos. This column has earlier mentioned the pull-over, an exercise that you hardly see anyone doing in gyms any more. Yet, it probably is one of the best exercises for the upper body—one that not only shapes and strengthens the latissimus dorsi (lat muscles that run down the sides of the torso and the pectorals (chest muscles) but also shoulders, triceps and even the wrists. In the early days of body-building, the pull-over, done either with a barbell or a dumb-bell, was a basic exercise that people swore by as they did by the squat, the push-up and the chin-up (unassisted version, of course). Today, it is rare to see someone doing pullovers at the gym.

Yet, there is much to be said about a compound exercise like pull-overs. For one, it is a compound exercise that engages several muscles as I mentioned. Second, it eliminates the use of the biceps, which have to be engaged in most other exercises that are focussed on the back muscles. In many back exercises, the biceps dissipate a large part of the energy and effort during the movement. In the pull-over, since the biceps are not deployed, it makes the lats as well as the pectorals work harder. Third, if you are doing a lower body-cum-upper body combo workout session, the pull-over mixes very well with squats for your thighs.

Here’s how the classic barbell pull-over should be done: Lie with your back perpendicular across a bench and hold a barbell from behind and hold it over the chest; keep your elbows bent at 90 degrees. Now lower the bar over the head until the upper arms are parallel to the torso (your hips should not rise up during this movement). Now return to the starting position. That’s one repetition. You should do 8-10 for a set. Avoid using very heavy weights in the beginning in order to get the right form. As you get comfortable with the movement, increase the weights. You could adapt the basic pull-over movement as well: for instance, if you keep your elbows only slightly bent, rather than at 90 degrees, the triceps get some collateral benefits. And, of course, you could use a single dumb-bell instead of the barbell, if that suits you better.

— Muscles Mani

Write to musclesmani@intoday.com and click here to read Treadmill blogs
Caveat: The physical exercises described in Treadmill are not recommendations.
Readers should exercise caution and consult a physician before attempting to follow any of these.