Table Of Content
Introduction
Looking for a chest workout with dumbbells WITHOUT A BENCH?
There are many chest exercises you could do with dumbbells, but for most of them, you require a bench. I have selected the few exercises that will give you the best overall chest development without needing a bench!
You can incorporate these exercises in your current training routine or choose to the workout here that I’ve listed below. It’s up to you.
First, I will list the exercises that I chose and give a brief explanation as to why I chose them.
If you’re looking for a full body dumbbell workout, check out this article.
DB – Dumbbell
Exercise 1: DB Floor Press
The DB Floor Press is similar to the DB Bench Press but instead you’re doing in from the floor. The concept is same.
How to perform exercise:
- Lie on the floor with your chest out and shoulder blades retracted just like a regular DB or barbell bench press
- Push dumbbells up and slowly control the weight down until elbows touch the floor
The only downside of this exercise is that the range of motion is limited as your elbows cannot extend back behind the body.
Exercise 2: DB Floor Fly
The DB Floor Fly is similar the DB Bench Floor Fly, but the main advantage of the Floor Fly is the protection of the shoulder joint. When you’re performing this exercises on a bench, you introduce a risk an injury to the anterior head of the shoulder and damaging this will put you away from working out for a long time. You could also get a pec tear due to the position of the shoulders which is something that no one wants.
To reduce the risk of injury, you can perform the exercise on the floor, hence the name Floor Fly. This version of the exercise protects your shoulder joint as you’re not putting too much of a stretch on the anterior head of shoulder.
How to perform exercise:
- Lie on the floor and hold dumbbells using a neutral grip close to your chest
- Keep chest out and shoulder blades retracted and push dumbbells straight up
- Slowly lower weights to the side while maintaing a bend in the elbow
- Once elbows touch the floor, squeeze chest to bring dumbbells back to original position while maintaining that elbow bend
Exercise 3: DB Hex Press
The DB Hex Press is an underutilized exercise, mainly due to it not being a hypertrophy but it is still a great exercise, if you have dumbbells only. This exercise takes some load away from the shoulders and empathises the chest and the triceps more.
How to perfrom exercise:
- Lie on the floor holding dumbbells with a neutral grip close to your chest
- Keep chest out and shoulder blades retracted and push dumbbells straight up
- Make sure your squeezing your chest and elbows to keep both dumbbells in contact with each other throughout the whole rep
If you have only one dumbbell, you can grip the dumbbell with one hand and squeeze your chest and push dumbbell up.
Exercise 4: UCV Raise
The UCV Raise targets the upper chest more but requires you to use lighter weights.
How to perform exercise:
- Hold a single light dumbbell at your side
- Raise dumbbell up and across the chest
- Lower dumbbell back to your side slowly
NOTE: Ensure that you get the dumbbell across your chest, so you get adduction of the chest, just like you would in a cable crossover.
You can use a single dumbbell at a time to get that adduction therefore a greater activation of the chest.
Exercise 5: Underhand grip DB Floor press
The Underhand Grip DB Floor Press is a great exercise to target the upper chest again. By using an underhand grip, you also put less pressure on your shoulders, so if you have any shoulder pain when doing incline bench press, this is an alternative you can try.
How to perform exercise:
- Lie on the floor holding dumbbells with an underhand grip and position the dumbbells just next to your lower chest
- Keep chest out and shoulder blades retracted and push dumbbells straight up
- Lower dumbbells slowly until elbows touch the ground
Just like the DB Floor Press, the downside of this exercise is that the range of motion is limited as your elbows cannot extend back behind the body.
Exercise 6: Dips
Just because you have dumbbells doesn’t mean you should only use them. Bodyweight exercises at the end of your workout can be used as a burnout or finisher and dips are a great way to do that.
You’re probably wondering how you can do dips at home but don’t worry, we got you covered.
All you need is two chairs or two tables next to each other and make sure the chairs are of a high enough height. You can bend your knees if chairs or table is not high enough.
How to perform exercise:
- Place each hand on each chair or table and push yourself off the ground
- Lean your torso slightly forward and keep chest up and out with your shoulder back
- Lower yourself down slowly and push yourself back to original position
NOTE: Ensure your torso is slightly forward and chest is up and out to target the lower chest more effectively.
If you want to make it more challenging, place a dumbbell in a backpack and wear it when performing the dip.
Exercise 7: Push ups
Push ups are one of the foundational exercises for the chest and can also be used as a burnout at the end of a workout.
If you find regular push ups easy, you can always make it more challenging by doing weighted push ups by adding some weight to a backpack and wear it when performing the exercise.
Chest Workout
Below are two workouts, Workout A and Workout B. You can use these workouts interchangeably or you can stick to the one you prefer.
Workout A
- DB Floor Press (Mid Chest) – 3 sets 8-10
- DB Floor Fly (Mid Chest) – 3 sets 10-12
- UCV Raise (Upper Chest) – 3 sets 12-15
- Dips (Lower Chest) – 3 sets to Failure
Workout B
- DB Floor Press (Mid Chest) – 3 sets 10-12
- Underhand Grip DB Floor Press (Upper Chest) – 3 sets 8-10
- DB Hex Press (Mid chest) – 3 sets 8-10
- Push ups (Mid chest) – 3 sets to Failure
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