12 Dumbbell Exercises For a Chiseled Chest

• Get into a flat lying position on the floor, extend your arms, and press the weights above your chest. Face your palms toward each other. 
• Arch your back, stick your chest up, and push your shoulder blades into the floor. 
• Open your arms and slowly lower them to the floor with slightly bent elbows. 
• Squeeze your chest and pull your arms together at the top. 
• Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you reach the desired rep count or total fatigue.

Benefits: 

1. Safer than bench flys
2. Can be loaded heavier than bench flys
3. Great for building eccentric pec strength 

Tips: 

1. Combine heavy dumbbells with a press, and fly negative for eccentric overloading. 

Dumbbell Alternating Chest Press

Combine static and dynamic reps with alternating chest presses for a novel stimulus and to expose strength imbalances. By balancing two opposing factions, the pecs and core are forced to work harder, and you'll develop a more vital mental game! 

How to do it:

• Lie on a flat bench and press the weights at an entire arm's length above your chest. 
• Lower both dumbbells to your outer chest, keeping the forearms vertical.
• Press the left dumbbell above your chest, and keep the right one down by your armpit. Use your muscle strength to hold the right dumbbell in position. 
• Slowly pull the left dumbbell down to your chest.
• Press the right side up, and use your left chest and arm muscles to hold the dumbbell at the bottom. Bring the right dumbbell down. 
• Repeat steps 3-5 as many times as needed. Perform an equal number of reps per side. 

Benefits: 

1. Improves total body stability 
2. Enhances coordination 
3. Exposes left to correct imbalances

Tips: 

1. Load these heavy weights for maximum benefit. 
2. Don't rest the non-moving dumbbell on your chest. 

Dumbbell Guillotine Press

Dumbbell guillotine presses are another popular way to build upper pecs without an incline bench. They're also much safer than risking dropping a loaded barbell on your neck (Ouch!). Flaring the elbows wide aligns the movement with your upper pec fibers for optimal clavicular head activation! 

How to do it:

• Lie on a flat bench with your arms pressed out above your chest.
• Lower the weights to either side of your neck by flaring your elbows all the way out to the sides. Stop when you feel a decent pec stretch. Keep your wrists over your elbows. 
• Press the weights straight up and repeat for the optimal number of reps. 

Benefits: 

1. Emphasizes the upper chest 
2. No bench needed 

Tips:

1. Please do not force your chest to stretch beyond its natural stopping point, or you could hurt your shoulders. 
2. Stop if you feel pain, and consider an alternative.  

Dumbbell Bodyweight Chest Dip

Chest dips performed on dipping bars provide what push-ups cannot; complete bodyweight resistance and deep eccentric pec loading. They also smash the lower pecs and hit the triceps long head better than most triceps exercises. Furthermore, dips are more quickly and evenly loaded with additional weight, offering more convenient progression.

Using a dumbbell requires little to no setup. You can dangle it from your waist using a belt or leash or hold it between your feet. 

How to do it:

• Place a dumbbell on the floor between the dipping bars. 
• Squeeze the dumbbell between your feet.
• Grip the bars and push yourself to the top.
• Lean your body forward, look down, and pull your shoulder blades down and back. Keep your midsection tensed.  
• Bend your elbows and descend until your arms are 90 degrees. 
• Push up, drop down, and repeat until finished. 

Benefits: 

Easily add resistance to dips

Pro tip: 

After you reach failure holding the dumbbell, drop it on the floor and continue repping out with just your body weight.   

Single Dumbbell Squeeze Press

Who says two weights are better than one? Not for this inner chest blaster! The dumbbell squeeze press keeps tension on the pec midline via isometric adduction or when the arms are closer to the center of the chest. 

Squeezing the dumbbell handle intensifies the contraction of your inner chest fibers. Pair this move with floor presses, as it's easier to set up than two weights and doesn't require as much stretch. Or do it on an incline or flat bench. 

How to do it:

• Sit on the floor, grip the dumbbell in one hand, and then grab over the top with your other hand. 
• Lie flat and hold the dumbbell over the center of your chest. 
• Press the dumbbell straight up while squeezing it as hard as you can. 
• Bring the dumbbell to your chest, and repeat for your prescribed rep count. 

