10 Best Dumbbell Pullover Alternatives for Chest and Lat Size

The Dumbbell Pullover stretches your chest and lats by lowering a single dumbbell behind your head with your arms almost straight. The Dumbbell Around Pullover is the closest swap, keeping the same single dumbbell and the same behind-the-head reach, with the only change being that your arms stay straight instead of slightly bent. If you would rather trade that stretch for a press, the Decline Dumbbell Bench Press keeps the pectorals working through a shorter path.

Original Exercise: Dumbbell Pullover

Dumbbell Pullover
Primary Muscle
Pectorals
Equipment
Dumbbell
Difficulty
Intermediate
Type
Compound
Secondary Muscles: Latissimus Dorsi, Triceps
How to Perform Dumbbell Pullover
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet on the floor.
  2. Hold a dumbbell with both hands and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head until you feel a stretch in your chest and shoulders.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the dumbbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Ranked Dumbbell Pullover Alternatives

Best Match
Dumbbell Around Pullover

1. Dumbbell Around Pullover

95% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet firmly on the ground.
  2. Hold a dumbbell with both hands and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Keeping your arms straight, slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head in an arc motion.
  4. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then raise the dumbbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Dumbbell Straight Arm Pullover

2. Dumbbell Straight Arm Pullover

89.2% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your head at one end and your feet planted firmly on the ground.
  2. Hold a dumbbell with both hands and extend your arms straight above your chest.
  3. Keeping your arms straight, slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head in an arc-like motion.
  4. Pause for a moment, then raise the dumbbell back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover

3. Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover

73.9% 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

4. Barbell Decline Wide-grip Pullover

73.9% 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.
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

5. Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

70% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Secure your legs at the end of the decline bench and lie down with a dumbbell on each hand on top of your thighs. The palms of your hand will be facing each other.
  2. Once you are laying down, move the dumbbells in front of you at shoulder width.
  3. Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
  4. Bring down the weights slowly to your side as you breathe out. Keep full control of the dumbbells at all times. Tip: Throughout the motion, the forearms should always be perpendicular to the floor.
  5. As you breathe out, push the dumbbells up using your pectoral muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up..
Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press

6. Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press

70% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on a decline bench with your feet secured and your head lower than your hips.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other and your arms extended above your chest.
  3. Lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows slightly bent.
  4. Press the dumbbells back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Dumbbell Palms In Incline Bench Press

7. Dumbbell Palms In Incline Bench Press

70% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Set up an incline bench at a 45-degree angle.
  2. Sit on the bench with your back against the backrest and feet flat on the ground.
  3. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip, palms facing inwards.
  4. Extend your arms straight up above your chest, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
  5. Lower the dumbbells slowly towards your shoulders, keeping your elbows close to your body.
Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press

8. Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press

70% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie back on an incline bench with a dumbbell on each hand on top of your thighs. The palms of your hand will be facing each other.
  2. By using your thighs to help you get the dumbbells up, clean the dumbbells one arm at a time so that you can hold them at shoulder width.
  3. Once at shoulder width, keep the palms of your hands with a neutral grip (palms facing each other). Keep your elbows flared out with the upper arms in line with the shoulders (perpendicular to the torso) and the elbows bent creating a 90-degree angle between the upper arm and the forearm. This will be your starting position.
  4. Now bring down the weights slowly to your side as you breathe in. Keep full control of the dumbbells at all times.
  5. As you breathe out, push the dumbbells up using your pectoral muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
Barbell Bent Arm Pullover

9. Barbell Bent Arm Pullover

69.7% 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.
Dumbbell Bench Press With Neutral Grip

10. Dumbbell Bench Press With Neutral Grip

69.2% Match
Pectorals Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Take a dumbbell in each hand and lay back onto a flat bench. Your feet should be flat on the floor and your shoulder blades retracted.
  2. Maintaining a neutral grip, palms facing each other, begin with your arms extended directly above you, perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position.
  3. Begin the movement by flexing the elbow, lowering the upper arms to the side. Descend until the dumbbells are to your torso.
  4. Pause, then extend the elbow and return to the starting position.

Why You Might Need a Dumbbell Pullover Alternative

Only a barbell on hand instead of a dumbbell, a single dumbbell that is awkward to balance overhead, or a preference to skip the long stretch behind the head are the usual reasons to swap out the Dumbbell Pullover. The other pullovers keep that same reach behind your head, whether you are holding a single dumbbell or a barbell, so the stretch across your chest and lats stays the point. Others turn the movement into a press that trains your pectorals through a shorter, more familiar range instead. Pick the pullovers if the stretch itself is what you are after, and the presses if balancing one heavy dumbbell over your face or that long reach is what is getting in the way.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

Take the Dumbbell Around Pullover first: it holds the same single dumbbell and the same behind-the-head reach, with your arms kept straight rather than slightly bent as on the original. The Dumbbell Straight Arm Pullover is performed the same way, so either one is the same swap. If your shoulders would rather skip that stretch, move to a press: the Decline Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press, Dumbbell Palms In Incline Bench Press and Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press all train the pectorals with a dumbbell in each hand, which suits anyone who finds a single dumbbell awkward to balance. With only a barbell, the Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover keeps the same reach but shifts the load onto your lats instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can I use instead of the Dumbbell Pullover if I only have a barbell?

The Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover is cued to pull the bar back by contracting your lats, so expect it to feel more like a back exercise than a chest stretch; the Barbell Decline Wide-grip Pullover and the flat-bench Barbell Bent Arm Pullover are lowered and raised the same way as the dumbbell version, with a wider or shoulder-width grip on the bar.

Which swap suits a beginner best?

The Dumbbell Around Pullover is the simplest place to start, since it uses the same bench and the same single dumbbell and only asks you to keep your arms straight instead of slightly bent. If the behind-the-head stretch itself feels like the problem, the Decline Dumbbell Bench Press is a familiar press that still trains the pectorals with a dumbbell in each hand.

Can I do a Dumbbell Pullover alternative at home?

Yes. The Dumbbell Around Pullover and Dumbbell Straight Arm Pullover need nothing beyond the flat bench and single dumbbell you already use. The Decline Dumbbell Bench Press and Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press need a decline bench with somewhere to secure your feet, and the Dumbbell Palms In Incline Bench Press and Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press need an incline bench, plus a dumbbell in each hand.

Which alternative works the chest more than the lats?

The pressing options, the Decline Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press, Dumbbell Palms In Incline Bench Press and Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press, all push the dumbbells up with your chest and never take the arms behind your head, so the lats stay out of it. The Barbell Decline Bent Arm Pullover goes the other way and puts the lats first instead.

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