The good thing is that home dumbbell workout for upper body are just as good as their gym counterparts for helping you build muscle from your torso up.
A rock-solid upper body affords you an elegant posture and lots of energy to carry out everyday activities that require raw strength, such as bending over to carry a child or carrying a heavily loaded backpack without suffering back aches.
The good thing is that home dumbbell workout for upper body are just as good as their gym counterparts for helping you build muscle from your torso up.
That means you don’t even have to invest up to a hundred bucks in order to have a rigorous upper body home workout as dumbbells are among the most inexpensive workout equipment, and you can even make your own dumbbells as a DIY project. And as a bonus, dumbbells only take up a little space.
The best home dumbbell workouts for the upper body consist of compound exercises that rock the entire upper body at once and isolation movements that single out a specific part of your upper body to develop the muscles there.
Without further ado, let’s get straight to the home dumbbell workouts for a tougher upper body. Try to train with weights that you can barely endure with good form for sets of 10-12 reps.
1. Skull crusher
Skull crushers, also known as lying triceps extensions, aren’t nearly as deadly as they sound as they are a harmless but potentially challenging home dumbbell upper body workout that singles out the triceps.
The exercise derives its name from how you have to bring the dumbbell slightly past your (skull) or head from an overhead position. Since the triceps do most of the work, skull crushers fall in the category of an isolation exercise.
Steps:
- This exercise is best done with a bench. Sit on the bench while gripping a dumbbell in each hand with palms facing inward and resting on your lap.
- Lie on the bench and simultaneously raise your arms straight overhead. Engage your core, keeping it taut.
- Keep your shoulders stable and bend your arms at the elbow to bring the dumbbells slightly past your head.
- Hold for a second, then straighten your elbows to bring the weights back to an overhead position.
Precautions:
You are not to bring the weights to your face or forehead. It should travel behind your head. Take care not to bump the back of your head when bringing the dumbbells back to your starting position.
2. Renegade row
Renegade rows are a killer at-home upper body exercise with dumbbells that also tasks your back and biceps. The classic move combines a plank and a dumbbell for a compound exercise that gives a complete upper-body workout at home with dumbbells.
The hardest part of the workout is keeping the plank position without twisting your hips as you raise the dumbbells to your chest.
Steps:
- Position yourself in a press-up position with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Let your hands be shoulder-width apart and straight under your shoulders.
- Lift one of the weights up and towards your rib cage, bringing the dumbbells to your rib cage and pointing your elbow outwards.
- Repeat with the other hand.
Precautions:
Only attempt this move if you have mastered balancing on one dumbbell. Then again, twisting your body to aid you in executing the renegade row is not allowed.
3. Push-up on dumbbells
While push-ups by themselves are already among the best compound exercises as they marshall the pecs, triceps, biceps, and core, adding dumbbells increases your range of motion and allows you to sink even deeper as you descend for the low position.
For even more drastic effects, you perform this home upper body workout with dumbbells on the vertical ends of the dumbbells and get something very close to a deficit push-up.
Steps:
- Get into the push-up position and hold your dumbbells to the floor in each hand.
- Engage your core and slowly bend your elbows to lower your body to the floor.
- Straighten your elbows to raise your body on the dumbbells till you end up in the high plank position and your arms are straight.
Precautions:
Take extra precaution when using dumbbells with circular weight plates as you can easily get destabilized and struggle to maintain your balance due to the tendency of the dumbbell to roll off course.
You’d be better off with hexagonal dumbbells.
4. Arnold press
Created and popularized by the famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Arnold press is an excellent dumbbell exercise to target the deltoids in the shoulders, triceps in the arms, traps, and pecs.
The Arnold press is best known for its role in building broad shoulders due to the way it hits the front, side, and rear delts—all three in unison.
Steps:
- Stand straight with dumbbells held in front of you such that your elbows are pointed straight down and your palms are facing your shoulders.
- Push the dumbbells overhead while rotating your wrists until your palms face outwards.
- Straighten your arms, hold for a second, and then lower the weights to the starting position and repeat.
Precautions:
If you have lower back issues, it’s safer to perform this exercise while sitting.
5. Dumbbell reverse fly
The dumbbell reverse fly, also known as the rear delt fly, is an upper-body workout with dumbbells that mainly targets the upper back and shoulder components of the upper body.
The exercise is highly recommended for beginners as it is easy to master. It also proves very useful in correcting posture problems that arise from slouching or hunching your back.
It has proven effective in reducing pain and disability in the chest, rear shoulder, and back muscles.
Steps:
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding dumbbells straight by your side.
- Hinge forward at your waist to bring your chest forward and parallel to the ground. Let the weights hang straight down. Maintain a slight bend in your knee, keep a straight back, and engage your core.
- Raise both arms to your side simultaneously (avoid raising the weights with a swinging motion) and keep a soft bend in your elbow.
- Lower the weights to the starting position and avoid rounding your back.
Precautions:
Don’t round your back; keep it straight so as not to stress your lower back. Also, avoid swinging the weight with your body momentum. Use your muscles to raise the weight to your side.
6. Dumbbell bench press
The dumbbell bench press, aside from swapping barbells for dumbbells, follows the same pattern of movement as the barbell bench press. The DB bench press is also safer for at-home workouts for the upper body and is a little bit more convenient than the bench press with barbells.
Fitness benefits of the dumbbell bench press include but are not limited to, enhanced chest, bicep, pectoral, and triceps muscles.
Steps:
- Sit on a bench with your feet flat on the floor while holding a dumbbell in each hand on your lap.
