Find out how to pump up your pectoral muscles with dumbbells! Everything to create really big and strong breasts: effective training, advice on nutrition and sports supplements from a professional!
There is no secret to how to pump up your chest muscles with dumbbells from all sides. A professional trainer will show you how to create great pectoral muscles - in the gym, in the kitchen and with the help of sports nutrition.
Why dumbbells? This is a universal sports equipment available to men and women in any conditions. Unfortunately, much of the equipment in modern gyms is redundant and can interfere with the requirements of a balanced exercise regimen. It’s hard to say what the reason is – the difficulty of access, the high price of equipment or the incompetent selection of simulators. As a result, the quality of exercise performance decreases.
The simulator needs to be adjusted to suit you every lesson, you need to get used to the technique of working with a barbell, and good old dumbbells will never let you down! If you know how to pump up your pectoral muscles with dumbbells, you won’t want to change your training program for a long time.
How to pump up your chest with dumbbells - basic training
Dumbbell Bench Press
- 4 sets of 12 reps
- Body part: Chest Equipment: Dumbbells
Incline Dumbbell Press
- 4 sets of 12 reps
- Body part: Chest Equipment: Dumbbells
Lifting hands with dumbbells while lying down
- 4 sets of 12 reps
- Body part: Chest Equipment: Dumbbells
Pullover with dumbbell
- 4 sets of 12 reps
- Body part: Chest Equipment: Dumbbells
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It is recommended to perform this chest training program 2 times a week, dividing the workouts by chest sections: separately for the top, separately for the middle and bottom of the pectoral muscles. The upper part of the chest muscles is more difficult to develop, so it is important to pay more attention to it and train it on a separate day. For example, you devote Monday to the top and center of the chest, and Thursday to the lower and middle parts. The training duration will be no more than 40 minutes.
Now let's move on to an analysis of each exercise and additional training options.
Features of pumping the pectoral muscles
To pump up your pectoral muscles means increasing their size, not just strength. To do this you need to train in a certain way. Remember that at home you will not be able to achieve special results without a barbell and racks for it. You can get by with just dumbbells up to a certain point.
Your muscles will then need more work than dumbbells can provide. To do this you will need to perform a bench press. If there is no barbell, we will do dumbbell presses (which, in fact, is what this article is about).
When bench pressing dumbbells, you can take much more weight than when doing flyes. This is very good for muscles!
In order to pump up the pectoral muscle, we will exercise 2 times a week. You need to do 1-2 warm-up sets of 10 reps and 2-4 working sets of 8-10 reps.
If you decide to work “to failure” (this is the most effective method, but it doesn’t always work with dumbbells - the wrong weights), then do 8 repetitions. The last 2 repetitions should be given with great difficulty (by the way, this is a reason to call a partner for insurance).
Exercises with dumbbells for chest muscles
You've probably noticed that most bodybuilders' attention is focused on the effective bench press. Although the bench press is one of the most common exercises in strength training, it is debatable whether it is considered the best movement for the chest. Instead of the classic bench press, it is better to use a varied load on the chest muscles, targeting different parts of it.
The dumbbell bench press additionally engages the core stabilizer muscles and loads the arms more intensely.
Dumbbell Bench Press
Make sure the dumbbells are at the sides of your chest, your shoulders and forearms are bent at right angles, and you have full control of the exercise. At the extreme point of the movement, the arms should be slightly bent at the elbows.
It is better to increase the load without cheating, since it reduces the effect of the workout. Tighten your muscles and then lower the weight half as fast as you lifted it. Pause at the bottom of the lift before quickly lifting the weight.
Additionally, it is advisable to include in the complex a variety of dumbbell presses lying on an inclined bench upside down and dumbbell presses lying on an inclined bench. These exercises will create additional impact on the upper and lower chest.
Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline dumbbell press upside down
The best additional exercise for the chest is rightfully the lying dumbbell fly, in slang “fly” or dumbbell fly. Due to the different angles of the bench, this exercise can pump up all areas of the pectoral muscles. By working even with light weights after the main series, you will quickly notice progress and new feelings of strength.
Reduction of hands with dumbbells while lying down (“Fly”). This exercise is also important in pumping up the chest and can be performed on both a horizontal and an inclined bench.
Dumbbell curls lying on an incline bench
Correctly performed technique allows you to simultaneously load the chest and stretch it in the negative phase of the exercise.
The arms should move in a wide arc until the pectoral muscles are fully stretched, but not below shoulder level, so as not to injure the front part of the shoulder.
As in the previous version of the movement, you can perform dumbbell flyes either lying at an angle of 30-45 degrees or upside down.
Lifting hands with dumbbells while lying down
Pullover. This exercise is also an excellent final movement for the main part of the workout due to its characteristics similar to the fly.
Pullover with dumbbell
Your arms should be bent at the elbows throughout the exercise and move in a wide arc until the pectoral muscles are fully stretched, but not below shoulder level, so as not to injure the front part of the deltoids. Return to the starting position along the same path.
Dumbbells or barbell: choose
Anyone who trains to increase muscle mass in the chest area can be divided into two categories: fans of dumbbells and barbells. The latter is an effective tool, but, as I mentioned above, dumbbells have one significant advantage - increasing the range of motion. Consequently, the result will be more obvious.
In addition to this factor, there are many others. For example:
- accessibility – you can exercise with dumbbells not only in the gym, but also at home and it does not require any special expenses;
- training with a barbell requires knowledge of a special technique, and dumbbells are much simpler in this regard;
- the barbell mainly takes part in pumping up the arms, since many people have stronger arms and shoulders than the chest - in this case, there is no benefit from the barbell and dumbbells will be an excellent alternative;
- if one of your pectoral muscles is better developed than the other (often the right one), then dumbbells provide an opportunity to correct the asymmetry;
- freedom of movement in all directions.
How to pump up your upper chest with dumbbells
To properly pump up your chest – and it doesn’t matter whether you use dumbbells or a barbell – you must realize that the division of the chest muscles into upper, middle and lower parts is quite arbitrary. In fact, the pectoral muscle group consists of just one muscle with two parts: the sternocostal muscle and the clavicular muscle.
The chest is a large muscle group, and it is recommended to set aside a separate day for training it. For example, you can train it first, combining it with working on small muscle groups, like biceps or triceps. The combination of chest and back training with supersets in one complex is also popular.
In addition to the basic one, we offer training to work the lower part of the pectoral muscles.
