Overhead press alternatives
Pick an overhead press swap by why you press and what's free: dumbbells, landmine, machine or pike push-ups, with how much lighter to start, sets and reps.
Short answer
Most overhead press swaps work. The question is which one keeps the job you were pressing for. Someone chasing a barbell press number, someone after bigger shoulders and someone whose shoulder doesn’t like the bar need different swaps. After that, it comes down to what’s free.
Pick by why you press
| If you press for | Best swaps | Note |
|---|---|---|
| A stronger barbell press | Standing dumbbell press, Smith machine shoulder press, Z press | For one session: 3 × 5 to 8, then back to the barbell next session |
| Shoulder size | Seated dumbbell press, Arnold press, machine shoulder press, plus lateral raises | Any vertical press for the front delts, raises for the side delts |
| Shoulder comfort | Half-kneeling landmine press, palms-in dumbbell press, half-kneeling dumbbell press | Many lifters find these easier on the shoulder than a straight bar |
A dumbbell day holds your strength, but it doesn’t practice the barbell groove. If the barbell number is the goal, treat any swap as one session, not a new plan.
If any press hurts, stop the exercise and see a qualified professional if it’s sharp or lasting.
Pick by what’s free
When the rack or bar is busy, take the first option on this list that’s free:
| Order | What’s free | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dumbbells and an upright bench | Seated dumbbell press |
| 2 | Dumbbells, no bench | Standing dumbbell press, or a single-arm dumbbell press half-kneeling |
| 3 | A spare barbell in a corner or a landmine | Half-kneeling or standing landmine press, one arm at a time (setup below) |
| 4 | A shoulder press machine or a Smith machine | Machine shoulder press or Smith machine shoulder press |
| 5 | A cable or a band | Cable overhead press or band overhead press |
| 6 | Nothing | Pike push-up, then feet-elevated pike push-up |
A kettlebell strict press slots in at step 2 if your gym has kettlebells.
Landmine press setup. Wedge one end of a barbell into a corner or a landmine holder. Half-kneel with the knee on the pressing side down, hold the other end of the bar at your shoulder, and press it up and slightly forward. Start with small plates.
Pike push-up too hard? Put your hands on a bench to take some of your weight off, then work down to the floor.
Seated or standing?
In muscle-activity data, standing works your delts harder; sitting lets you lift more. In one study of 15 men, standing dumbbells drove the most delt activity of any setup, even though they were the lightest. Sitting raised the dumbbell load by about 10%, but cut rear-delt activity by about a quarter and side-delt activity on dumbbells by about 15%.
Standing dumbbells worked the delts hardest in that study, at the lightest load, so for size they’re a reasonable pick. The study didn’t measure growth. If you want to push heavier dumbbells or your lower back is tired, sit.
Don’t add instability for its own sake. In a study of 30 trained lifters doing a seated press with a barbell or dumbbells, on a bench or a Swiss ball, the less stable the setup, the less weight they lifted, and the authors found little support for training with lighter, unstable setups. Dumbbells are a good swap for a busy rack; a Swiss ball isn’t.
Swaps that change the job
These turn up on most lists of overhead press alternatives. They’re fine exercises, but they don’t do what the press does.
| Swap | What changes |
|---|---|
| Incline bench press | A chest press first. In one study, front-delt activity peaked at a 60° bench and chest activity fell above 45°. At a normal incline, it’s chest day work |
| Lateral raise | Trains the side delts about as hard as a press in muscle-activity data, but works the front delts less and doesn’t train the triceps or pressing strength. An add-on, not a swap |
| Dumbbell push press | Your legs help, so you’ll lift more. Good for power and lockout, but don’t compare the numbers with a strict press |
| Behind-the-neck press | Needs a lot of shoulder mobility. Skip it as a quick swap |
| Kettlebell swing, reverse fly | Not a press at all |
Set the load on the swap
Your barbell numbers won’t carry over directly. A rough guide from the research:
- In one study of 15 men, the heaviest standing dumbbell press was about 7% below the standing barbell press, and about 10% below the seated dumbbell press. That was a one-rep max, so treat it as a ballpark.
- Our starting rule: take your barbell working weight, knock off about 10%, and split it across both dumbbells. A standing barbell press of 40 kg (88 lb) for 8 becomes two dumbbells of about 18 kg (40 lb) each, standing. Seated, try the next pair up.
- Machines and Smith machines vary too much to convert. Pick by effort.
Whatever you pick, the first set is a test. Stop 2 to 3 reps short of failure. If you had more than 3 left, go heavier for the next set; if you missed reps, go lighter.
Sets, reps and rest
| Swap | Sets and reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Standing or seated dumbbell press | 3 × 5 to 8 to hold a barbell press; 3 × 6 to 10 for size | About 2 minutes |
| Smith or machine shoulder press | 3 × 5 to 8 to hold a barbell press; 3 × 6 to 10 for size | About 2 minutes |
| Landmine press | 3 × 8 to 12 each arm | 60 to 90 seconds after both arms |
| Pike push-up | 3 × 6 to 12 | 60 to 90 seconds |
| Lateral raise, added for size | 2 to 3 × 12 to 20 | 60 seconds |
Once you hit the top of the rep range on every set, go up to the next dumbbell or plate. One-arm presses take about twice as long, so plan for that on a short session.
What the research says
- In 15 men, standing dumbbells gave the most delt activity at the lowest one-rep max; seated pressing raised the load and cut rear- and side-delt activity (Saeterbakken and Fimland, 2013).
- In 30 trained lifters, less stable setups such as dumbbells or a Swiss ball lowered the load lifted, with little support for training that way (Kohler and colleagues, 2010).
- In 13 trained men, the shoulder press drove more front-delt activity than the bench press (33.3% vs 21.4% of max) and far more side-delt activity (27.9% vs 5%). The lateral raise was similar to the press for side delts but lower for front delts (Campos and colleagues, 2020).
- In 30 trained adults, front-delt activity peaked at a 60° bench, and above 45° the chest did less (Rodríguez-Ridao and colleagues, 2020).
These measured muscle activity and maximum loads on the day, not growth over weeks. They help you pick a swap that keeps the job, not prove one grows shoulders best.
Founder and editorial lead, Handler
Handler's founder writes general training guides and documents their sources. This article is educational, not an individual coaching or medical assessment.
Sources
The study findings below come from the linked abstracts. The swap tables, the 10% starting rule, sets and reps and rest are coaching guidance, not results from those studies.
Sources
- 01Saeterbakken and Fimland 2013, J Strength Cond Res: seated vs standing, barbell vs dumbbell (In 15 men, the standing dumbbell 1RM was about 7% below the standing barbell and about 10% below the seated dumbbell. Standing dumbbells gave the highest delt activity; sitting cut rear-delt activity by about 24 to 25%.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23096062/
- 02Kohler et al. 2010, J Strength Cond Res: stable and unstable shoulder presses (In 30 trained lifters doing a seated press at a 10RM, the load lifted dropped as the setup got less stable. The authors found little support for training with lighter, unstable loads or surfaces.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20072068/
- 03Campos et al. 2020, J Hum Kinet: delt activity across four exercises (In 13 trained men, the shoulder press drove more front-delt activity than the bench press (33.3% vs 21.4% of max) and far more side-delt activity (27.9% vs 5%). The bench angle isn't stated in the abstract.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33312291/
- 04Rodríguez-Ridao et al. 2020, Int J Environ Res Public Health: five bench angles (In 30 trained adults, front-delt activity peaked at a 60° bench; above 45°, delt activity rose and chest performance fell.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33049982/