- Lie back and simultaneously stretch your arms overhead to suspend the dumbbells straight up over your chest. Push out your chest and make your core taut. This is the starting position.
- Bend your elbows to point sideways to lower the weights. Make sure to make your elbows descend below your shoulders.
- Press the weight straight above you to return to the starting position.
Precautions:
Don’t let the dumbbells collide at the top of each rep, as this could cost you shoulder stability and heighten the risk of injury in that area.
7. Dumbbell chest fly
One of the best dumbbell chest exercises for isolating the chest muscles, the standing chest fly gets high recommendations as an upper body workout you can perform at home. Aside from isolating the pecs, standing chest flies also work the shoulders and triceps.
In this home workout, you simultaneously raise both dumbbells towards your body’s midline, but according to Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, you should also aim to squeeze your chest muscles at the top of the movement to gain maximum benefits.
Steps:
- Sit with a straight back on a bench and grip a dumbbell in both hands to rest them on your lap.
- Lie back on the bench and simultaneously stretch each hand sideways, maintaining a soft bend at the elbow. This is the starting position.
- Now, bend your elbows to bring the weights to your midline, squeeze your pecs as you do, and hold them for a second before returning to the starting position.
Precautions:
Don’t lower your arms too deep, as you will be over-stretching your chest. Let your upper arms be parallel to your body. If you feel your shoulders or your biceps stretching, you are overdoing it. You should feel the stretch (but only slightly) in your chest.
8. Dumbbell biceps curl
Many variations of the bicep curls exist, such as the one with dumbbells. The basic form of this upper-body dumbbell workout involves bending your arm at the elbow while in an erect stance to lift a dumbbell to your shoulders and return it to the starting position.
Biceps curls with dumbbells work the muscles of the upper arm—the muscles that help you pick things up. To increase the gains from this exercise, go for a thumbless grip where your thumb sits on the same side of the dumbbells as your fingers.
Steps:
- Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart as you hold a dumbbell in each hand by your side and let your palms face forward. You can use only one dumbbell held in one hand if you wish. The benefits will still be there.
- Bend your arms at the elbow to raise the weights towards your shoulders. Keep your elbows hugging your body.
- Lower the dumbbells to your starting position and repeat.
Precautions:
Make sure to only move your lower arm until the top end of the movement and keep your elbow (s) hugging your body. If your elbows are flaring out, you are lifting too much weight.
9. Dumbbell bent over row
This home dumbbell exercise for the upper body works the pulling muscles of the back and is a perfect complement for workouts that train the pushing muscles of the upper back.
In a dumbbell bent over row, you lift a dumbbell in each hand while maintaining a 45-degree bend or so at your waist with your back straight.
During the exercise, it’s normal to keep your elbows hugging your body, but research shows that keeping them away from your body can build up your traps and posterior deltoids even more.
Steps:
- Stand straight with your feet hip-width apart and gripping a dumbbell in each hand by your sides.
- Bend slightly at your knees as if lowering into a squat position.
- Now, hinge forward at your waist, suspending the dumbbells with your arms parallel to your hips and pointing to the floor. This is the starting position.
- Bend your elbows to lift the weights close to your chest. Hold for a second, reverse the moment to the starting position, and then repeat.
Precautions:
- Maintain a straight back and square shoulders throughout the exercise, and avoid bending forward beyond 45 degrees.
10. Dumbbell pullover
At-home dumbbell pullovers make for an excellent upper-body strength training routine as they put pressure on the chest and back.
The exercise is fantastic for improving your posture and shaking up any rigidity that has crept into your chest and upper body.
Another benefit of the workout is that it’s among those kinds of movements that require the muscles to stretch under load, thus increasing the potential for muscle gain.
Steps:
- Sit on a stable bench’s end while firmly placing your feet on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand.
- Lie back on the bench, fully stretching your back.
- Raise your arms to the ceiling, straight over your chest.
- Extend the weights back and over your head, engaging your back and core.
- Return your arms to the starting position and repeat.
Precautions:
To be on the safe side throughout this home workout, avoid sitting on the middle of the bench. Instead, sit at the end. This is to ensure that your body is supported from your head and neck to your hips. Also, keep your core engaged throughout the exercise (as if bracing for a punch to the stomach) instead of arching your spine.
11. Dumbbell overhead press
This at-home dumbbell workout for the upper body, also known as the dumbbell shoulder press, involves raising a dumbbell in each hand over your head while standing erect or sitting.
The dumbbell overhead press targets the deltoid muscle of the shoulders but also calls on the core to maintain stability throughout the movement, making it a solid upper-body strength workout.
Another useful function of the dumbbell shoulder press is to identify and correct muscle imbalances. If you find lifting a certain weight with one arm harder than with the other, this can signify where you need to do corrective training.
Steps:
- Stand straight with a dumbbell in each hand in an overhead grip (meaning your palms are facing away from you). Hold these dumbbells close to your shoulders.
- Raise the weights above your head slowly and steadily. Hold for a second.
- Reverse the movement to the starting position.
Precautions:
That said, avoid shrugging your shoulders at the top of the movement. Keep your shoulder blades down throughout the movement.
Wrapping up
The at-home dumbbell workouts for the upper body that we’ve just discussed above show that you don’t need enormous weights or bone-crushing barbells to attain the physique of a seasoned bodybuilder.
All you need is a pair of dumbbells (or just one dumbbell) that you can train with for as many reps as you can before failure.
And since any form of training for your upper body, whether with your bodyweight or with dumbbells, takes time for results to show, the earlier you start any of the workouts listed above, the better.
