Some of us often go to the gym on Monday and find out that all the benches are packed with guys and there is no space for us to fit in or you may want to build your body and chest but can’t afford the gym fee. When it comes to bodybuilding, the first thing we must concentrate on is building a strong and well-developed chest.
When we think of building a strong chest the first thing that comes to our mind is the bench press and the variety of exercises done on it but today I will tell you how to build your chest and make it stronger without the bench press. You only need to have dumbbells and a floor to lay on, it may be in the gym or your home.
Benefits of using dumbbells for chest exercises
As we do bench press we have less area to place our back on and sometimes we don’t feel comfortable as a result of which we get shoulder pain or back pain. Some of the benefits of using dumbbells for chest gains are.
1 Great range of motion. When using dumbbells for chest exercises without bench press allows us to have a great range of motion and stretch our chest muscle fibers to their maximum limit. On the other hand, bench press exercises restrict you before you have reached the maximum stretching limit because of the bar hitting your chest as it’s not bad if you want to lift bigger weight but if you are thinking of gaining size and having athletic performance then you should consider dumbbell exercises without bench press.
2 No stress on the shoulder joints. The human body looks symmetric but the fact is, it’s not symmetric. In our bodies, all the joints are slightly different from one another. So when we try to force our body to have perfect symmetry in an exercise like the chest bench press with a rod. During this exercise, one side always takes a little more stress than the other which eventually starts pain in our shoulder joints. This is because of the fixed position our hands are in.
In dumbbells, both sides of your body work freely in a way that is most comfortable for them. It allows your wrist to rotate freely as well as elbow and shoulders. It takes the stress from unnecessary places and directs it where it should belong.
3 Balance development and strength. While doing chest bench press you may feel that your right and left arms push the same and exert the same force on the barbell bench press but in reality, our body is very good at compensating by putting more stress on the stronger side and less stress on the weaker side. Because of this sometimes our stronger side is more built than the weaker side.
In dumbbells that’s not possible because your stronger and weaker have to push and apply force equally and if one side lags behind you feel it and then stop the reps and take a short break and start the exercise again. So because of this both sides take the same force and build equally.
4 Build chest faster. As we talked before about bench press prevents us from using a full range of motion in an exercise using a rod. As we bring the rod down in bench press it touches our chest and stops there and prevent us from drifting the weight outwards because of this we don’t get the stretch and momentum we want for the maximum growth for our chest on the other hand we can hit and stretch all our chest fibers by using dumbbells for chest exercises.
Types of Dumbbells you should use for exercise
If you go to the gym for a workout then you may have no problem choosing dumbbells but if you are tired of going to the gym and don’t want to pay some extra cash then you have to build your weight room. So you should consider buying dumbbells from the store. Commonly there are two types of dumbbells and you pick one that suits you.
Normal dumbbells. These types of dumbbells are the regular ones. Also known as fixed dumbbells. In these dumbbells, weight is fixed to the handles. So you will need a variety of weights for different exercises.
Movable dumbbells. These are advanced types of dumbbells. Weight is added to the collar of the handle or the turn of a lever.
So both these types of dumbbells have their pros and cons. If you have a tight budget and want to pay less than you should probably consider buying the normal or fixed dumbbells because it’s not as expensive as the movable ones. You will have to buy these dumbbells in pairs like light, medium, and heavy weighted dumbbells. Once you get strong over time then you will have to consider buying more heavy-weighted dumbbells.
If you want to experience the feeling that you get in a gym because of the weight choice you have there and can switch dumbbell weights as you want then you should probably go for the movable dumbbells because in this type of dumbbells you can increase and decrease the weight as you want it to be but the only problem is it costs more than the regular dumbbells.
Chest Exercises that can be done with dumbbells
There are a variety of exercises you can perform using dumbbells. All those exercises you do with a rod can be performed using dumbbells. Here are some of the best exercises that you should consider doing using dumbbells without a bench press for building a strong and healthy chest.
In these exercises, we will target all the three major parts of the chest and will discuss how to fully activate all chest muscles and fibers.
Chest exercises with dumbbells
1 push-up with dumbbells
This exercise is one of the common ones and also the easy one. It hits different parts of the body which include the chest especially pectoral muscles, arms, shoulder, and upper back.
Pros. When you do it in a proper way it turns out to be a full-body workout and activate the majority of muscles in the body.
Cons. to perform pushup exercise with dumbbells you will need to have flat-sided dumbbells because it will be too difficult to balance yourself with rounded dumbbells
How to perform
- Hold dumbbells in your hand and place them on the floor, go to the plank position
- If you are a beginner and can’t perform it in the plank position then you can do it with your knees on the floor. By doing so it will be easy because of the involvement of the chest only.
- Now you have to keep your back straight and bend your elbows slowly bringing your chest to the floor but don’t touch the floor
- As you reach down then start coming up to the starting position, now you have completed one rep
Tips. when performing this exercise remember to keep your back straight and your shoulders in place so that it may not rotate down.
How much
- Three total sets
- Every set should consist of 12 to 15 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
2 Chest flys with dumbbells
This exercise is done by standing and bringing the dumbbells upward. Standing upward chest fly mainly hits the chest pecs muscles which are located in the lower chest. It also works in the tricep, bicep, and shoulders.
Pros. chest fly exercise is very helpful in building lower chest muscles and is easy to do. As you progress further and become stronger you can just increase the weight of the dumbbells.
Cons. Being a beginner you should consult a professional trainer or a doctor if you have any issue or pain in your shoulder, arms, or any body part during the exercise.
How to perform
- Stand straight and hold the dumbbells in your hand and make sure your palms are facing in.
