So you’re working out at home, and you need a chest workout using dumbbells that you can do without a bench.
No problem.
In this article, I’m going to show you the most effective way to design a chest workout at home using dumbbells.
We’ll go over the anatomy of the chest so we can be sure we’re working your chest muscles as efficiently as possible.
Then, I’m going to give you a simple chest workout you can do at home with minimal equipment.
But before we start, let me warn you..
Just because you don’t need a lot of equipment for this workout does NOT mean it’s not effective!
This workout will give you a ridiculous chest pump, and have you heading to the mirror trying to make your chest dance like Terry Crews.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
What you’ll need
Besides a set of dumbbells, you’re also going to need a set of bands for this workout.
If you’re working out from home, a set of bands are a must have. They are cheap and allow you to do a ton of different exercises.
Don’t have bands?
Get some.
Sorry for the tough love, but if you’re working out from home you really need to have a set of bands.
Here are some other things that you don’t need for this workout, but will make it just a bit better:
-
- Perfect push-up handles are handles that rotate and allow you to get a deeper stretch on push-ups. That extra stretch can help you grow your chest even better than regular push-ups. The rotation allows you to find a position that feels comfortable on your shoulders.
- Fat Gripz are grips that can go on dumbbells, barbells or bands and make the grip thicker. The extra thick grip is going to activate your forearm muscles more than a regular grip and help improve your grip strength. For the ultimate chest workout at home using dumbbells, the Fat Gripz can be used as handles for your bands (which you’ll see in just a minute).
- Door band anchors are great if you don’t have a place to anchor your bands. They are extremely cheap and they can turn your doorway into a (safe) place to attach bands.
*I don’t have any affiliation with these companies. I just use their products with my clients and genuinely like them!
Chest anatomy
To understand what exercises we need to be doing to build our chest at home, first we have to understand the anatomy of the chest muscles and what they do.
Your chest is actually made up of two muscles; the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor (also known as the pec major and pec minor, for short).
The pec minor sits underneath the pec major and its main function is to bring your shoulders down and forward. Think about doing the reverse of a shrug, and that’s what the pec minor does.
Your pec major is a much bigger muscle, with 3 distinct heads:
-
- The clavicular head, or your “upper chest”, is the topmost region of your pec major. It originates on your clavicle.
- The sternal head is the biggest head of your pecs, and originates on the sternum.
- The abdominal head is the lowest region of your pec major. There’s actually some debate as to whether or not this is really a region of your pec major. In some people this region is more defined than others, but you can still bias this lower region with certain exercises.
Together, these three heads act to flex, adduct and internally rotate the humerus, or your upper arm bone.
Pressing motions, like dumbbell presses and push-ups, mainly involve adduction and flexion of the humerus, which make them excellent choices to work both the pec minor and major. That’s why the chest workout I’ve written out for you is going to be based around pressing exercises.
Depending on the position of your arms during these exercises, you can bias the different muscles and regions of your chest muscles effectively.
The best exercises for a chest workout at home using dumbbells
Now that we know what our chest muscles are, we can choose the best exercises for our chest workout at home using dumbbells!
Banded dumbbell floor press
The first exercise in our chest workout is a banded floor press.
Because your arms are going straight out in front of you, this exercise is going to work the sternal region of your pecs the most.
Adding the band helps create tension on your pec muscles during the entire exercise. Normally when you do a dumbbell pressing movement, there isn’t much tension on your muscles at the top of the movement. Your pec muscles have to work the hardest at the bottom of the exercise. When you use bands, your pecs get some love at the top of the movement as well.
Using the band also allows you to get a great chest workout if you don’t have dumbbells that are very heavy. Odds are if you’re working out at home, you’ll eventually run out of weights to press with. Adding bands gives you more tension on your muscles with less overall weight.
You’ll also be doing a drop-set here on your last set, where you’ll take the band off the dumbbells and do as many reps as you can with just the dumbbells.
Decline push-ups
The next exercise in our chest workout is the decline push-up.
Because of the angle of our arms, we’re going to be working more of the clavicular region of the pecs.
You’re going to do 3 sets of as many reps as you can here, with a slow lowering and a slight pause at the bottom.
Elevate your feet on a couch, your bed, or any box you have at home around knee height.
Using handles like the Perfect Push-up Handles is a great way to increase the stretch at the bottom of the push-up, which will help you build more muscle.
Band high-to-low chest press
The last exercise we’re going to do is the band high-to-low chest press.
Because our arms are angled down, now we’re going to be working the lowest region of our pecs, or the abdominal region.
We’re also going to get more pec minor activation here, because at the bottom of the movement you’re doing a sort of reverse shrug to contract your chest.
You want to choose bands that you can do between 15 and 20 reps with, but no more!
If you want to make this exercise just a bit more effective, you can add Fat Gripz here to make handles for your bands.
The “Benchless Chest Builder” workout
1. Banded dumbbell floor press
3 sets of 8-10 reps (on the 3rd set, remove the band and perform as many reps as possible without the band!)
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3 sets of as many reps as possible! Perform each rep with a 3 second lowering and a 2 second pause at the bottom!
*Rest 2-3 minutes between sets
3. Banded high-to-low chest press
Perform 100 total reps in as few sets as possible!
*Rest as needed
Want 50 more FREE workouts?
Clink the link below and I’ll send you my Strength Training Blueprint, completely free.
Wrapping Up
Ladies and gentlemen, that is the ultimate chest workout at home with dumbbells as far as I’m concerned!
When you do this workout, you’ll be hitting all the muscles in your chest and targeting the different regions of your pec muscles.
Give this workout a try the next time you need a chest workout at home using dumbbells.
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below!