Effective Upper Chest Workout With Dumbbells: Get a Chiseled Upper Chest

Who doesn’t like a chiseled upper chest popping out of your t-shirt and instantly giving you an athletic look?

Every bodybuilder will agree that having a muscular upper chest is one of the most prominent features for helping you achieve a jaw-dropping physique.

However, most bodybuilders complain about their upper chest gains being plateaued. No doubt, growing a chest is tough work and it’s made harder if you are performing the wrong upper chest exercises.

If you are looking for an easy way to train your upper chest and maximize the gains in less time then dumbbell chest workouts have got your back.

Most professional bodybuilders have argued on the fact of using dumbbells especially for training the upper body. Practically, it’s easier to maintain a mind-muscle connection when doing upper chest exercises with dumbbells.

Most beginners to intermediate bodybuilders do a common mistake of training their middle chest a bit too often.

On a chest day, you see that people are more likely to start training from a flat bench or dumbbell press. Training the middle chest has become a benchmark in chest workouts.

But, you should know that it’s only possible to get a 3D-defined look of your chest when you equally train the upper, middle, and lower portions.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that your upper chest needs a bit more focus as compared to those middle pecs. Overtraining your middle chest results in unequal development and eventually starts to give a man-boobs appearance.

We know that you wouldn’t want to grow man-boobs just because of some common training mistakes so we bring you the best upper chest workout with dumbbells.

The overall aim of your workout while training any muscle of the body is to achieve hypertrophy. While training a muscle, you break the micro muscle fibers this is known as the hypertrophic state.

They are later recovered during the rest period through proper nutrition. And, when those muscle fibers develop again, they grow bigger than before.

If you are limiting your chest workout to only bench presses or cable flyes then we are afraid to tell you that your chest fibers are not achieving a hypertrophic state due to limited range of motion.

A dumbbell chest workout makes it impossible for you to take support from your stronger arm while lifting the weight.

Whereas while lifting a barbell, most of the time we make compensating movements by taking support from our stronger side.

This is one of the major reasons why most bodybuilders have imbalanced chest muscles. Through consistent dumbbell chest training, you can achieve an overall balance in your chest.

A dumbbell chest workout provides increased benefits for the effective development of your upper body including the shoulders and arms.

Performing a bench press with a barbell is not so bad. When the bar hits your chest, you achieve a good stretch in your pectoral muscles.

But, what’s the benefit of doing chest presses with dumbbells is that you can lower the weights past your chest level. So, you maximally stretch the pecs and hit more muscle fibers.

If your goal is to achieve an athletic body in less time then a dumbbell chest workout is an optimal path for you.

As discussed before, while lifting a barbell you are more likely to take support from your stronger side while favoring the weaker one. This would eventually put more stress on the stronger side causing the joints to be strained.

When training with dumbbells, your wrists are free to rotate, your elbows and shoulders move along the direction that is comfortable for them.

Dumbbells make sure to put the stress of exercise right where it belongs - in your muscles, and not the joints.

If you ever do incline bench-press with a pair of dumbbells then you will feel the contraction in your upper pecs at the top of the movement. Your chest muscles have to put extra effort to control the dumbbells from drifting outward.

But, this is not the case with a barbell. We are not saying that doing a barbell bench press is ineffective. However, lifting dumbbells can be a little more beneficial for developing the upper chest.

So, without taking any more of your time let's step in to have a look at the best dumbbell chest exercises that can create an effective chest workout.

The incline dumbbell fly is a highly effective exercise to target the upper pecs. It’s not only a great way to train your upper chest but it plays an important role in improving the overall chest development.

The dumbbell chest fly is beneficial in opening up your chest muscles. The chest opener exercises are very helpful in preventing back injury and reducing any tightness in the upper body.

• For lifting heavy, first, place the dumbbells on your thighs, and push them upwards when you want to lift the dumbbell.
• Don’t lift extra heavy weights unless you want to face a shoulder strain.
• Squeeze your chest at the top. And, make sure that you don’t touch the dumbbells at the top.

• Start by setting the bench at an incline 45-degrees position.
• Now sit on the bench with a dumbbell in each hand, they would be resting on your thighs.
• Stick your back with the bench and lift the dumbbells positioning them at your shoulders.
• Lift the dumbbells and bring them above your chest level, your elbows will be bent and palms facing each other.
• Lower the dumbbells bringing them to your chest level.
• Lift them back again bringing them in front of your chest.

This is one of those chest exercises which are performed and recommended by every professional bodybuilder.

