The Pullover at Arms' Length

c. 1900 onwards · Two-hands lift while lying on the back

In the pullover at arms' length the lifter lies on the back on the floor, arms stretched out beyond the head, grips a barbell resting on the floor behind the head and pulls it — with the arms kept straight — in an arc up and over until it is held at arm's length above the chest. It was one of the many lifts recognised in old-time lifting and is still contested in all-round weightlifting.

Description

The bar starts on the floor beyond the lifter's head. Keeping the arms straight, or as nearly straight as the rules allow, the lifter pulls it through a half-circle, the effort coming from the latissimus dorsi, the chest and the long head of the triceps. The lift ends when the bar is above the chest with the arms vertical and locked. Because the arms act as long levers, the weights are modest compared with lifts such as the bench press.

Related lifts

The straight-arm pullover is distinct from the pullover and push, a much heavier old-time lift in which the bar is pulled over with bent arms onto the chest and then pushed to arm's length, the lifter often bridging. Arthur Saxon listed a pullover and push of 175 kg (about 386 lb) among his best lifts, and George Hackenschmidt was credited with pulling a 335 lb barbell to his chest and pressing it while in a wrestler's bridge. It is also distinct from the bent-arm or dumbbell pullover used as an exercise in bodybuilding programmes.

Rules in competition

The pullover was never an Olympic lift. In all-round weightlifting it is contested under written rules covering the starting position, the degree of arm bend allowed, contact between the body and the floor, and the finish. Older contests were less uniform, which makes early figures hard to compare.

Records

No reliable early record progression for the straight-arm pullover is available, and this page does not give one. Figures sometimes quoted for individual strongmen generally cannot be traced to a contemporary source or do not say which form of the lift was performed.