Exercise Guides: How To's and Comparisons

The Bulgarian split squat is one of the best exercises going for building and strengthening your legs while improving balance and stability. What sets it apart from most lower-body work is that it’s unilateral, training one leg at a time, which makes it one of the better tools for evening out a side-to-side strength imbalance.

As much as I like it, the Bulgarian split squat isn’t the only way to get those results, and for plenty of lifters it isn’t even the best way. The balance demand can cap how much you load the legs, you need a bench or something to prop your back foot on, and if you’re chasing one specific muscle there are exercises that target it more directly.

Below are the 10 Bulgarian split squat alternatives I’d actually program. For each one I cover why it earns a spot, how to perform it, and a few cues to get it right. Whether you train at home with a pair of dumbbells or you’ve got a full rack of machines, there’s an option here that fits.

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The core, also known as the abdominals, is one of the most overlooked muscle groups when it comes to resistance training. The core plays a huge role in stability, movement, performance, and injury prevention. Just because you have a six-pack, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your core is strong.

There are several muscles that make up the core, and each is responsible for a specific action. For example, the rectus abdominis is what most people refer to as the abs because it’s the most superficial, and its primary action is flexion of the torso.

One of the major core muscles that most people forget about is the transverse abdominis, a key stabilizer muscle that’s located underneath the rectus abdominis. The most popular exercise for strengthening the abdominal muscles, specifically the transverse abdominis, is the plank (related: plank muscles worked).

Although planks are effective and offer many benefits, depending on your goal, situation, physical abilities, and equipment selection, there may be superior exercise alternatives.

To keep things simple, we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best plank alternatives so you can spend less time doing the ones that don’t work and more time making progress!

Keep reading to find out why each exercise is included and how to perform them correctly.

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There’s a reason you can’t spell grow without ‘row.’ If you want to build a powerful, well-rounded back, you need to be doing rowing exercises. Pendlay rows are popular among powerlifting athletes and bodybuilders alike. They generate maximum power and strength in your back and lats.

But for some lifters, Pendlay rows are a source of frustration and discomfort. Pendlay rows are an advanced exercise requiring excellent hamstring mobility and strong spinal erectors. They can also be challenging to learn and require high technical skills to perform safely.

Fortunately, there are plenty of exercises that can serve the same purpose. Here is our list of the 9 best exercise alternatives to Pendlay rows for a bigger, stronger back. 

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The incline bench press is the classic upper chest builder. Pressing on an incline shifts the work to the clavicular head of the pectoralis major – the upper portion of the largest muscle in your chest.

Not everyone has access to an incline bench and a barbell, though, and some lifters just don’t get along with the movement or find it beats up their shoulders.

Below are the 8 best incline bench press alternatives, with instructions and a video demonstration for each. Every pick hits the same target: the upper pecs.

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The Pallof press is one of the best anti-rotation core exercises there is. You press a stretched band or cable out from your chest, and the lateral pull forces your abdominals and obliques to fight to keep your torso still.

You need a cable stack or a band and an anchor to do them, though, and not everyone has that handy. Below are the 10 best Pallof press alternatives that train the same core stability, with instructions and a video demonstration for each.

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One thing that unites most gym goers is a desire for thicker, stronger upper arms. We all know that bicep curls are a great way to grow bigger arms, but which curl variety should you choose? 

One popular variation is the hammer curl, performed with a neutral grip to hit the brachialis and the long head of the biceps brachii. Hammer curls are most often done using dumbbells, but you can also use cable machines, resistance bands, kettlebells, or weight plates. 

Hammer curls are a great option, but there are many benefits to varying your exercise selection to target your muscles from multiple angles and with different types of equipment. Here is our list of the best hammer curl alternatives to keep your workouts fresh and build bigger, stronger upper arms.

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If you want a stronger back, better posture, and more spinal stability, rowing exercises are a necessity. Rows are the most direct way to work your lats, rhomboids, and biceps. The seated cable row (or cable row for short) is the most common and popular rowing variation. It is beginner-friendly, and you can swap between wide, narrow, neutral, and underhand grips to hit the upper back from different angles. 

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to a cable machine or a seated row station (even though the cable machine is a great machine for the back).

