As a runner, I am guilty of neglecting my upper body. When I go to the gym, I opt for leg strengthening workouts to run harder and prevent injury, and core workouts to improve my posture when running. With that in mind, I was nervous when I accepted the weird and wonderful challenge of doing 50 dumbbell pullovers a day for a week. [If done with proper form, dumbbell pullovers target the pectoralis major, the chest muscle, and the latissimus dorsi, the winged muscle of the back. It also targets the torso and triceps. But how effective is this move, and will doing 30 reps a day make any difference to my body? Read on to find out what happened.

Needless to say, working the same muscle group every day for a week is not recommended. Besides, what works for me may not work for you or your body. If you are just starting out or returning to exercise after an injury, it is worth having a personal trainer check your form before increasing reps or adding weight to your exercises.

Looking for more workout tips? See Walking Planks 50 times a day for a week or Sumo Squats 50 times a day for a week.

To perform dumbbell pullovers, begin by lying on your back on an exercise bench with your feet slightly wider than the bench on the floor. If your feet do not reach the floor, support them on a plate or place them flat on the bench. Hold dumbbells in both hands or both hands with dumbbells. Extend both hands to the ceiling, hold the dumbbells above your chest, palms facing each other, and bend your elbows slightly.

Engage your core and lower the dumbbells over your head. Pause once the arms are extended behind the head, then lift the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Do this by pressing your back against the bench. If your back bends back, you may not be using your core.

To learn more, I picked up a dumbbell (check out the best adjustable dumbbells if you're weightlifting at home) and added 50 dumbbell pullovers to my daily routine. The result.

On the first day of this challenge, I grabbed a 20-pound dumbbell and got to work. As I lowered the dumbbells behind my head, my back was arched and my palms were facing toward the ceiling at the bottom of the motion. For the remaining reps, I used 10-pound dumbbells and moved slowly and with control. I paused at the bottom of the movement, and by the end of the first day, I could feel a slight twist in my triceps. [17] [18] On days 2 and 3, I continued to move with lighter weights and performed three sets of 15 reps, with a break in between each for resetting. On one of those days, the gym did not have enough weight plates to stack next to the bench (I was too small to lie on the bench and keep my feet flat on the floor), so I bent my knees and placed my feet flat on the bench to make sure my head was still supported.

For the final set on both days, I increased the weight and grabbed 15 lb dumbbells. I felt my abdominal muscles working throughout the movement and was aware of sucking my navel into my spine.

I went from not working my triceps to doing dumbbell pullovers every day, and by days 4 and 5 my arms were sore. Dumbbell pullovers help increase upper body flexibility.

By the last day of this challenge, I was feeling more confident with this movement, so I decided to vary it a bit and do 50 dumbbell pullovers with leg extensions. For this exercise, instead of keeping my legs flat against the bench, I raised my legs above the table as if I was deadbugging (this is what happens when you deadbug 100 times a day for a week). At the bottom of the dumbbell pullover, he completed the dumbbell pullover by extending his legs with his arms with the dumbbells extended behind his head and then bringing his legs back. This event was tough and required a definite core workout.

This was definitely one of my more difficult assignments, but by the end of the week I felt much more confident with the exercises. Of course, a week is not long enough to build muscle or notice any significant changes in your body, but I did feel that I had worked my arms and chest, and it made me realize how much I need to focus on these areas in the future.

I plan to add dumbbell pullovers to my weekly strength training. Yes, I will be adding them to my weekly strength training. But I'm relieved that I won't have to do 50 tomorrow morning.