Building a stronger, more powerful upper body doesn’t require a warehouse full of weightlifting contraptions. In fact, you can train all of your upper-body muscles, including your shoulders, back, chest, and arms, with nothing more than a bench and some dumbbells. To get the most out of your upper-body dumbbell workouts, though, you need to do the right exercises in the right way, use the right amount of weight, and do the right number of sets and reps. And if you organize your exercises into an upper-body dumbbell circuit, you’ll finish your workouts faster, too. In this article, you’ll learn all of that and more.
Equipment for a Full Upper-Body Dumbbell WorkoutTo do all of the exercises in this upper-body dumbbell workout you’ll need . . .
If you’re working out from home you probably don’t have a full rack of dumbbells at your disposal. In this case, the best solution is a set of adjustable dumbbells, or two or three pairs of dumbbells of varying weights. If you aren’t sure what weights to use, a good starting place for most people is a pair of 10 lb, 30 lb, and 50 lb dumbbells.
You can do this upper body workout at home with weights using a flat bench, but if you want extra back support while doing overhead pressing exercises, it’s best to use an adjustable bench. Want a free custom meal planning tool?Quickly calculate your calories, macros, and even micros for losing fat and building muscle. ![]() Sending... Your free stuff is on the way! Looks like you're already subscribed! Warming Up for an Upper-Body Dumbbell WorkoutDoing a thorough warm up before your first exercise in each workout accomplishes several things:
When you do an upper-body dumbbell workout, you don’t need to warm up before every exercise. Instead, a thorough warm up before your first exercise in each workout should adequately prepare you for the rest of your workout. Here’s the protocol you want to follow before your first exercise of the workout:
Then, do all of your hard sets for your first exercise, and then the rest of the exercises for that workout (you only need to warm-up for your first exercise). How to Do This Workout as an Upper-Body Dumbbell CircuitTo make your upper body dumbbell workouts more time-efficient without compromising performance, turn your workout into an upper-body dumbbell circuit by alternating between exercises that train different muscle groups (a technique known as “supersetting”). My favorite way to implement supersets is to use antagonist paired sets, which involves alternating between two exercises that train different muscle groups and resting shorter than normal between sets than regular supersets (so you can get out of the gym faster). Basically, instead of doing your entire workout as a circuit (rotating between every exercise with little to no rest in between until finishing all of your sets), you do several mini circuits, alternating between just two exercises at a time and resting longer between sets. For example, you could do a set of dumbbell bench press (which trains your chest, shoulders, and triceps), rest a minute or so, and then do a set of one-arm dumbbell rows (which train your back and the biceps), and rest another minute. You’d keep alternating between the two exercises until you finish all of your sets for both. This allows you to use the sets for one exercise as rest periods for another (your “dumbbell bench press muscles” are resting while your “dumbbell row muscles” are working, and vice versa). As a result, you don’t have to rest as long in between sets, which helps you finish your workouts faster without compromising your strength. In this upper-body dumbbell circuit, the paired exercises are marked “A” and “B.” Do exercise “A,” rest for the given time, then do exercise “B” and rest for the given time. Repeat this process until you’ve done all the sets for that pair of exercises, then move on to the next pair of exercises and repeat the process. The Best Full Upper-Body Workout with Only DumbbellsBefore you learn how to do the individual exercises, take a look at the whole workout so you know what to expect: 1A. Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest 1B. One-Arm Dumbbell Row: 3 sets of 4-to-6 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest 2A. Arnold Press: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest 2B. Dumbbell Pullover: 3 sets of 8-to-10 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest 3A. Biceps Curl: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest 3B. Overhead Triceps Extension: 3 sets of 10-to-12 reps with 60-to-90 sec rest Now let’s get into the nitty gritty . . . 1. Dumbbell Bench PressThe dumbbell bench press is one of the single best exercises for building almost every major muscle in your upper body, including your pecs, triceps, and deltoids. How to:
2. One-Arm Dumbbell RowThe main benefits of the one-arm dumbbell row are that it trains each side of your body independently and that you use a bench for support. This means you can lift more weight per side than you can when you do barbell rows, leading to more progressive overload (and gains!). How to:
3. Arnold PressMost overhead pressing exercises emphasize the anterior deltoid (front part of the shoulder), but because of the way you rotate your wrists in the Arnold press, you shift the emphasis to the side delts, ensuring you develop proportional shoulders. How to:
4. Dumbbell PulloverThe dumbbell pullover is unique in that it trains both your lats and pecs simultaneously. It also trains your muscles through a full range of motion and in a stretched position, which increases muscle growth. How to:
5. Alternating Dumbbell CurlAlternating dumbbell curls allow you to train each arm independently, which helps prevent one arm from getting bigger or stronger than the other. How to:
6. Overhead Triceps ExtensionAs the name implies, the dumbbell overhead triceps extension positions the arms overhead, which trains the triceps in a different way than most other pressing exercises. Specifically, it fully stretches the long head of the triceps, which research shows likely leads to more muscle growth. How to:
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