Related Blackridge guides: humble row (upper back), helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), neutral grip pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), pull-ups (back), close grip bench press, smith machine bench press, does the bench press work the biceps?, chest supported row
Skip to what you’re interested in
- Straight arm cable pulldown
- Bench press
- Pull-up
- Cable chest fly
- Lying cable pullover
- Useful resources
The dumbbell pullover is a great way to strengthen your pecs and lats, as well as helping to improve posture and spine flexibility. However, this exercise may not work for everyone which is why we’ve put together a list of dumbbell pullover alternatives.
But first, we need to answer a very important question…
IMPORTANT: Are you targeting your chest or back with the dumbbell pullover?
Did you know that you can focus on primarily chest activation or lat activation depending on how you perform a dumbbell pullover?
If you flair your elbows out, pointing them slightly to the sides with bent elbow joints you’ll activate the lats more. If you keep your elbows as extended as possible (straight arms) this is lead to more chest activation.
This means that choosing the right alternative for you will depend on what kind of activation you’re looking for. Considering this, we’ve put together a mixture of exercises to cater for both camps. Without further ado, lets get into our dumbbell pullover alternatives!
1. Straight arm cable pulldown (lat activation)
To get the most from this exercise you should focus on range of motion and lat activation rather than lifting as much weight as possible. Whilst this exercise is primarily focused on the lats, you’ll feel plenty of activation in your middle back and biceps. See out cable pullover exercise guide that is extremely similar to the straight arm pulldown.
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How to perform a straight arm cable pulldown
- Find a cable machine with a straight bar fixed at the highest setting in terms of height
- Grab the bar, take a few small steps backwards and slightly pivot at the hips so that your torso is leaning forward slightly
- Before starting the exercise, make sure that your shoulder blades are back and down and your arms are straight and parallel to the ground
- Start the movement by keeping your arms straight and bringing the bar to the tops of your legs in a controlled manner
- From here, more the bar back to the starting position and repeat for 8 – 12 reps and 3 – 4 sets
2. Bench press (chest activation)
What are those benefits I hear you ask? As the bench press is a compound movement it incorporates a range of muscles leading to more muscle activation and therefore growth. Compound movements also burn more calories and improve the strength of stabilisation muscles which is great for overall athletic ability. See our close grip bench press and smith machine bench press guides.
How to perform the bench press
- When lying on the bench, ensure that your shoulder blades are back and down, your feet are planted firmly on the ground and there’s a slight arch in your lower back. These tips will help to put your shoulder joint in the safest possible position to avoid injury.
- Grip the bar firmly, slightly wider than shoulder-width (2 – 4 inches).
- Ensure that your wrists are straight so that the weight is stacked over your arm
- Lift the weight off the rack, inhale as you lower the bar with control, exhale as you push the bar up
- At the top of the lift, you want the bar to be directly above your shoulder joints, with straight arms perpendicular to the group
- At the bottom of the lift, you should have the bar around your nipple line
- If we’re getting really technical, the movement of the bar from in line with your shoulder to in line with your nipple should happen on the second half of lowering the bar
Related Blackridge guides: humble row (upper back), helms row (lats), pronated pulldown (lats), neutral grip pulldown (lats), V bar pulldown (lats), pull-ups (back), close grip bench press, smith machine bench press, does the bench press work the biceps?, chest supported row
3. The pull-up (lat activation)
How to perform a pull-up (see our pull-up guide here)
- Grip an overhead bar a few inches wider than shoulder-width
- Ensure that your shoulder blades are back and down
- Tilt your torso backwards slightly so that you can attack the bar with your chest
- Start the movement, pulling your torso towards the bar, focusing on pulling your elbows backwards
- Once your collarbone reaches the same level as your hands begin to lower yourself down until your arms are straight, with control
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4. Cable chest fly (chest activation)
There are a few brilliant benefits that the cable chest fly brings to the table. One is that tension is kept on the muscle throughout the exercise. Another is that we can bring our arms across our torso (imagine your right hand pointing across your body to the left), this allows us to build our inner chest which is quite difficult with other chest exercises like the bench press. A downside to this exercise is that due to the unstable nature of the movement we’re never going to be moving the same amount of weight as we would with a bench press for example, which could lead to fewer gains.
Personally, I would use this exercise as an accessory to a bench press. We can move the cable angles to focus on all 3 areas of the chest whilst working on the inner chest especially.
How to perform a cable chest fly
- Find a cable machine with the angles of each cable in the correct position to work on the area of the chest you’re interested in (low cables for upper chest, high cables for lower chest)
- Take a few steps forward so that there is tension in the cables. Keep your arms and chest somewhat active so that your arms don’t move far behind your back as this is dangerous for the shoulder joint
- Push your hands together whilst keeping the angle at your elbow joint neutral
- Optional: you can try crossing your hands over, alternating which hand is on top, this is easier with a palms-down hand position
- With control, bring your arms back to the starting position
Lying cable pullover (chest/lat activation depending on form)
Whilst this exercise is very similar to the dumbbell pullover, there are a few differences. For starters, we don’t have to hold a heavy dumbbell above our heads! But if this doesn’t scare you, using a cable allows us to keep tension on the muscles throughout the exercise which leads to more muscle activation over the same amount of time.
How to do the lying cable pullover (See out cable pullover exercise guide)
- Using a bench or the floor, position your body so that your hand can reach a straight cable bar with your spine being straight
- Keeping your shoulders back and down, pull the cable bar overheard with straight arms (chest activation) or arms with elbows faired slightly to the side (lat activation) until the bar is touching you’re hips or legs (depending on anatomy)
- Bring the bar back to the starting position with control
Useful resources
- Effects of grip width on muscle strength and activation in the lat pull-down
- A Comparative Analysis and Technique of the Lat Pull-down
- THE BIOMECHANICS OF THE LAT PULLDOWN: GRIPS AND FORM
Olly is a CIMSPA accredited personal trainer with a BSc degree in sport management from Solent University. He has over 10 years experience helping clients reach their health & fitness goals.
