Building up your chest muscles will certainly make you look bigger with more energy generating from your upper body to do heavier lifts. For those who are interested in developing their chest muscles using dumbbells, here are some exercises that can help you tone, tighten, and strengthen your pectoral muscles in no time.
- Bench press using neutral grip. Lie down while holding two dumbbells along the body. Your palms should be facing one another. Raise the weights up until your elbows are almost locking. Hold this pose for a few seconds before lowering the dumbbells back down slowly. Make sure that you exhale when lifting the weights and inhale as you lower them back down.
- Incline bench press. Lie down on an incline bench with your dumbbells lifted at the height of your chest. Your palms should be facing forward. On exhale, raise your arms upward until your elbows are almost straight. Hold this pose for a few seconds before releasing. Inhale as you bring the weights down to first position. Repeat this exercise 10 times to complete one set.
- Lying fly. Lie back down on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and at the same height as your body. Your elbows should arch slightly. Raise the weights up until they are side by side. Hold this pose for a few seconds before bringing the dumbbells back down. It is important that you keep the same angle of the elbows as you go through the exercise.
- Crush-grip dumbbell press. For this chest workout, you will need to bring the two dumbbells together as you execute the press. Start by lying down on a bench with your dumbbells positioned above the chest. Your palms should be facing one another so that the dumbbells will be touching one another. Your arms should be in line with the shoulders and that your elbows are bent slightly. Squeeze chest to press dumbbells against one another as hard as you can manage. While keeping the “crush-grip” bring the dumbbells down at least an inch above your chest. Bring the weights back up and engage your chest muscles for a second at the top.
- Straight-arm pullover. In this workout, you will need to lie down while holding one dumbbell with both hands above your chest with arms extended. Bring the weight up until your arms are perpendicular to the ground then bring it back down after a few seconds. Make sure that your arms are extended as you lift the dumbbell up and down and that the angle of your elbows remains the same.
These are just a few chest exercises that you can do with your dumbbells at home or in the gym. Building up your chest muscles is possible with just this equipment as long as you introduce a variety of chest exercises to your routine. For sure, you will notice a significant improvement as you progress through various chest presses and dumbbell exercises in no time.
