In case someone has told you that you cannot do the chest dumbbell exercises without bench, then the person is sadly mistaken. There are a number of dumbbell pectoral exercises which do not require a bench.
Do you prefer working out in the confines of your home, rather than go to the gym for a workout? Well then you are like me. I prefer to have my own timings and my own set of exercise schedule rather than have a trainer nagging at me. When I was designing my workout, I realized that I did not have exercises to work the pectoral muscles (chest muscles), which can easily be done at home. This is when a friend of mine recommended the use of dumbbell exercises to work the chest muscles.
The exercises she recommended needed a bench, but since I live in a small apartment, I did not want to add to the mess. This is what got me searching for pectoral dumbbell exercises without bench. Trust me, it was not as difficult to find the exercises as I had expected it to be.
Dumbbell Chest Exercises without Bench
Chest exercises using dumbbells are great for both men and women. There is an advantage of choosing to do the dumbbell exercises as opposed to the machine exercises. The dumbbell exercises reduce the risk of over use injuries. The change in posture after one workouts with dumbbells is for everyone to see. Without wasting any more time, we will now focus our attention on pectoral exercises with dumbbells, but without bench.
Dumbbell Reverse Flies
This exercise works not only works the pectoral muscles, but it also works the back muscles. Stand with a little more than shoulder width distance between your feet. Bend down from your waist, such that your back is parallel to the ceiling. Alternately you can also choose to sit on a chair to do the exercise. Hold dumbbells in both your hands, but ensure your hands are not locked. Bring the dumbbells closer to one another and then lift your hands out to the sides, till your forearms are parallel to the floor. In the whole process, your elbows should be bent. Gradually lower the arms and bring the dumbbells closer to one another and repeat the exercise again.
Dumbbell Chest Press
Lie on the floor with dumbbells in both your hands to do this exercise. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the floor. Extend your hands, so that the dumbbells are placed directly above your chest. Slowly lower the dumbbells to bring them closer to your chest. As you lower the dumbbells make sure your elbows slide down from your ribcage. Gradually extend your arms up in the air to repeat the exercise.
Dumbbell Chest Flies
We have already seen a variation of this dumbbell pectoral exercises. To do the chest flies, you will have to lie down on the floor. Like mentioned in the previous exercise, your arms should be extended out straight with the dumbbells placed directly above the chest. Slowly bend your elbows and open your arms to your sides. With the arms extended out to the sides, your elbow should neither be ‘locked’ nor should they be left ‘loose’. When the arms are extended out to the sides, no part of the hand should touch the floor. Lower the dumbbells till the upper arms are parallel to the floor and then raise the hands to bring them to the starting position.
Dumbbell Upright Row
This dumbbell exercise works the upper part of the chest muscles, which is also known as the deltoid muscle. Hold dumbbells in both your hands, such that the palms of your hands are facing the quadriceps. Stand with hip width distance between your feet. Now lift your dumbbells up, as though you were pulling the dumbbells towards your shoulders. When you pull the dumbbells, your elbows should go out to the sides. All through the exercise, your palms should face your body. Slowly lower the dumbbells to the starting position to repeat the exercise.
When you are doing these exercises, make sure you maintain the right posture. If your posture is not correct, chances of injury increase manifold. Before you do the chest dumbbell exercises without bench, it is important that you do some warm up exercises.
