If you have dumbbells and want to work your chest but you don’t have a bench? Then in this article we have gathered a total 14 dumbbell chest exercises that you can do at home without a bench.
It may surprise you but in some cases dumbbell chest exercises without a bench can actually be better than doing them with a bench. So, if you’re a person who loves exercising at home with only dumbbells and want to build chest muscles and strength.
Then, read the article till the end to know no bench dumbbell chest exercises and step-by-step instructions with video.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Dumbbell Chest Exercises
The dumbbell chest exercises give you many benefits that you will aren’t get doing barbell chest exercises. Dumbbells can help you to build stronger and bigger chest muscles while reducing risk of injury.
Here are some main benefits of dumbbell chest exercises:
- Targets the pectoral muscles: performing chest exercises with dumbbells can make your chest muscles work harder because they have to constantly keep the weight under control.
- Puts less stress on joints: dumbbells allow your elbows, shoulders and wrists to move in a path, and they don’t lock the joints into moving in a particular path.
- Develops strength: dumbbell chest exercises improve your strength, and performing dumbbell exercises will immediately let you know if one side of your body is weaker or stronger than the other side.
- Wider Range of Motion: dumbbell exercises allow you to move them through a greater range of motion compared with other exercises like barbell.
- Less space and equipment: to perform dumbbell chest exercises, you don’t need to have larger space and bulky equipment like a bench or barbell. So, these exercises are perfect for those who want to workout at home.
Can I Do Chest Exercises Without a Bench?
The short answer is YES, you can do chest exercises without a bench. You can do bodyweight exercises (various push-ups) or dumbbell exercises without a bench. You can also get an intense workout out by performing chest exercises with resistance bands where there is no need of bench to complete.
Sometimes it can be more beneficial to do chest exercises without a bench just using dumbbells and the floor. which can reduce the risk of injury as you limit the stress on your shoulders.
14 Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises – No Bench Needed
If you’ve found yourself in the situation where you don’t have a bench and you have dumbbells. You can still do plenty of dumbbell chest exercises without a bench at home. Below are 14 of the best dumbbell exercises you can do at home without a bench, and for all levels.
01. Dumbbell Floor Press
How to perform:
- Lie on the floor on your back with your knees bent to 90-degree and your feet flat on the floor.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip. Hold them at your sides to a level of your chest. That’s your starting position.
- Now, press the weight upward so both the dumbbells meet at the top.
- Keep your core tight throughout the movement and squeeze your chest.
- Pause for a second and then lower the weight back to the starting position. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
02. Close Grip Dumbbell Floor Press
How to perform:
- First, lie on your back on the floor, and bend your knees with feet firmly planted on the floor.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip.
- Bend your elbows and hold the weight above your chest, palms are facing each other. That’s your starting position.
- Now, press the dumbbells upwards directly over your chest until your arms are fully extended, while contracting your chest muscles.
- Hold the position for a second, and then lower the weight back to the start in a controlled manner. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps. Take 60-90 seconds rest between the sets.
03. Dumbbell Floor Fly
How to perform:
- Lie on your back on the floor, and bend your knees with your feet firmly planted on the floor.
- Grab a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing upward.
- Extend your arms out to sides so your triceps resting on the floor, bend your elbows and hold the weight at your chest level. That’s your starting position.
- Now, raise your arms upwards over your chest so your palms are facing each other.
- Pause the movement for a second, and then lower the weight back to start in a controlled manner. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 12 reps.
- Keep your core engaged and maintain a slight bend in your elbows throughout the movement.
04. Dumbbell Floor Hammer Press
How to perform:
- Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent, and your feet flat on the floor.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip.
- Hold the weights directly over your elbows, with your elbows tucked to your sides bent at 90-degrees. That’s your starting position.
- Contract your chest muscles, press the dumbbells up until your arms are fully extended.
- Pause the movement for a second and then slowly return back to the starting position. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 14 reps.
05. Dumbbell Single Arm Floor Fly
How to perform:
- Lie down on your back on the floor with your legs fully extended out.
- Grab a dumbbell in hand with a neutral grip.
- Now, start with your active arm out perpendicular with your triceps against the floor, and elbow slightly bent. Keep your inactive arm out to your side.
- Contract your chest muscle, bring the dumbbell up until the dumbbell is directly above your shoulder.
- Pause, and slowly return back to the starting position.
- Do 2 sets each side of 10 to 14 reps.
06. Dumbbell Decline Floor Press
How to perform:
- Lie down on your back on the floor with your knees bent and feet firmly on the floor.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand and hold it to a chest level with palms facing forward.
- Lift your hips off the floor so your torso is elevated, and keep your back straight. That’s your starting position.
- Contract your chest muscles, press the dumbbells up until your arms are fully extended over your chest.
- Pause, and lower the weight back to the starting position.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 12reps.
07. Dumbbell One-Arm Floor Press
How to perform:
- Lie down on your back on the floor with your knees bent, and feet flat on the ground.