Whether you train from home, the cable station is always taken at your gym, or you want some new exercise options, here is our list of the best alternatives to cable rows.

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The ab wheel rollout is one of the hardest core exercises you can do. Rolling out and back trains your core’s anti-extension strength through a long range of motion, with a loaded stretch most ab exercises never reach.

Not everyone has an ab wheel at their home or gym, though, and rollouts demand a base of core strength that beginners may not have yet.

Below are the 8 best ab rollout alternatives, with instructions and a video demonstration for each. Most train the same anti-extension pattern; a couple build the raw ab strength you’ll need to work up to the wheel.

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Romanian deadlifts are a popular deadlift variation used to build and strengthen the posterior chain, mainly the glutes and hamstrings. They’re one of my favorite hinges, but they aren’t the only way to train that pattern, and for plenty of lifters they aren’t even the best way.

There are plenty of reasons to reach for a substitute. Maybe you don’t have a barbell, you’re working around an injury, you want to fix a side-to-side imbalance, or you’ve plateaued and want a fresh stimulus. The most common reason I hear, though, is that someone wants more glutes out of the movement than the RDL gives them. A few options on this list are built for exactly that.

I narrowed the field down to the 10 Romanian deadlift alternatives I’d actually program, judged on safety, equipment, how well they hit the target muscles, and how easy they are to progress. Here’s the full list before we get into each one.

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The bent-over barbell row is one of the best barbell pull exercises for building a thick, strong back. It hits nearly the whole posterior chain in one shot: lats, rhomboids, traps, teres major and minor, erectors, even your hamstrings and glutes, plus your biceps, forearms, and core along the way.

As much as I like the barbell row, it isn’t the right pick for everyone. The big drawback is lower-back stress. The heavier you go, the harder it is to hold position, and a rounded back under load is how people get hurt. It’s also a bilateral barbell lift, so if one side is stronger than the other or you don’t own a barbell, you’re stuck.

That’s where this list comes in. Whether you want a dumbbell bent over row alternative you can do at home, a bent over row machine alternative that takes your lower back out of it, or just a barbell row alternative that fits the equipment you’ve got, there’s something here for you. If cable setups are more your thing, our cable row alternatives cover those too.

I picked these 10 on how well they build the back, how much they spare your lower back, what equipment they need, and whether you can keep loading them over time. Here’s the full list, then I’ll break down each one: why it made the cut, how to do it, and a few cues to get it right.

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The overhead press, also called the military press, is one of the best lifts for building and strengthening your shoulders. It’s a compound press that hits the front delt, side delt, upper traps, triceps, and upper chest all at once, and it takes well to progressive overload, which is what actually drives growth.

The overhead press isn’t the only way to build your shoulders, though. Maybe a barbell press bugs your shoulder, maybe you don’t have a rack, or maybe you’ve stalled and need a different stimulus to get moving again. Any of those is a good reason to reach for an alternative.

I picked the 10 below on four things: how easy they are on the shoulder, what equipment they need, how well they build the delts, and whether you can keep adding load over time. For each one I cover when to use it, how to do it, and a few cues to get it right. Here’s the full list before we get into each one.

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Front squats are a popular exercise that builds serious strength and size in your lower body. Compared to the traditional back squat, front squats place less stress on your knees and improve your core stability and quadricep engagement. Additionally, front squats protect and strengthen the lower back by encouraging an upright torso.

There are plenty of alternative exercises to the front squat if you find the front rack position uncomfortable, don’t have access to the right equipment, or simply want to vary your exercise selection. Here is our list of the 10 best alternative exercises to front squats for your next leg day.

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The bench press is a staple of many strength and hypertrophy programs for beginners and experienced weightlifters alike. The decline bench press variation involves lying on a bench with your hips higher than your head. Bench pressing from a declined position effectively activates your lower pecs and triceps while putting less strain on the lower back and anterior delts. 

If you don’t have access to a decline bench or a spotter or simply don’t like how decline bench presses feel, there are plenty of equally effective exercises. 

Here is our list of the best decline bench press alternatives for days when all the decline bench stations are taken, you have limited access to equipment, or are wanting to change up your exercise selection.

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