A Simple and Effective Upper-Body Dumbbell Workout to Hit Your Arms, Back, and Chest
Anyone who’s into strength training (or looking to get started with it) needs a solid, go-to upper-body dumbbell workout. Sure, you can work lots of those muscles with just your bodyweight, but if your goal is to keep building strength and muscle, you’ll want to begin adding resistance.
Dumbbells are a great choice for external load because they’re typically easier to find and less expensive than other types of free weights, like kettlebells and barbells. The learning curve tends to be pretty simple with them, too, making them a solid choice for beginners.
So, once you’ve committed to dumbbells, what’s the best way to strengthen your upper body? You’ll want a routine filled with compound moves that hit all the major muscles there, including your lower and upper chest; upper, mid, and lower back, and the front, middle, and rear of your shoulders, certified personal trainer Francine Delgado-Lugo, CPT, movement and strength coach and cofounder of Form Fitness Brooklyn, tells SELF. For a really comprehensive workout, you’ll also want to include isolation exercises, too. These give attention to some of the smaller muscles, too, like your biceps, triceps, and forearms, she says.
In the upper-body dumbbell workout Delgado-Lugo created for SELF below, you’ll target all these areas. And you’ll focus primarily on two basic movement patterns to get it done: pushing and pulling.
With pushing exercises, you’ll work the front of your body, including your chest and shoulders, as well as your triceps, which assist that motion. On the other hand, pulling exercises target the back of your body, like your lats, lower traps, and rhomboids, while your biceps help it along. Basically, with this routine, no major muscle group in the upper body will be left untouched—meaning you’ll be building seriously balanced strength here.
The key to making this a really effective workout is to use a medium-to-heavy weight that feels challenging for the number of suggested reps, says Delgado-Lugo. “You’ll know you’ve gone heavy enough if you start to feel fatigued two to three reps before you complete your set,” she says. “If you can complete a full set comfortably or with minimal challenge, scale up.” By really challenging yourself, this makes for “a useful workout for anyone who is looking to build strength or add muscle,” Delgado-Lugo adds.
Another bonus: The upper-body exercises Delgado-Lugo chose are simple to execute—no moves with a lot of steps or confusing choreography here—and serve as the foundation for others you may want to try down the line, too. For instance, once you’ve got the dumbbell chest press down, you can think about a barbell bench press; after mastering a bent-over row, you can try a chest-supported variation. Of course, you don’t have to progress from these dumbbell exercises, either. One of the great things about this dumbbell workout is that you can keep doing it over and over again on upper-body days—simply add heavier weights as you go to continue seeing those gains.
Ready to get started? Do a quick warm-up to get your chest, shoulders, back, and arms loose, grab your dumbbells, and get ready to build some upper-body strength!
The Workout
What you need: Two sets of dumbbells, one heavier and one lighter, that feel medium-to-hard for your moves. You’ll use the heavier set for the exercises that target your bigger muscle groups (like the chest press, row, and press), and the lighter weights for moves that hit your smaller muscle groups (the skull crusher, biceps curl, lateral raise, and bent-over fly.)
Exercises
- Chest Press
- Skull Crusher
- Bent-Over Row
- Arnold Press
- Bent-Over Fly
- Alternating Biceps Curl
- Lateral to Front Raise
Directions
- Do 8-12 reps of each exercise.
- Try to move from one exercise to the next without resting. Take breaks if you feel like you can’t catch your breath or your form is slipping.
- After you’ve completed all seven exercises, rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then repeat the circuit. Complete 3 or 4 rounds total.
Demoing the moves below are Jo Murdock (GIF 1), a registered yoga instructor, dancer, and fitness instructor; Rachel Denis (GIFs 2, 7), a powerlifter who competes with USA Powerlifting; Tray Drew (GIF 3 and 5), MPH, owner/operator of Body By Tray and an ISSA-certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist; Francine Delgado-Lugo (GIF 4), cofounder of FORM Fitness Brooklyn who uses strength training to help people cultivate self-love and body confidence; and Cookie Janee (GIF 6), a registered nurse and background investigator and security forces specialist in the Air Force Reserve.