What muscles does the kettlebell pullover to glute raise work?

The lats pull the bell from behind your head to above your chest, with the triceps holding the elbows and the chest contributing to the same motion. The bridge half is driven by the glutes with the hamstrings assisting, and your abs work throughout to stop the ribs flaring.

Are pullovers for lats or chest?

The sources disagree and both have a point. The lat and the lower part of the chest both pull the arm from overhead down toward the body, which is the whole movement, so both are working. If you want the lats without the argument, do a row or a pulldown instead.

How far back should the kettlebell go?

As far as your shoulders let it go with your ribs still down and your lower back still on the floor, and no further. The moment your back starts lifting, you have stopped moving your shoulder and started moving your spine.

Why do my hamstrings cramp when I lift my hips?

Usually because your feet are too far from your body during the bridge half, which asks the hamstrings to supply hip extension from a position they are poor at working in. Walk your heels in until your shins are close to vertical at the top.

Should you do this on the floor or a bench?

The floor if you want this movement as demonstrated, because the bridge half needs the ground. A bench gives the pullover a longer range at the bottom, which is what the bench version exists for, but you cannot bridge from it.

Back to the library

Kettlebell · intermediate · back

Kettlebell pullover to glute raise

Also called Floor pullover to bridge, Kettlebell pullover bridge, Pullover hip raise combo, Kettlebell floor pullover to glute bridge.

The short answer

Lying on the floor, you take a kettlebell back over your head and pull it to above your chest, then lift your hips into a bridge. The lats do the pulling over, because bringing your arm from overhead down toward your body is what a lat does, with the triceps helping hold the elbows. The bridge half is driven by the glutes with the hamstrings assisting. Your abs work across both, stopping your ribs from flaring as the bell goes back.

How to do it

Step oneRest your upper back on a low dome or step with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
Step twoLower the kettlebell back over your head in a pullover motion until you feel a stretch in your lats.
Step threeReturn the kettlebell above your chest, then simultaneously raise your hips off the ground into a glute bridge.
Step fourLower your hips back to the ground, then repeat the pullover.

What usually goes wrong

Each starts with what you would notice.

Your ribs lift and your lower back peels off the floor as the bell travels back.

WhyYou are reaching further by opening your spine rather than your shoulders. When the arms run out of range, the ribcage is the next thing that can move.

FixPress your lower back into the floor and keep your ribs down before the bell moves. Stop the bell where the ribs would start to lift, whether or not it has touched the ground behind you.

You are hunting for a deeper stretch and your shoulders feel pinched at the bottom.

WhyForcing the range past what your shoulders currently give you. The bell keeps going because gravity is helping it.

FixTake the bell only as far as you can control it back from, under your own power, with no bounce at the bottom. Range that you cannot reverse is not range you own.

Your arms and shoulders are what tire, and you never feel your back working.

WhyThe bell is too heavy for the lever it is on, so your elbows bend and your arms take over what your lats were meant to do.

FixGo lighter and keep a small, fixed bend in your elbows for the whole arc. A bell that is out at arm length is much heavier than it looks on the rack.

The two halves blur together and neither feels like much.

WhyYou are lifting your hips while the bell is still moving, so the pullover never finishes and the bridge never gets a top position.

FixFinish the pullover with the bell settled above your chest, then lift the hips as a separate movement and hold the top for a beat. Two movements sharing a rep, not one blurred one.

Is the pullover a back exercise or a chest exercise

This has been argued for decades and the published sources genuinely do not agree. Some list the lats as the primary mover with the chest assisting. Others list the chest as primary and the lats as secondary, and say the emphasis depends on how you do it.

The reason nobody can settle it is anatomical rather than a matter of opinion. The lat and the lower part of the chest both do the same job at the shoulder: they bring the arm from overhead down toward the body. A pullover is that exact motion, so both muscles have a legitimate claim on it and both are working.

What that means for you is simple enough. Do not choose this expecting it to be a back exercise that also happens to hit the chest, or the reverse. If you want the lats specifically, pulling movements where you row or pull down against resistance leave much less room for argument. Do this one because you like it and because it works the shoulder through a range most exercises never visit.

What the floor changes

Almost everything written about the pullover assumes a bench, and that matters more than it sounds. On a bench, your torso is raised, so your arms can travel well below the level of your body and the movement gets the deep, stretched bottom position it is prized for. On the floor, the ground stops your arms at your own height, and the range at the bottom is simply shorter.

That is not a reason to avoid the floor version. It removes a position most people cannot control anyway, and the bell has nowhere to fall to. But it does mean this is a smaller movement than the bench one, and if you have found the bench version and want the stretch, the floor is not where you will get it.

The floor also cancels the pullover's best-known fault. On a bench, letting your hips lift is listed as an error. Here, lifting your hips is the second half of the exercise, so the only thing to get right is doing it after the pullover has finished rather than during it.

What it is for

The kettlebell pullover to glute raise combines a lat-focused pullover with a glute bridge to target both the upper back and posterior chain in a single floor exercise. It develops lat flexibility and strength while also building glute and hamstring power.

Questions people ask

What muscles does the kettlebell pullover to glute raise work?: The lats pull the bell from behind your head to above your chest, with the triceps holding the elbows and the chest contributing to the same motion. The bridge half is driven by the glutes with the hamstrings assisting, and your abs work throughout to stop the ribs flaring.
Are pullovers for lats or chest?: The sources disagree and both have a point. The lat and the lower part of the chest both pull the arm from overhead down toward the body, which is the whole movement, so both are working. If you want the lats without the argument, do a row or a pulldown instead.
How far back should the kettlebell go?: As far as your shoulders let it go with your ribs still down and your lower back still on the floor, and no further. The moment your back starts lifting, you have stopped moving your shoulder and started moving your spine.
Why do my hamstrings cramp when I lift my hips?: Usually because your feet are too far from your body during the bridge half, which asks the hamstrings to supply hip extension from a position they are poor at working in. Walk your heels in until your shins are close to vertical at the top.
Should you do this on the floor or a bench?: The floor if you want this movement as demonstrated, because the bridge half needs the ground. A bench gives the pullover a longer range at the bottom, which is what the bench version exists for, but you cannot bridge from it.