Bent Arm Barbell Pullover

Muscles worked by the Bent Arm Barbell Pullover

Primary

LatsLatissimus DorsiChestPectoralis Major

Secondary

SerratusSerratus AnteriorTricepsTriceps Brachii

Also called: lats, lat, latissimus dorsi, latissimus, back wings, pec.

Equipment

Barbell

Also called: bar, olympic barbell, straight bar, olympic bar, power bar.

How to do the Bent Arm Barbell Pullover

1. Lie on a bench holding a barbell above your chest with bent elbows.
2. Keep your elbows bent throughout the movement.
3. Lower the barbell behind your head in an arc.
4. Pull the barbell back over your chest using your lats.
5. Repeat for the desired number of reps.

Form tips

• Keep your ribs down and avoid arching your lower back.
• Limit the stretch to a range your shoulders can control.
• Breathe in deeply as the bar lowers behind your head.

At a glance

Bent Arm Barbell Pullover in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Barbell Pullover
• Dumbbell Pullover
• Straight-Arm Pulldown
• Archer Pull Ups
• Assisted Pull Ups
• Band Assisted Pull Ups
• Banded Lat Stretch
• Bench Child's Pose

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "bent-arm-barbell-pullover",
  "name_en": "Bent Arm Barbell Pullover",
  "name_de": "Langhantel-Pullover mit gebeugten Armen",
  "name_es": "Pullover con Barra y Brazos Flexionados",
  "description_en": "A pullover variation performed with elbows bent, lowering a barbell behind the head to stretch the lats and chest.",
  "description_de": "Eine Pullover-Variante mit Langhantel und bewusst gebeugten Ellbogen, die Latissimus und Brust über einen weiten Bewegungsbogen trainiert.",
  "description_es": "Un pullover con barra y codos flexionados que lleva el peso por detrás de la cabeza para trabajar dorsales y pectoral.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "pull",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "intermediate",
  "equipment": "barbell",
  "body_part": "back",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "latissimus_dorsi",
    "pectoralis_major"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "serratus_anterior",
    "triceps_brachii"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "knee_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "requires_bench"
  ],
  "variation_group": "pullover",
  "is_unilateral": false,
  "is_bodyweight": false,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on a bench holding a barbell above your chest with bent elbows.",
    "Keep your elbows bent throughout the movement.",
    "Lower the barbell behind your head in an arc.",
    "Pull the barbell back over your chest using your lats.",
    "Repeat for the desired number of reps."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Lege dich auf eine Bank und halte eine Langhantel mit gebeugten Ellbogen über der Brust.",
    "Halte die Ellbogen während der gesamten Bewegung gebeugt.",
    "Senke die Langhantel in einem Bogen hinter den Kopf.",
    "Ziehe die Langhantel mit dem Latissimus über die Brust zurück.",
    "Wiederhole die gewünschte Anzahl von Wiederholungen."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Acuéstate en un banco sosteniendo una barra sobre el pecho con los codos flexionados.",
    "Mantén los codos flexionados durante todo el movimiento.",
    "Baja la barra detrás de la cabeza en un arco.",
    "Tira de la barra de vuelta sobre el pecho usando el dorsal.",
    "Repite el número de repeticiones deseado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Keep your ribs down and avoid arching your lower back.",
    "Limit the stretch to a range your shoulders can control.",
    "Breathe in deeply as the bar lowers behind your head."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Senke die Hantel nur so weit ab, wie es deine Schultern zulassen.",
    "Halte den unteren Rücken auf der Bank, ohne ins Hohlkreuz zu fallen.",
    "Umschließe die Stange fest, weil sie über dem Gesicht geführt wird."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mantén la cadera y la zona lumbar en contacto con el banco.",
    "Baja solo hasta donde notes un estiramiento cómodo.",
    "Empieza con un peso ligero hasta dominar la trayectoria."
  ],
  "met": 5.0,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/bent-arm-barbell-pullover-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/bent-arm-barbell-pullover-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "bent-arm-barbell-pullover");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.