Stability Ball Hip Extension Dumbbell Pullover

In SetGrip: Dumbbell Pullover (Stability Ball, Hip Extension)

Secondary muscles
Triceps, Delts, Abs
Body part
Chest
Position
Lying
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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Deliberately driving the hips up and holding a full bridge while the dumbbell arcs behind your head doubles the job: glutes and abs maintain the platform while the chest and triceps move the load. Any sag shows instantly. It earns a spot when you want trunk work folded into upper-body volume.

How to do the Stability Ball Hip Extension Dumbbell Pullover

  1. Sit on an exercise ball with your feet flat on the ground and the dumbbell resting on your thighs.
  2. Slowly walk your feet forward, rolling the exercise ball down your back until your head, neck, and upper back are supported on the ball.
  3. Hold the dumbbell with both hands and extend your arms straight up over your chest, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
  4. Lower the dumbbell behind your head, keeping your arms straight and maintaining control.
  5. Pause for a moment, then raise the dumbbell back to the starting position.
  6. While keeping your arms extended, lift your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes and engaging your core.
  7. Lower your hips back down to the starting position.
  8. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Breathe in deeply as you lower and let the ribcage expand before pulling back over.

Muscles worked

Primary

Pectorals · Chest

The pecs assist from the stretched position and do more of the work on straight arm variations with the arms wide.

Secondary

  • Triceps — The long head of the triceps stretches at the bottom and helps hold the elbow angle on bent arm pullovers.
  • Delts
  • Abs

Common mistakes

  • Elbows bending as you lower — set the elbow angle at the start and keep it fixed, otherwise the triceps take over.
  • Arching to get lower — let the shoulders open and the ribs stay down; the stretch should come from the lats and chest, not the spine.
  • Pulling too far over — stop when the arms are vertical over the chest, since past that the tension is gone.
  • Rushing the stretch — lower slowly over three seconds and pause at the bottom before pulling back.

Where it fits in a workout

Pullovers go late in a chest or back session as an isolation movement. Superset them with chest flies or a straight arm pulldown.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Without dumbbell

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.