The dumbbell incline press significantly targets the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. This area of the chest remains almost unengaged during various other chest exercises for example flat dumbbell or bench press.

Moreover, The dumbbell incline press naturally replicates to various types of pushing motions like opening a door, putting household things on an elevated shelf, and many other daily life activities.

So, performing an incline dumbbell press will help to do all these tasks with much more efficiency and ease.

• Try to lift heavy while performing this exercise, you should be struggling for the last rep.
• Get the help of a spotter so you can lift heavy weight without needing compensating movements.
• Don’t lock your wrists and maintain a neutral wrist position.
• It’s better to incorporate a superset of incline dumbbell fly or bench press with this exercise.

• Start by setting the bench at an incline 45-degrees position.
• Sit on the bench holding a dumbbell in each hand. The dumbbells will be resting on your thighs, push your legs upward to help with lifting the dumbbell.
• Now, the dumbbells will be close to your shoulders.
• Push the dumbbells straight upwards in front of your chest.
• As you reach the top position, squeeze your muscles after reaching the top position.
• Now, lower the dumbbells by bending your elbows and bringing them close to your shoulders.
• Repeat the movement.

The incline dumbbell pullover is the finest exercise engaging your overall chest muscles and especially the upper pectoral muscle fibers.

Other than this the incline dumbbell pullover is highly beneficial for flexibility as you stretch your shoulders, arms, chest, and back muscles at once.

And, that’s not all. This exercise greatly benefits the development of your abs and lats.

• Don’t try to lift an extra heavyweight because losing control of the dumbbell could result in serious injury.
• Imagine as if you are pulling the dumbbell towards your chest, not lifting it upwards.

• Start by setting your bench to an incline 45-degrees angle.
• For this exercise, you will only be needing a single dumbbell. Grab it with both hands.
• Either your palms should be facing upwards or you can grab the dumbbell with a hammer grip.
• Lie with your back on the bench.
• Drop the dumbbells by extending your arms behind your head, keep lowering the dumbbell until the dumbbell is in line with your head.
• Now, pull the dumbbell towards your chest until it’s in front of your chest.
• Keep the dumbbell in this position for a moment and squeeze your muscles.

At the end of every set, you can do a superset of a single dumbbell bench close bench press. This does some extra work for helping you achieve better muscle hypertrophy and grow your muscles efficiently.

• As you finish your set of incline dumbbell pullovers, don’t put your dumbbell down.
• Bring the dumbbell in front of your clavicular section and lower it till it’s about to touch your chest.
• Now, pull it back up. Squeeze your muscles at the top position.
• Repeat this movement.

The dumbbell crossover is an alternative to cable crossover. This is a great exercise because it stretches the upper pecs just from the starting position.

This exercise is beneficial for targeting the inner portion of your upper chest which is only engaged lightly during other types of upper chest dumbbell exercises.

This is known as an isolating exercise for especially targeting that inner portion of your upper chest. If you are struggling to get that coveted line in your chest to flaunt your v-neck shirt then you must try this exercise.

• Use light weights as you can’t lift heavyweights in this movement.
• Especially focus on maintaining a mind-muscle connection for this exercise otherwise you will just put all the stress on your shoulders and arms.
• Remember to maintain a smooth and slow movement for this exercise throughout.

• Stand hip-width apart with a dumbbell in each hand.
• Your palms should be inward and face each other.
• Lift both dumbbells and bring them in front of your clavicular region.
• Pause for a second and squeeze your muscles.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.

If you want to try something new for training the inner position of the upper chest then you can try these variations of dumbbell cross:

• Perform the same movement with only one dumbbell at a time.
• You can also do this exercise by kneeling on the floor. It will stop you from taking any lower-body compensating movements.

If you are not a fan of lifting extra heavyweights but still want optimal muscle activation then this exercise is for you.

Pushing the dumbbells together greatly increases muscle activation as compared to lifting when they are at a distance from each other.

The dumbbell close grip press is gentle on your shoulders. So, if you are suffering from stiff shoulders or pain then this exercise can save your day.

• Use hexagonal-shaped dumbbells for doing this exercise as they will be easy to hold together.
• Use a little lighter dumbbells than you would use for a dumbbell press.

• Start by setting your bench to an incline 45-degree angle.
• Hold the dumbbells together in front of your clavicular section.
• Lift them by extending your elbows.
• Pause for a second at the top position and release your breath.
• Lower them by bending your elbows.
• Repeat this movement.