10 Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises For Sculpted Upper Body

Dreaming of having a broad, well-defined chest? Then you can’t ignore dumbbell chest exercises!

After all, science shows that chest exercises using dumbbells are more effective than doing barbell bench presses (and Smith machine presses) when it comes to activating your pecs!

But why should you do chest exercises with dumbbells at home? Because strong pec muscles add power to your shoulder and arms, meaning you can push heavy objects with ease. A strong chest also leads to better posture, alleviation of back pain, improved breathing, and much more.

In this blog post, we’ll talk about the best dumbbell chest exercises, including lower chest dumbbell exercises and those that you can do standing. So grab your dumbbells and let's get started!

Chest anatomy

Before we tell you how to do chest exercises with dumbbells, let’s understand a little bit about your chest anatomy.

Your chest consists of 2 muscles on both sides - the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. 

The pectoralis major is a large, fan-shaped muscle having two heads:

• Sternocostal head or lower chest (makes up 80% of your pec major’s size and is responsible for moving your arms toward and across your chest).
• Clavicular head or upper chest (responsible for bringing your arm up).

The pectoralis minor is a small triangular muscle that rests under the pec major and is attached to your ribs. Its main function is to move the scapula both forward and downward.

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Benefits of doing chest exercises using dumbbells

What makes dumbbell chest exercises so amazing? Dumbbells…

1. Allow for a greater range of motion

When you do bench presses using barbells, the bar would touch your chest before your pectorals get a chance to fully stretch. 

With dumbbells, however, you can go lower than your chest level thus activating more chest muscle fibers that lead to greater size gains.

A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research even shows that the larger the range of motion, the higher the muscle growth.

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2. Promote balanced muscle growth

During barbell presses, your stronger side ends up taking most of the stress to compensate for your weaker side.

But since dumbbells are free weights, this type of compensation is not possible as both sides have to push with equal force. This ensures that your form is not compromised and eventually your strength and muscular imbalances will even out. Plus you can always train your weaker side separately by doing a few extra reps on that side.

3. Are less stressful on your joints

Since our bodies are not perfectly symmetrical, when you lower a barbell towards your chest, the joints on one side of your body end up taking more stress than the other (since a barbell is an evenly-weighted bar).

But with dumbbells, you can rotate your wrists freely and your elbows and shoulders can move in a path that is most comfortable for you; meaning the stress is placed on your muscles and not on your joints.

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4. Strengthen your stabilizer muscles better

Since dumbbells are free weights, you have to work harder to maintain stability while doing dumbbell bench presses as compared to using a barbell. Plus dumbbells also recruit your stabilizer muscles including your pec minor, rotator cuff muscles, rhomboids, and serratus anterior resulting in stronger shoulder and scapula complexes. 

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10 Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises

Standing dumbbell chest exercises

Here are a few chest exercises with dumbbells at home that you can do in a standing position.

1. Standing Dumbbell Chest Press

Muscles worked: Chest, deltoids, triceps.

How to perform

• Stand at a shoulder-width stance.
• Begin by holding the top of a dumbbell between your palms and positioning it in front of your chest.
• Now press the dumbbell forward until it is at shoulder height squeezing your palms as you do so.
• Pause for a second and slowly return to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

Tip

Ensure your arms are perpendicular to your chest when fully extended. Don’t drop them.

Related: 10 Lower Back Exercises With Dumbbells For Strength & Mobility

2. Standing Crossbody Dumbbell Raise

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders

How to perform

• Grab one dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip.
• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and the dumbbells by your side. This is the starting position.
• Engaging your core, bend your left elbow and slowly bring the dumbbell across your body towards the right shoulder.
• Squeeze for a second before returning your left hand to the starting position.
• Now perform the same movement with your right hand.
• Keep alternating between both sides for the desired number of reps.

3. Dumbbell Half Circle Raise

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your back straight.
• Hold one dumbbell in each hand with an underhand grip and position them by the side of your thighs. This is the starting position.
• Squeeze your chest and slowly move the dumbbells up above your head in a semi-circular pattern so that the dumbbells touch each other at the top of the movement.
• Pause for a second and then return to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

Dumbbell chest exercises on the floor

Wondering how to do chest exercises with dumbbells without a bench? Here are a few terrific dumbbell chest exercises you can do right on the floor!

4. Dumbbell Close Grip Floor Press

This is one of the best lower chest dumbbell exercises.

Muscles worked: Lower chest, anterior deltoids, triceps.  

How to perform

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
• Raise your arms towards the ceiling with your palms facing each other and dumbbells pressed together. This is the starting position.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest.
• Pause for a second and then return to the starting position.
•  Perform the desired number of reps.

5. Decline Dumbbell Floor Press

Another great lower chest dumbbell exercise, as it is performed in a decline position.

Muscles worked: Lower chest, triceps.

How to perform

• Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
• Lift your hips off the floor until your knees are at right angles.
• Raise your arms towards the ceiling with your palms facing forward and your elbows slightly bent. This is the starting position.
• Now lower the dumbbells out to the sides until your upper arm touches the floor.
• Pause for a second and then return to the starting position.

• Perform the desired number of reps.

6. Alternating Dumbbell Floor Press

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, shoulders.

How to perform

• Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
• Squeeze your chest and triceps and extend your arms up toward the ceiling. This is the starting position.
• Now slowly lower the right dumbbell until your elbow touches the floor.
• Pause for a second and then return to the starting position.
• Repeat the same movement with the left dumbbell.
• Keep alternating between both sides for the desired number of reps.

7. Reverse Grip Dumbbell Floor Chest Press

Fire up your upper chest muscles with this reverse grip dumbbell chest exercise!

Muscles worked: Upper chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps

How to perform

• Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
• Hold the dumbbells with an underhand grip and extend your arms toward the ceiling. This is the starting position.
• Now slowly lower the dumbbells down until your elbow touches the floor.
• Pause for a second before returning to the starting position.

• Perform the desired number of reps.

Dumbbell chest exercises using a bench

8. Dumbbell Eccentric Fly to Press

This flat bench dumbbell chest exercise is awesome for overall pec development.

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps.

How to perform

• Lie on a flat bench with one dumbbell in each hand. 
• Lift the dumbbells over your chest in a neutral grip. This is the starting position.
• Now lower both dumbbells to your side with arms extended. 
• From here, move the dumbbells toward your chest, and press them back to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

9. T-bench Dumbbell Fly

Muscles worked: Chest, glutes, abs.

How to perform

• Begin by sitting on the edge of a flat bench and placing a set of dumbbells on your lap.
• Shift your shoulder blades onto the bench (as shown in the video) and engage your glutes and abs to form a bridge shape with your feet pressing into the ground.
• Extend your arms up towards the ceiling. This is the starting position.
• Slowly lower your elbows down to the bench.
• Squeeze your chest and return to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

10. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press Twist

Get ready to blast your upper chest with this incline bench dumbbell chest exercise!

Muscles worked: Upper chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps.

How to perform

• Grab a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward.
• Lie back on an incline bench and extend your arms over your chest.
• Lower the dumbbells to your outer chest.
• Now as you raise the dumbbells again, rotate them by 180 degrees. At the top of the movement, you would have a supine grip (little finger inwards and palms towards your face).
• Pause for a few seconds, rotate your palms again, and then lower back down.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

Tip

Keep your shoulders back and down to activate your chest rather than your shoulders.

Final words

As you can see, dumbbells pack a massive punch when it comes to building and strengthening your chest muscles.

So pick up Burnlab’s world-class adjustable dumbbell set, practice these amazing dumbbell chest exercises, and set those pecs on fire!