No, not push-ups — strengthen your pecs with a pair of dumbbells and these 4 exercises
Love them or hate them, push ups are a great exercise for strengthening your chest, shoulders, and even your back. If you fall into the latter category however, there’s good news — you can build your pecs with a pair of dumbbells instead.
Dumbbells are one of my favorite fitness tools for increasing full-body strength, hypertrophy (or muscle growth), range of motion, and even cardiovascular endurance. They can be used by anyone from beginners to experienced athletes, are compact enough to fit in your home gym, and can be found at basically any fitness facility on the map.
Give these four dumbbell exercises a try on your next chest day. Not only will you target your pecs with these moves, but you’ll strengthen several other upper-body muscle groups as well.
What are the 4 dumbbell pec exercises?
You’ll need a pair of moderately-heavy dumbbells for this routine. All of the exercises can be done on the floor, but you can also use a weight bench if you have one available. If you choose to do the exercises on the floor, you may also want to use a yoga mat for additional support.
Perform 10-12 repetitions of each exercise for 3 sets, resting briefly between each set. If you get to 12 reps without feeling fatigued, increase your dumbbell weight. If you can’t get to 10 reps without resting, choose lighter dumbbells.
1. Floor press
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Bring your elbows to your side, slightly below the shoulder. Keep your knuckles facing behind you.
- Engage your core and keep a neutral spine.
- Squeeze your chest, extend your arms and press the dumbbells toward the ceiling.
- Lower back down to the starting position with control.
- Continue for 10-12 repetitions.
2. Close-grip press
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Bring your elbows together over your chest and press the dumbbells together. Your knuckles should face the walls to your side.
- Engage your core and keep a neutral spine.
- Squeeze your chest, extend your arms and press the dumbbells toward the ceiling.
- Lower back down to the starting position with control.
- Continue for 10-12 repetitions.
3. Dumbbell flys
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Press the dumbbells together and extend your arms.
- Engage your core and maintain a neutral spine.
- With a slight bend in your elbow, open your arms to each side and slowly lower the weights to the floor.
- Squeeze your chest and bring the weights back to the starting position.
- Continue for 10-12 repetitions
4. Dumbbell pullover
- Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold one dumbbell between your hands.
- Extend your arms and align the dumbbell directly over your chest.
- Engage your core and maintain a neutral spine.
- Slowly lower the dumbbell to the floor behind you.
- Squeeze your chest and bring the weight back to the starting position.
- Continue for 10-12 repetitions.
What are the benefits of these dumbbell pec exercises?
These four exercises work the pectoralis major (or pecs) primarily, which are large muscles located on both sides of your chest. The pecs are responsible for moving your arms toward the center of your body, stabilizing the shoulder, facilitating your respiration, and assisting your arms on pushing and pulling movements.
The four exercises in this routine also target a few additional muscles in your upper body including the triceps, biceps, deltoids (a large muscle in the shoulder) and lats (or latissimus dorsi, a large muscle in your back).
Both compound and functional, these exercises work more than one muscle group at once and are similar to movements you encounter in everyday life. Training your upper body this way not only improves your strength levels and muscle size, but also makes you less susceptible to injury.
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