Adding weights to a daily exercise routine works the muscles that much harder than non-weight-bearing exercises alone. This can lead to faster muscle development, but more recovery between workouts is needed as well.
When it comes to building chest muscles, these exercises need a weight-bearing element added to them to be truly effective, and this can be done with either the use of dumbbells, barbells, machines, and cables.
The upper and lower chest muscles are important because they help to stabilize the shoulders. Your lower chest muscles, which are referred to as the pectoralis major, also help to maintain good posture and aid in correct deep breathing rather than shallow breathing, which many of us are guilty of.
Deep breathing gets more oxygen into the body, and this can help with energy levels, especially during a training session.
Most people would normally use gym apparatus or barbells to work the muscles in the lower chest, but traditional dumbbells still have much to offer regarding chest muscle-building exercises.
Here are 8 effective lower chest exercises
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press
A decline dumbbell bench press is a variation exercise on the popular flat bench press chest exercise. Here the bench is set to around 30-degree decline, placing the body on an angle instead of it lying flat on a bench.
This downward slope angle of the exercise bench helps to target certain chest muscles with each completed press more effectively than a standard flat press. As the name suggests, dumbbells are used instead of a barbell.
Muscles Targeted
The downward angle of the body on the bench allows the lower pectoral muscles to take the strain of each dumbbell press, making it a great exercise for lower chest muscle development.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Secure your legs on the end of a decline bench and slowly lie down, so your knees are higher than your head.
- Rotate your wrists so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you, and raise the dumbbells in the air to the starting position.
- Lower the dumbbells simultaneously on either side of your chest until your elbows form right angles. Push upwards back to the starting position and repeat.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Keep the forearms perpendicular to the floor.
- Lower the dumbbells gently to chest level.
- Inhale when you come down, and exhale when you push up.
- Three sets of eight to ten reps are effective.
Decline Dumbbell Chest Fly
A decline dumbbell chest fly is a variation on the decline dumbbell bench press, but again it is primarily a chest muscle-building exercise.
The major difference here is not the positioning of the body on the bench but the way the dumbbells are moved during each chest fly.
Muscles Targeted
This exercise engages the pectoral muscles and the deltoids.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Secure your legs on the end of a decline bench and lie down with your body in a downward slope position with a pair of dumbbells in each hand.
- Raise the weights upwards and swing your palms, so they face each other. This is the starting position.
- Lower the weights out towards your sides with your elbows remaining bent.
- A stretch in the chest muscles is an indicator that the weights have been pushed down far enough.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Keep the arms slightly bent even when you push the dumbbells upwards.
- Each chest fly should be done slowly with a brief pause once the weights are lowered.
- Perform two to three sets of six to ten reps.
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Press
A neutral grip dumbbell bench press is completed in a standard lying position with no incline. This is the only major difference in this exercise when compared to the two decline exercises mentioned above.
Muscles Targeted
The pecs, biceps, and triceps are all engaged during a neutral grip dumbbell bench press.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Lie flat on a standard training bench with your legs spread apart and your feet placed firmly on the floor.
- Raise the dumbbells until your arms are straight but make sure your palms are facing each other.
- Pull the dumbbells downwards with your elbows tucked into your sides, and then raise the weights upwards until your arms are straight.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Keep your back flat on the bench at all times.
- Push with the shoulders.
- Lower the weights until you feel a stretch in your chest muscles.
- Exhale as you push down; inhale as you push up.
- Three sets of ten reps will really work the chest muscles.
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
An incline dumbbell bench press, as the name suggests, has a starting position where the upper body is slightly higher than the waist and legs.
Muscles Targeted
The shoulders, biceps, and pectoral muscles are the main targets of this particular weight-bearing exercise.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Pick up the dumbbells and sit at the end of the bench with the dumbbells resting on your knees.
- Lie down with your knees bent and legs wide apart.
- Push the dumbbells out to your sides with your palms facing away from you and your elbows bent at right angles; this is the starting position.
- Push your chest out and lower the dumbbells down to your chest before pushing them back up to the starting position.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Keep your feet flat on the ground, and make sure your legs remain stationary throughout.
- Keep your wrists straight when you push up, and when you push down, make a 90-degree angle with your elbows.
- Breathe in on the way down and out on the way up.
- Try doing three to four sets of six to ten reps of this exercise.
Twisting Dumbbell Bench Press
The twisting dumbbell bench press is much like a standard dumbbell bench press in that the starting position is similar, but as the name suggests, it comes with a twist.
Muscles Targeted
The shoulders and lower chest muscles are the major benefactors of this particular take on a standard dumbbell bench press.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Pick up the dumbbells and sit at the end of a bench with the dumbbells resting on your knees.
- Lie down flat with your knees bent and legs wide apart.
- Turn the dumbbells lengthways and keep them to your sides with your elbows lowered below chest level at the side of the bench.
