Exercise Comparison
Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover vs Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown
Side-by-Side
Muscle Analysis
Shared
Only in Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover
Only in Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown
Instructions
Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover
Lie on a flat bench with a barbell using a shoulder grip width.
Hold the bar straight over your chest with a bend in your arms. This will be your starting position.
While keeping your arms in the bent arm position, lower the weight slowly in an arc behind your head while breathing in until you feel a stretch on the chest.
At that point, bring the barbell back to the starting position using the arc through which the weight was lowered and exhale as you perform this movement.
Hold the weight on the initial position for a second and repeat the motion for the prescribed number of repetitions.
Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown
Either standing or seated on a high bench, grasp two stirrup cables that are attached to the high pulleys. Grab with the opposing hand so your arms are crisscrossed about you and your palms are facing forward.
Keeping your chest up and maintaining a slight arch in your lower back, pull the handles down as if you were doing a regular pulldown. The range of motion will be more of an arc. During the movement, rotate your hands so that in the bottom position your palms face each other rather than forward. Return slowly to the starting position and repeat.
Verdict
Both exercises target the lats. Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover is a intermediate exercise using barbell, while Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown is intermediate and uses cable. Choose Bent-Arm Barbell Pullover if you have access to barbell, or Full Range-Of-Motion Lat Pulldown if you prefer cable.