10 Best Barbell Pullover Alternatives for Lat Stretch

The Barbell Pullover has you lie on a bench with your head at one end, then hold a bar overhead with straight arms and lower it behind your head until you feel the lat stretch. The Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover comes closest: the same overhead arc on a decline bench with your head lower than your hips and feet secured, and a slight bend in your elbows instead of straight arms. With no bench, the Cable Straight Arm Pulldown has you stand and pull a straight bar down to your thighs.

Original Exercise: Barbell Pullover

Barbell Pullover
Primary Muscle
Lats
Equipment
Barbell
Difficulty
Intermediate
Type
Isolation
Secondary Muscles: Chest, Triceps
How to Perform Barbell Pullover
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet on the floor.
  2. Hold a barbell with a shoulder-width grip and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Keeping your arms straight, lower the barbell behind your head in a controlled manner until you feel a stretch in your lats.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the barbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Ranked Barbell Pullover Alternatives

Best Match
Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover

1. Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover

88.7% Match
Lats Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie down on a decline bench with your head lower than your hips and your feet secured.
  2. Hold a barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you) and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Lower the barbell behind your head in a controlled manner, keeping your arms slightly bent.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the barbell back to the starting position by contracting your lats.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Barbell Decline Wide-grip Pullover

2. Barbell Decline Wide-grip Pullover

86.7% Match
Lats Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on a decline bench with your head lower than your hips and your feet secured.
  2. Hold a barbell with a wide grip and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Lower the barbell behind your head in a controlled manner, keeping your arms straight.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the barbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Barbell Bent Arm Pullover

3. Barbell Bent Arm Pullover

84.4% Match
Lats Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet on the floor.
  2. Hold a barbell with a shoulder-width grip and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Lower the barbell behind your head while keeping your arms slightly bent.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the barbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Ez Bar Lying Bent Arms Pullover

4. Ez Bar Lying Bent Arms Pullover

83.7% Match
Lats Ez-barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet on the floor.
  2. Hold the EZ barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing away from you) and your hands shoulder-width apart.
  3. Extend your arms straight above your chest, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
  4. Lower the barbell in an arc motion behind your head, maintaining the slight bend in your elbows.
  5. Pause for a moment, then return the barbell to the starting position by reversing the arc motion.
Cable Lying Extension Pullover (with Rope Attachment)

5. Cable Lying Extension Pullover (with Rope Attachment)

69.7% Match
Lats Cable Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Attach a rope to a cable machine and set the pulley at the highest position.
  2. Lie down on a bench with your head towards the cable machine.
  3. Hold the rope with both hands and extend your arms straight up above your chest.
  4. Keeping your arms straight, slowly lower the rope behind your head while maintaining control.
  5. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then slowly raise the rope back to the starting position.
Weighted Muscle Up

6. Weighted Muscle Up

67.7% Match
Lats Weighted Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Start by hanging from a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you and your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Engage your core and pull your body up towards the bar, leading with your chest.
  3. As you reach the top of the movement, transition your grip so that your palms are facing towards you.
  4. Continue pulling yourself up until your chest reaches the bar, then pause for a moment.
  5. Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position, maintaining control throughout the movement.
Weighted Muscle Up (on Bar)

7. Weighted Muscle Up (on Bar)

66.9% Match
Lats Weighted Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Start by hanging from a pull-up bar with your palms facing away from you and your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  2. Engage your core and pull your shoulder blades down and back.
  3. Bend your elbows and pull your chest towards the bar, keeping your body straight.
  4. Once your chest reaches the bar, push down with your hands and drive your elbows back, lifting your body above the bar.
  5. Pause at the top of the movement, then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position.
Bent Over Barbell Row

