The Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises
Here are a few of the more effective chest exercises using dumbbells only.
Dumbbell Bent-Arm Pullover
You'll start off by lying on a bench with your head over the edge of the bench and with your feet flat on the floor. You're going to lower the dumbbell in a semicircular motion towards floor. You'll want to go as low as you can without causing any discomfort. Keeping your elbows tucked, lift the dumbbell back up using the same path. This exercise can also be done with the arms straight or with two dumbbells.
Dumbbell Bench Press
This is by far one of the most effective chest exercises you can perform. Start off by sitting on the edge of a flat bench while resting the dumbbells on your knees. As you roll back onto the bench, you'll use your knees to kick the dumbbells back to a position slightly outside and above your shoulders. Your palms should face forwards. You'll need to bend your elbows at a 90 degree angle so that your upper arms are parallel to the ground. You'll then press the weights up over your chest until they meet above the center of your body. You'll lower the dumbbell using the same path downward until your arms are slightly below parallel to the floor. These can be done on an incline or decline bench targeting the upper and lower chest respectively.
Dumbbell Flyes
You'll begin this exercise as you would the dumbbell bench press, sitting down on a flat bench with the dumbbells resting on your knees. As you roll onto your back, keep the dumbbells close to your chest. You'll lift the dumbbells over your chest by extending your arms. Make sure to maintain a slight bend in your elbows. Lower the dumbbells to the sides of your body in an arc-like motion. At the lowest point, your bent elbows should be on a horizontal plane even with the bench. Slowly bring the weights back up over your chest in an arc. The bend in your elbows should stay the same throughout the exercise. Remember this is not a dumbbell bench press so you're not going to be able to lift as much. These can also be performed in an incline or decline position.
Inclined Dumbbell Bench Press
Undoubtedly, this is the exercise that's most efficient to get the ideal chest. This exercise wont only give you a broader upper chest, but will make your frame become wider from the front side, causing your torso to narrow. Perform this demanding exercise with your bench set at 45-degrees. Another benefit of doing this exercise is that any sagging skin that you have on your chest will tighten.
Inclined Dumbbell Chest Flys
This exercise is ideal for developing stabilizing chest muscles. You shouldn't use too much weight to begin until you get used to the difficulty of maintaining the range of motion. Set the bench to an incline of 45 degrees and lift the weights up at a 90 degree angle all the way to the back of the bench. Don't bring the weights too far back as this can cause shoulder injuries. Doing this exercise is amazing for getting rid of those man boobs, as it works your inner and outer chest muscles, all while sculpting the shoulders. Keep in mind that you must use light weights and then slowly move to more difficult challenges.
Declined Dumbbell Chest Flys
This exercise is highly recommended if you want to develop your chest muscles but is definitely not easy to perform. Due to this difficulty, its essential that you perform the aforementioned exercises so that your upper chest is able to withstand the challenge. If you develop your upper chest first, you wont have that bottom-heavy look that happens because of developing your lower chest first.
This exercise is perfect for eliminating gynecomastia, which are typically known as man boobs. Inclined chest flies start by eliminating slowly your man boobs, while the declined chest flys completely rid your body of them