Benefits: 

1. Promotes a stellar pec mid-line
2. Minimalist movement
3. No bench required

Tips:

1. Train these as heavy as you safely can. 
2. You can also do this exercise by squeezing two dumbbells together.

Dumbbell Decline Press 

Dumbbell decline presses target the abdominal head or lower chest fibers. While lagging lower pecs are less common, we still like this exercise as it adds training variety and may be the most shoulder-friendly pressing style. 

How to do it:

• Sit on the high end of the bench and secure your legs under the support pads. 
• Have someone hand you the dumbbells or set them up on top of two objects (e.g., wood boxes, weight plates, etc.) at either side to raise their height. Then, you can grab the dumbbells much easier.
• Lie on the bench and press the dumbbells straight up, then bring them down to stretch your pecs, and repeat this sequence for a set. 
• Be careful when dropping the dumbbells after you finish.

Benefits: 

1. Good for overloading pecs  
2. Shoulder friendly 

Safety tip: 

Consider more upright alternatives if you get high blood pressure, frequent headaches, or have vertigo.

Here's a helpful video for setting up with heavy dumbbells. 

Dumbbell Stretch Iso-Hold

A great way to end your workout (and this list) is to use dumbbell isometric holds. These holds utilize time under tension to strengthen the pecs when stretched. You’re essentially just holding weights in the bottom of a press with no movement. 

Choose a weight around 50 percent of your five-rep max and perform one or two 60-second sets. For example, if you can only do five reps with 100 pounds, use 50-pound dumbbells. 

How to do it:

• Lie on a flat bench holding the dumbbells at the bottom of a press with your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Hold this position for one minute. Aim to add five to ten seconds each week.

Benefits: 

1. May provide a novel stimulus
2. Builds mental strength

Tips: 

1. Don’t let your arms collapse inward. 
2. Use all your pushing muscles to stabilize the weights.

What Are The Benefits of Dumbbell Chest Training? 

Dumbbell exercises are superior when it comes to well-rounded chest development and free-weight functional training. Here’s why you need them in your pec-building regime. 

Build raw chest strength, size, and power.

Often overshadowed by its bilateral counterpart, the barbell press, many heavy lifters find refuge in dumbbell presses to avoid shoulder pain without sacrificing strength and muscle gains! 

In a 2017 study, nineteen trained men performed dumbbell, barbell, and machine chest exercises. The dumbbell chest press resulted in significantly more pectoralis significant activity than barbell bench presses (4). 

However, the test measured immediate surface muscle activity, not muscle growth over the longer term. 

Another study in 2021 showed similar strength gains from dumbbell vs. barbell presses in college football athletes (5).

Rest assured, you can achieve all the gains you want by utilizing dumbbell chest variations! 

Unrestricted Movement

While they’re not without limitations, dumbbells allow you to train your chest using various grips, angles, and techniques. This is especially beneficial for people with orthopedic shoulder issues who still want to train heavily.

Versatility King 

Dumbbells outperform barbells, machines, suspension trainers, and bodyweight exercises. How so? None of these options offer the same combination of accessibility, affordability, portability, convenience, progressive overload, and training variety.  

Strengthens joints against injuries 

The instability of free-moving dumbbells forces secondary muscles to stabilize your joints so you can effectively train the primary target muscle groups. For example, the core, legs, back, and other muscles help balance and coordinate the movement when performing dumbbell chest presses.

Using all of your muscles and joints helps strengthen your body against injuries. 

Generally Safer Than Barbells

Being trapped under a heavy barbell after a failed rep is not only embarrassing; it can be downright dangerous, especially if you’re alone. While training with dumbbells isn’t without risks, you can usually drop them to the floor without worry. 

Expose left to correct side imbalances.

No one is perfectly symmetrical, but proper training can improve muscle imbalances. The unilateral nature of dumbbells helps expose weaknesses, making it easier to correct them. Alternating static dumbbell presses are especially useful in identifying strength deficiencies. 

Portable and Space-efficient  

Dumbbells are a fraction of a barbell’s length, require little space, and are not limited to one spot! You can use a bench, hit the floor, or perform standing dumbbell chest flies. 