8. Bent Over Barbell Row

64.9% Match
Lats Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Holding a barbell with a pronated grip (palms facing down), bend your knees slightly and bring your torso forward, by bending at the waist, while keeping the back straight until it is almost parallel to the floor. Tip: Make sure that you keep the head up. The barbell should hang directly in front of you as your arms hang perpendicular to the floor and your torso. This is your starting position.
  2. Now, while keeping the torso stationary, breathe out and lift the barbell to you. Keep the elbows close to the body and only use the forearms to hold the weight. At the top contracted position, squeeze the back muscles and hold for a brief pause.
  3. Then inhale and slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position.
  4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Cable Pushdown (straight Arm) V. 2

9. Cable Pushdown (straight Arm) V. 2

62.4% Match
Lats Cable Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Attach a straight bar to a high pulley cable machine.
  2. Stand facing the machine with your feet shoulder-width apart and a slight bend in your knees.
  3. Grasp the bar with an overhand grip, keeping your arms straight and your palms facing down.
  4. Engage your core and keep your back straight as you exhale and push the bar down towards your thighs.
  5. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then slowly return the bar to the starting position while inhaling.
Cable Straight Arm Pulldown

10. Cable Straight Arm Pulldown

62.4% Match
Lats Cable Beginner Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Attach a straight bar to the high pulley of a cable machine.
  2. Stand facing the machine with your feet shoulder-width apart.
  3. Grasp the bar with an overhand grip, keeping your arms straight and your palms facing down.
  4. Engage your lats and pull the bar down towards your thighs, keeping your arms straight throughout the movement.
  5. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then slowly return the bar to the starting position.

Why You Might Need a Barbell Pullover Alternative

A Barbell Pullover needs a flat bench to lie on and a straight bar to hold overhead with a shoulder-width grip, so the session stalls the moment either one is missing. The pullover variations keep that same overhead arc into a lat stretch: the decline versions move you to a decline bench with your feet secured, the EZ bar version swaps the bar and holds a slight bend in your elbows, and the cable version keeps you lying down while a rope from a high pulley replaces the bar. The Cable Straight Arm Pulldown breaks from lying down, standing you at a cable machine to pull a straight bar from the high pulley down to your thighs, arms straight throughout. Match what you have: a barbell on a flat or decline bench, an EZ bar, or a cable stack.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

If you want to keep the same bar and flat bench, the Barbell Bent Arm Pullover keeps your elbows slightly bent instead of locked straight. The Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover does the same on a decline bench, head lower than your hips. Without a straight bar, the EZ Bar Lying Bent Arms Pullover keeps the same flat bench and arc. Where a cable station is free, the Cable Lying Extension Pullover (With Rope Attachment) keeps the same lying arc: pulley high, head toward the machine, lowering a rope behind your head instead of a bar. For a version that skips the bench, the Cable Straight Arm Pulldown has you stand and pull the bar to your thighs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles does the Barbell Pullover work?

The Barbell Pullover targets the lats through a long, straight-arm arc that runs from above your chest to behind your head while you lie on a bench. Keep your arms straight and pause when you feel the stretch behind your head: that stretch, and the pull back over your chest, is the lat work the exercise is there for.

What can I use instead of the Barbell Pullover if I only have an EZ bar?

The EZ Bar Lying Bent Arms Pullover keeps the same lying arc: hands shoulder-width on the EZ bar, palms away, with a slight bend held in your elbows as you lower it behind your head and reverse the arc back up. It uses the same bench setup as the Barbell Pullover, head at one end and feet on the floor, so nothing else about the position changes.

Which Barbell Pullover alternative uses a cable machine?

The Cable Lying Extension Pullover (With Rope Attachment). You set the pulley high, lie on a bench with your head toward the cable machine, and take the rope in both hands with straight arms above your chest, then lower it behind your head and raise it back to the start, the same arc as the barbell version.

Is there a Barbell Pullover alternative that skips the bench entirely?

The Cable Straight Arm Pulldown is done standing. You attach a straight bar to the high pulley, face the machine, grip it overhand with straight arms, and pull it down toward your thighs by engaging your lats, then let it return slowly. Your arms stay straight the whole way, as they do on the Barbell Pullover.

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