- Grab a dumbbell in hand using an overhand grip.
- Start with your perpendicular with triceps against the floor and elbows bent at 90-degrees.
- Keep your inactive arm straight to your side. Press the dumbbell up until your arm is fully extended.
- Pause, and lower the dumbbell back to start. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets each side of 10 to 12 reps.
08. Standing Dumbbell Upward Fly
How to perform:
- Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold a dumbbell in each hand at your sides with your palms facing inward.
- Raise your arms upwards by contracting your chest muscles until your arms reach above your chest height and palms are facing upward.
- Hold the position for a second and then lower the weight back to the starting position with controlled manner. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps.
09. Standing Dumbbell Svend Chest Press
How to perform:
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart.
- Hold a dumbbell with both hands clasped around it so that the weight is vertical.
- Keep the dumbbell at your chest height and press your hands together as hard as you can.
- Now, press the dumbbell upward and inward slowly until your arms are fully extended in front of you and elbows are locked.
- Pause the movement for a second and then, slowly return back to the starting position.
- Do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 14 reps, and take 60-90 seconds of rest between the sets.
10. Close Grip Dumbbell Front Raises
How to perform:
- Stand straight in the normal stance, hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip and keep your arms straight in front of your hips with palms facing each other.
- Contract your chest muscles, raise the dumbbells together up until your arms reach your chest height.
- Pause the position for a second and then lower the weight back to the starting position. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps.
11. Dumbbell Standard Push-Ups
How to perform:
- Holding a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip, get into a push up position with your hands shoulder-width apart, elbows at your sides.
- Keep your core tight and your back flat, lower your chest towards the floor as low as possible, contracting your pecs.
- Pause at the bottom and then slowly push yourself up back to the starting position.
- Do 4 sets of 08 to 10 reps, and take 60-seconds rest in-between the sets.
12. Dumbbell Chest Fly on Exercise Ball
How to perform:
- First, sit down on an exercise ball holding a dumbbell in each hand using a neutral grip.
- Then, roll down on the ball so that your back is against the ball keeping your torso parallel to the floor and your feet planted on the floor.
- Hold the dumbbell above your chest with arms slightly bent, elbows are pointed out.
- Then, slowly lower the weight to your sides until they’re at shoulder level.
- Pause, and contracting your chest, bring your dumbbells back to the starting position.
- Do 3 sets of 8 to 14 reps.
13. Dumbbell Pullover on Stability Ball
How to perform:
- First, adjust the exercise ball and hold a dumbbell with both hands, sit down on an exercise ball.
- Roll down on the ball and out so that the ball is against your back with your head extending off of the ball. Your feet planted on the floor in a wide stance.
- Hold the weight straight on your chest and bring the dumbbell straight over your chest with your arms slightly bent.
- Slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head until your elbows are level with your ears (you feel a stretch in your latissimus dorsi).
- Hold the position for a second, and then bring the dumbbell back to the starting position. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 14 reps.
14. Dumbbell Incline Press on Stability Ball
How to perform:
- First, sit down on an exercise ball holding a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip.
- Lower your butt down and out until your body is at 45-degree angle and your back is against the ball. Knees bent and feet flat on the floor in front of you.
- Hold the dumbbell out to your side with your elbows bent at 90-degrees. That’s your starting position.
- Now, press the dumbbells directly up until your arms are fully extended.
- Pause, and then lower the weight back to the starting position. That’s one rep.
- Do 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps.
Dumbbell Chest Workout Without a Bench at Home
You have already seen the plantly of dumbbell chest exercises that you can do without a bench at home. Now you can create an effective chest workout routine on your own.
However, below is an effective chest workout routine you can perform without a bench at home
| Exercises | Sets & Reps |
| Dumbbell Floor Press | 3 sets of 10 to 12 reps |
| Dumbbell Single Arm Floor Fly | 2 sets each side of 10 to 14 reps |
| Standing Dumbbell Upward Fly | 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps |
| Close Grip Dumbbell Front Raise | 3 sets of 10 to 14 reps |
| Dumbbell Chest Fly on Exercise Ball | 3 sets of 8 to 14 reps |
| Dumbbell Standard Push-Ups | 4 sets of 08 to 10 reps |
How Can I Target My Upper Chest Without a Bench?
If you want to target your upper chest, then you can perform exercises that have close grip or you can also bring your hands in when doing push-ups or variations of push-ups.
Also, you can do dumbbell chest exercises using a stability ball as support against your upper back with your torso at 45-degree, you can perform chest presses or flys.
Conclusion
Of course, you don’t need a bench to do an effective chest workout. The above dumbbell chest exercises are enough to build a stronger and bigger chest. You can replicate the bench by using the floor or a stability ball.
So, choose any four to five exercises and create your own chest workout routine, you can perform at home without a bench. Also, remember to warm up before starting any workouts.
Hopefully you like this article, if you have any questions and suggestions kindly put them in the comment box below.
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