How To Fit Dumbbell Chest Exercises Into Your Push Workouts

Fully capable of a stand-alone compound lift or the perfect compliment to any push-day routine, dumbbell chest variations are essential! How should you incorporate dumbbells in your chest training for best results? Here are some tips and workouts you can use as your own. 

Dumbbell Drop Sets

Dumbbells are convenient for drop sets since they require minimal setup. Here’s a simple way to do it. Perform six to twelve challenging reps, decrease the weight by 10-30 percent, and do as many reps as possible. Keep the total reps below thirty and do two to three rounds.  

Dumbbell Incline Press/Barbell Flat Bench Combo

A killer combination for pec central mass and strength; put the dumbbell incline first to hit the upper pecs, then fire up your middle chest with heavy barbell presses. 

Dumbbell + Bodyweight Supersets 

After performing a set of dumbbell exercises, immediately drop down (Or flip over) and crank out push-ups to failure. 

Pair different training angles to emphasize more than one head. For example, superset a middle-chest-focused move like flat dumbbell presses with decline push-ups for more upper-chest stimulus.  

Dumbbell-only Workout 

Perform two sets each of incline, flat, and decline presses, then knock out three sets of flies and finish with one 60-second round of iso holds. This will ensure you hit the pecs from all directions! 

Choosing Dumbbell Weights For Chest Workouts 

The weight selection for exercise should match one’s training experience, strength and energy level, goals, physical health, and choice of activity or movement. Based on these criteria, here are some recommendations for choosing dumbbell weights. 

Beginners with No Training Experience: 

Start with very light dumbbells—5 to 10 pounds for women and 10 to 25 pounds for men—according to your strength ability. Learn proper exercise techniques first, then gradually increase weights in small increments as you become more experienced.

Intermediates should be careful not to overestimate their strength; advanced lifters typically know their capabilities and appropriate weights for each exercise. 

Type of exercise

Compound movements, such as dumbbell presses, engage more muscles and joints than dumbbell pec flies, thus allowing you to lift significantly more weight (6). Acknowledging this natural strength gap can prevent injuries and set realistic training expectations. 

Fitness Goals

If strength is your focus, program workouts around heavy, multi-tempo lifts in low-rep zones. For hypertrophy, prioritize 6-12 rep sets for the upper body and moderate to high reps for leg training. 

Energy and Health

Listen to your body. Energy levels can fluctuate from one workout session to another due to nutrition habits, lack of sleep, hydration status, health, etc. Sure, pre-workouts and caffeine are helpful, but they’re not always the best solution.

It’s always better to cut back and monitor your physical health than to force your body to do something it can’t.

Best Rep Range For Dumbbell Chest Training

Rather than only sharing conventional ideas, longitudinal data offers new insights that challenge traditional rep range principles. We correlated the findings with common training goals below. 

Hypertrophy (Muscle Growth)

The 8-12 rep range is widely considered optimal for muscle gains. But is it? Yes and no. One theory is that moderate rep zones provide peak time under tension (TUT), or the duration a muscle resists an external load. Some research suggests optimizing TUT may be beneficial for muscle development. 

Let’s compare rep ranges and see what science has to say…

Moderate (8-12) vs. high reps (15+)

According to a famous 2015 study, training to failure in both 8-12 and 25-35 rep zones elicits similar muscle hypertrophy (7). Although high reps may burn slightly more calories and give your joints a break from heavy training, 8-12 reps is more time efficient. 

Moderate (8-12) vs. low reps (1-5)

A 2021 review states that similar increases in muscle size can occur across a broad spectrum of loading strategies: 1-5 reps, 8-12 reps, and more than 15 reps (8). Even if strength isn’t your focus, including some heavy, low-rep sets can enhance certain physical and mental aspects of performance. 

The Winner: 6-15 reps 

Short—and long-term data suggest combining rep ranges may offer muscle-building advantages. Training in the 6-15 rep range may be the most efficient way, but you should implement the best strategy for your goals. 

Strength

Sufficient evidence from countless studies and real-world experimentation supports heavy lifting in a 1-5 rep range to maximize strength performance (9). Moderate and high rep ranges can also improve strength but to a lesser degree, especially for advanced lifters. 

Endurance 

Surprisingly, no official proof exists that performing higher reps with lighter weights increases muscle endurance. Although, you may still benefit from including this rep range in your workouts.