In the classic 20 rep squat program by Randall Strossen, you are supposed to do weighted pullovers to “expand the ribcage”. We all know that this is not possible. Is there any reason to keep them in the program at all?
Well, pullovers are still an exercise, as in your muscles still have to work in order to do them, like any other exercise…
They work the chest, tris, shoulders, and lats to a degree. I use reverse grip rolling pullovers for tris
I used to throw them in at the end, because i liked the stretch of my tris especially, but don’t do them anymore.
No particular reason, just don’t do them.
Will I benefit more by replacing them with dips in the 20 rep squat program?
[quote]elano wrote:
Will I benefit more by replacing them with dips in the 20 rep squat program?[/quote]
hmm i thought dips were in the program? along with pullovers, and pullups. I don’t know the program that well, but i thought for sure it at least had those exercises in there.
I don’t want to waste my time on an old outdated exercise if it isn’t going to produce results. The initial reason for them was “expanding the rib cage”. We know that bologna. Do we know of anything else this exercise is good for? Is there any reason to include it into any program at all?
“Do we know of anything else this exercise is good for?”
Do you feel your muscles contracting when you do pullovers? If so, obviously they’re good for something. I do pullovers sometimes. They work my lats in a way that is different than other exercises. Should you keep them in the program? I don’t think anyone on here can tell you one way or another for sure. I think they’re a good exercise that definately has its place though.
Dave draper loves the pullovers.
btw, where has this been discussed before? the expanding rib-cage things I mean? I’ve read all three books sold by iron-mind, it’s interesting he hasn’t updated them to reflect this if it wasn’t true, not saying it is, but I was just wondering if you have any more information on the subject?
I like pullovers, they seem to really help with the serratus(sp?) muscles along your ribcage as well as a deep burn in my pectorals, & working the lats from an unusual angle. All & all a total upper body movement that ties all the major upper groups together & could very well result in the illusion of an expanding rib cage.
I like them , really feel the pull , I work a 20 rep system , 1 set only , really enjoy it , not familiar with the strossen routine but i do them either after the squats or the deadlifts, when my system is at it’s weakest give it a try if it doesnt work drop them , but don’t just disgard because you dont think it can work bud, try evaluate
do some 120lb free weight pullovers for 5 sets x 12 then ask this question again.
Throwers do them.
[quote]skohcl wrote:
btw, where has this been discussed before? the expanding rib-cage things I mean? I’ve read all three books sold by iron-mind, it’s interesting he hasn’t updated them to reflect this if it wasn’t true, not saying it is, but I was just wondering if you have any more information on the subject?[/quote]
I think the main benefits of pullovers in a 20 rep squat routine is to develop breath capacity and support for the squats themselves.
They say that they offer cosmetic improvement through the widening of the ribcage, but the jury’s still out on that.
I personally love pullovers. Specifically, machine pullovers (it’s the only machine that I use). For me, they really isolate the lats, taking the arms out of the picture, unlike most lat exercises, which i ruin by being arm dominant…
dan
Can somebody explain to me why they think that its impossible to expand the ribcage through exercise?
DG
I guess ill just try them out for myself.
I don;t know about expanding the ribcage past a certain age, but pullovers are grrrrrreeeeeaaattt. Just about everyone interested in bodybuilding shd be doing them. The nautilus ones are good too.
Use barbells, dumbbells, PJR presses with dumbbells/EZ bars, cable stacks and the nautilus. Work up to using heavy weights of course.
[quote]elano wrote:
In the classic 20 rep squat program by Randall Strossen, you are supposed to do weighted pullovers to “expand the ribcage”. We all know that this is not possible. Is there any reason to keep them in the program at all?[/quote]
When I do them, I always visualize my ribcage expanding, but i think beyond a certain age, your soft cartilage and stuff would solidify completely (in layman terms)
They improved my FLS a lot.
[quote]Dirty Gerdy wrote:
Can somebody explain to me why they think that its impossible to expand the ribcage through exercise?
DG[/quote]
I do pullovers because while I’m not sure if they do much… I did notice they help me with shoulder health. I took them out of my routine for a few weeks and I had a lot of shoulder pain I didn’t have before… put them back in… and the pain went away after 2 weeks.
They completely fry my triceps… dunno about anybody else.