- While standing bring both dumbbells together in front of your chest
- Keep your arms straight and extend your arm up in front of your chest and then down out to the side to complete one rep
Tips. perform your exercise with normal or less weight. Don’t use heavy weights as it may increase the chances of injury. Over time, you may increase your weight and keep yourself challenged.
How much
- Four total sets
- Every set should consist of 10 to 12 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
3 chest press while standing
Chest press exercise while standing can be done with the help of dumbbells and it is one of the most important exercises for building the chest because it involves different muscles which include chest pecs, shoulders, bicep, tricep, spine, and abdomen
Pro. it strengths your body muscles for balancing your body. It also builds your muscles and makes you stronger and increases your lifting power.
Cons. as compared to standard bench press it hits fewer muscles.
How to perform
- You will need only one dumbbell for this exercise. To start you will have to stand straight and hold the dumbbell in your palm of both hands. One end in one hand and another end in another hand.
- Bring the dumbbell in front of your chest and keep your elbows a bit bent.
- Now try to squeeze the dumbbell with the help of your palm and by doing this you will be feeling the activation of your chest muscles.
- Move away arms from your body and then bring it to the starting point and by doing so you will complete one rep.
Tips. when performing this exercise you should not lower the dumbbells from your shoulder as this may increase the chances of injury in your cuffs.
How much
- Three total sets
- Every set should consist of 12 to 15 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
4 Floor press with dumbbells
Floor press with dumbbells can be very helpful and very easy to execute at the same time. By doing this exercise you can target chest pecs, shoulder, core, and triceps.
Pro. The floor press is one of the easiest chest exercises that even a newbie can do easily. And most importantly this exercise reduces shoulder strain as compared to bench press exercises.
Cons. The only problem with floor press is that you have a less or limited range of motion as compared to bench press exercise.
How to perform
- To perform this exercise you have to lay down on your back with bended knees and feet on the ground.
- Make a 90-degree position by placing dumbbells in your hand and elbows bend and on the ground.
- Start by bringing the dumbbells up and above your chest level.
- Extending your arms and then coming to the starting position should complete one rep
Tips. while performing floor press try to place shoulder blades on the floor to add some power to your press exercise. Try having a workout partner to help you with the weights.
How much
- Four total sets
- Every set should consist of 12 to 15 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
5 Svend press with dumbbells
This exercise is one of my favorites because it increases muscle growth. Usually, svend press is performed with plates but it can also be done with dumbbells. svend press exercise targets chest pectoral muscles, shoulders, and triceps.
Pro. As we talked about earlier we usually use plates for svend press but when we use dumbbells it allows us to do the exercise with heavy load and increase our muscle growth.
Cons. This exercise is hard when doing and can easily fatigue your muscles so try to go with the lightweight and keep the reps less.
How to perform
- Stand straight and keep your chest out with shoulders pulled back.
- Hold your dumbbell in your hand so that your palms are faced down.
- Start the exercise by pushing the dumbbells out so that your elbows are straight.
- Hold up for a second and come back to the starting position.
Tip. when pushing dumbbells out try to extend them as much possible as you can so you can activate all the chest muscles.
How much
- Tree total sets
- Every set should consist of 12 to 15 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
6 Reverse chest press using dumbbells
Reverse chest press and chest press are more likely the same, both can be done easily and are very good in targeting muscles like pectoral muscles of the chest, shoulder, and triceps.
Pros. This exercise is very easy for beginners and can be done in no time. Reverse chest presses with dumbbells build more muscles than the regular incline press.
Cons. As compared to other exercises like bench reverse chest press, you get less range of motion because of the floor which stops you when you bring the elbows down.
How to perform
- For this exercise, you have to lay down on your back into contact with the floor and have a bend in the knees and feet on the ground
- Hold the dumbbells in your hand using a reverse grip. At the sides of your chest.
- Your tricep should be faced to the floor and you should have a bent in your elbow.
- Start the exercise by pushing the dumbbells toward the ceilings and bring them back to the starting position. By doing so you will complete your one rep.
Tips. Try to perform this exercise at a slow pace and do not let the dumbbells touch you when your elbows come down by doing so you will get the most out of this chest exercise.
How much
- six total sets
- Every set should consist of 8 to 10 reps
- 10 to 15-second stay between the sets
7 T push ups exercise with dumbbells
This exercise is a bit hard at first because it involves your whole body and most of the body muscles. You have to master it if you want to have a good chest. T push-ups exercise targets muscles chest, pectoral muscles, triceps, shoulder, abdominals, and upper back.
Pros. If you are very good at push-ups and want to step up to the next level then you should probably consider adding this exercise to your workout routine and challenge yourself.
If you are having trouble doing the t push-ups with dumbbells then you can go without dumbbells and do the t push-ups simply and try to understand it.
Cons. If you are doing this exercise without the dumbbells then there shouldn’t be any problem. However, if you want to do it with dumbbells then you should consider a dumbbell with flat sides rather than rounded ones.
How to perform
- Place dumbbells on the floor and place your hands on them in the standard pushup position.
- Use dumbbells as your base and try to put all your weight on them.
- Go down toward the floor as you would do for a standard push-up.
- As you push up, turn your toe and lift the weight in one hand over the shoulder and keep your weight on the other hand which is on the floor.
- And the lower one hand and to the same with the other to complete one rep.
Tips. When you are a beginner try to do this exercise without dumbbells. By doing so it will be a lot easy and you will get to know your body mechanics.
How much
- Four total sets
- Every set should consist of 12 to 15 reps
- 20 to 30-second stay between the sets
