###### Abstract  
Pullover and straight arm pulldown exercises are commonly used in resistance exercise programs to improve sports performance or in physical activity health programs. This study aimed to evaluate the individual electromyographic (EMG) activity of the pectoralis major (clavicular, sternal, and costal portions), latissimus dorsi, anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, and rectus abdominis muscles in a barbell pullover exercise at a 100% biacromial width and a straight arm pulldown exercise at a 100% and 150% biacromial width and to compare the EMG activity in these selected muscles and exercises. Twenty healthy and physically active adults performed a set of eight repetitions of each exercise against 30% of their body mass. The barbell pullover exercise presented a higher EMG activity (\(p\leq 0.01\)) than the straight arm pulldown exercise in both biacromial widths in all evaluated muscles except for the latissimus dorsi and the triceps brachii. These muscles showed the highest EMG activity in the straight arm pulldown exercise at both biacromial widths. In all of the exercises and muscles evaluated, the concentric phase showed a greater EMG activity than the eccentric phase. In conclusion, the barbell pullover exercise can highlight muscle activity in the pectoralis major (mainly in the sternal and lower portions), triceps brachii, and rectus abdominis muscles. However, the straight arm pulldown exercise at 100% and 150% biacromial widths could be a better exercise to stimulate the latissimus dorsi and triceps brachii muscles. Moreover, all exercises showed significantly greater EMG activity (\(p<0.001\)) in the concentric phase than in the eccentric phase for all the evaluated muscles. EMG; electromyography; muscle activity; strength; fitness; upper limbs +
Footnote †: journal: Applied  
EMG activity of the pectoralis major and latissimus dorsi muscles during pullover exercises. These authors reported that barbell pullover exercises produced a greater EMG activity in the pectoralis major than in the latissimus dorsi. However, these authors did not compare the pullover exercise with any other exercise. In this regard, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [19] compared the EMG activity of the pectoralis major, triceps brachii, anterior deltoid, and latissimus dorsi muscles between the barbell pullover and horizontal bench press exercises. These authors found a higher EMG activity for the triceps brachii and latissimus dorsi muscles in the pullover exercise than in the horizontal bench press. However, the EMG activity for the pectoralis major and anterior deltoid muscles was higher for the bench press exercise. Similar results were found by [PERSON] et al. [17]. These authors observed that there were no significant differences in the EMG activity of the pectoralis major between the pullover and horizontal bench press exercises, but there was a greater EMG activity with the anterior deltoid in the bench press when the exercises were performed until concentric failure. However, it is necessary to highlight that there are many differences in shoulder movement between these exercises [21]. For instance, the horizontal bench press involves the flexion and extension of the elbow and adduction of the shoulder in the horizontal plane, whereas the barbell pullover involves shoulder flexion and extension while maintaining a slight elbow angle. Therefore, it would be interesting to compare the EMG activity of the pullover exercise with another exercise involving a similar upper limb movement, for instance, the pulldown exercise. In this sense, [PERSON] et al. [18] compared the EMG activity and peak force between the pullover and pulldown exercises at different shoulder joint positions during the maximum isometric contraction.