- As you push up, twist the dumbbells widthways.
- When you bring the dumbbells back down, twist the weights, so they rest lengthways.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Each twist should be integrated into each press and not just added to the end of each movement.
- Keep your elbows closely tucked to the sides of the bench for the duration of the movement.
- Aim for three sets of eight to twelve reps.
Close Grip Dumbbell Bench Press
A close-grip dumbbell bench press forces the chest muscles to flex more, simply from the positioning of the dumbbells, which are brought close together instead of being kept wide apart.
Muscles Targeted
The lower chest muscles, shoulders, biceps, and triceps are activated by this exercise.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Pick up the dumbbells and sit at the end of the bench with the dumbbells resting on your knees.
- Lie down flat with your knees bent and feet firmly planted.
- With your palms facing each other, push the dumbbells upwards until your arms are straight. Bring the dumbbells together, so they touch.
- While keeping the dumbbells together, slowly lower them down until they reach your chest.
- Push the dumbbells back up until your arms are straight again.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Keep your elbows tucked to your sides when lowering the weights.
- Aim for three sets of 12 to 15 reps.
Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press
A single-arm dumbbell bench press is an exercise where one arm at a time takes the full weight of a dumbbell raise while the body lies in the familiar bench press position. For this exercise, it is safest to start with light weights until the arms and chest muscles strengthen.
Muscles Targeted
The forearms, biceps, triceps, core, and chest muscles are all engaged here because one side of the body is overloaded with weight. The core will automatically try to re-address this imbalance.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Sit on the end of a bench with your legs spread apart and a single dumbbell placed between your legs.
- Lie back and raise the weight with your palm facing outwards until your arm is straight at the elbow.
- Then lower the dumbbell until your elbow forms a 90-degree angle. Slowly raise the weight again and repeat.
- Swap hands to evenly work both sides of the chest.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Use this as a secondary exercise to your main chest workout.
- Keep each press slow and controlled.
- One to two sets of ten presses on each arm should suffice.
Dumbbell Pullover
The dumbbell pullover gets its name from the pulling-over motion used to work the chest muscles. It involves lying on a bench and using only one dumbbell to work the entire chest area. The starting position is unusual as the dumbbell is placed behind the head.
Muscles Targeted
The shoulders and arms are flexed here, but the pullover action is what it’s all about, and this is what really works the chest muscles.
Step-By-Step Guide
- Lie on a bench with your back flat and feet wide apart on the ground.
- Rest one end of the dumbbell gently on your chest.
- Use both hands to support the opposite end of the dumbbell weight.
- Extend your arms to place the dumbbell behind your head, and this is the starting position.
- To complete a dumbbell pullover, keep your arms straight as you bring the dumbbell up and over your chest. Slowly lower your arms back down, so your biceps are by your ears to finish the reps.
Tips for Performing the Exercise Effectively
- Start with a lighter weight to avoid injuries.
- Pull until you feel the muscles tighten in your chest
- Try doing two to three sets of ten to 15 reps.
Benefits of Using Dumbbells For Chest Workouts
Safety
Exercising with dumbbells rather than barbells is typically safer because dumbbells offer a reality check when it comes to how much an individual is capable of lifting. Barbells can be deceptive, and there can be a tendency to overload the bar resulting in chest muscle pulls and strains.
This risk is exacerbated by the fact that barbells are designed to allow individuals to lift heavier loads while the weight of a dumbbell is very straightforward.
Stabilization
Barbell chest exercises only activate the muscles that the particular chest workout is tailored for. When dumbbells are used, more muscles come into play to stabilize the body and the weight.
The obvious muscle group that is also worked here are those of the arms, such as the biceps, which work hard along with the chest muscles to spread the weight load evenly across the top half of the body.
Even the core is engaged to stabilize the body when dumbbells are lifted.
Wider Range of Motion
Chest exercises with a barbell allow for only a limited range of movement to take place during workouts because barbells are not flexible. Dumbbells, on the other hand, offer more range of motion and flexibility due to the arms and shoulders are not in a fixed position.
Dumbbells give the shoulders and arms far more freedom to move, which in turn allows you to activate even more muscle groups than the lower chest. Additional rotation in the shoulders also helps to work the chest muscles that much more.
Strength Balancing
Dumbbells make muscles work unilaterally, and this can help identify any weaknesses that need to be addressed that might be missed by barbell workouts. Muscle strength can be evened out across the lower chest, shoulders, and arms without any imbalances developing from underworked muscles.
Conclusion
Even though many of the exercises involving dumbbells described here are very similar to each other, the subtle differences between each one make them all effective for lower chest muscle development. Some engage the entire chest region, shoulders, arms, wrists, and even the core.
This makes them even more valuable to a daily exercise routine, especially because body posture, shoulder stability, and proper deep breathing all rely on strong lower chest muscles!