This dumbbell only chest and triceps workout can be done at home or at the gym.

Chest and triceps dumbbell workouts increase upper body strength and endurance.

Pressing exercises (dumbbell chest press, push-ups) have been used for centuries to strengthen the chest and triceps muscles.

In most pressing exercises, the chest is the primary mover, but the triceps are a crucial synergistic, or secondary, force.

To build muscle mass and strength, you can use dumbbells to perform the best triceps and chest workout.

Learn More About Chest And Triceps Muscles

The chest muscle, or pectoralis, is divided into upper and lower parts.

To develop the upper chest and lower chest, as well as the outside and inner pectorals, it's important to train the chest with a variety of exercises.

Triceps brachii, or simply Triceps, is a three-headed muscle opposite the biceps that accounts for 2/3 of upper arm mass.

Three parts make up the skull: the medial head, the lateral head, and the long head.

For maximum gains, you need to focus on the three tricep head muscles and work them at two distinct locations on the humerus below the socket of the shoulder blade.

Dumbbells Are Good For Triceps And Chest Workouts

✅ For chest and triceps workouts, dumbbells are a great choice as they require more balance than barbells or machines.

✅ The dumbbell allows unilateral training (training one limb at a time), increases core stability, and improves muscular imbalances.

✅ Dumbbells allow for greater joint stability and safety, and they allow joints to move naturally within their range of motion during a chest and triceps workout.

✅ You can vary your workouts with dumbbells, which prevents boredom and increases variety.

✅ For at-home exercisers with limited space, chest and tricep dumbbell workouts are perfect.

It's Important To Train Chest And Triceps With Dumbbells Together

To achieve the desired movement, many targeted muscles work together with other synergistic and stabilizer muscles.

One muscle may not fully engage the other supportive muscles, but they may be used at some point.

Since decades, bodybuilders have combined chest and triceps training into a single workout. It makes sense to do so.

There are many synergistic and stabilizer muscles involved in this motion, including the anterior deltoid, triceps, and biceps.

The 12 best dumbbell exercises for chest and triceps

These dumbbell only chest and triceps exercises will help you build a strong, healthy body.

Bench press with dumbbells

In addition to adding muscle mass to the chest, the dumbbell bench press also works the shoulders and triceps indirectly.

The dumbbell bench press overcomes the limitation of the barbell bench press, which does not involve the full range of motion.

Further, dumbbells require better coordination, which forces the stabilizing muscles to assist as well.

You can perform the same exercises on the floor if you don't have a bench.

Muscles Worked

Primary: Chest

Anterior deltoid, triceps are secondary.

How To Do It

✅ For better balance, lie down on the bench and hold a dumbbell in each hand.

✅ As you raise the dumbbells, keep them very close together until your arms are almost locked out.

✅ Lower the weights slowly to your outer chest, stretching your chest to its maximum.

✅ Perform the desired number of repetitions.

Pro Tips

✅ Avoid jerky motions and keep the motion controlled.

✅ Keep your elbows close to your sides at all times.

✅ Keep your back naturally arched so that you have a slight gap between your lower back and the bench.

Pressing dumbbells on an inclined plane

Incline dumbbell presses are excellent exercises for developing middle and upper pectoral muscles.

In some ways, the Incline dumbbell press is better than the Incline bench press because dumbbells allow full range of motion.

Muscles Worked 

Primary: Upper pec

Lower pec, anterior delts, triceps are secondary muscles.

How To Do It

✅ On an incline bench, lie back and adjust the incline to between 30-45 degrees.

✅ Lift the dumbbells straight overhead. Feel a good chest squeeze at the top.

✅ At the bottom, lower the dumbbells and feel your chest muscles stretch.

✅ Press the dumbbells back to their starting positions after a pause.

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Pro Tips

✅ Slowly push dumbbells up while exhaling.

✅ Ideally, the bench should be set at a 30-45 degree angle.

✅ Avoid going too far upright, as this will put more stress on your shoulders rather than your chest.

Pressing dumbbells in decline

During the decline dumbbell bench press, dumbbells are used instead of barbells to allow for a greater range of motion.

Dumbbell exercises also require a great deal of shoulder and triceps stability, so they recruit more muscle fibers to stabilize the body.

Muscles Worked 

Primary: Lower pec

The secondary muscles are the upper pec, triceps, anterior delts, and lats.

How To Do It

✅ Hold a dumbbell in each hand while lying on a decline bench.

✅ Directly above your chest, hold the dumbbells with your arms fully extended.

✅ Slowly lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body and at a 45-degree angle.

✅ Return the dumbbells to their starting position after a pause.

Pro Tips

✅ Keep your elbows from flaring out.

✅ Pinching your shoulder blades together will ensure a safe position for your shoulders.

Dumbbell Pullover

For a complete chest and back, the dumbbell pullover is the best exercise to build a strong rib cage and serratus anterior muscle.

A heavy dumbbell is used for this exercise as you lie across a bench.

How To Do It

✅ Sit on a bench with your head hanging from your shoulders.

✅ Put a dumbbell over your chest with both hands.

✅ Raise the dumbbell back to its starting position after lowering it as far as possible.

✅ Bring yourself back to the starting position slowly.

Pro Tips

✅ Keep the dumbbell from going too far forward.

✅ Keep your elbows straight.

Flying dumbbells

With the dumbbell fly, you isolate and strengthen the chest muscles by using a chest fly movement pattern.

It is a popular exercise among bodybuilders because it isolates the chest for aesthetic purposes.

How To Do It

✅ Place your feet firmly on the ground and lie down on the flat bench.

✅ With the dumbbells directly over your chest, lift your arms straight up from your shoulders.

✅ Lower your arms slowly until your wrists are at shoulder level.

✅ Use your pec muscles to pull your arms back toward your midline.

Squeeze press with dumbbells

To induce functional hypertrophy in the inner body, particularly the inner pectorals, the dumbbell squeeze press is one of the most effective chest exercises.

You're actively squeezing the dumbbells inward (against each other) as hard as you can during this exercise.

How To Do It

✅ Lay on the bench with the dumbbells in your hands.

✅ Lift the dumbbells side by side over your chest.

✅ They should be lowered together by touching each other, then raised again.

✅ You can repeat this as many times as you like.

Kickback with dumbbells

This exercise targets the triceps muscles and is versatile and effective.

As an isolation exercise, the tricep kickback targets the triceps specifically, unlike other exercises like the push-up or bench press

How To Do It

✅ You should place your right knee and palm on a flat bench so that your torso is parallel to the ground.

✅ While keeping your left foot flat on the floor, press your left arm tight against your side with the upper arms parallel to the ground.

✅ Straighten your arm back and fully extend it at the elbow.

✅ For a second, flex the triceps hard, then return to the starting position.

✅ Repeat all reps on the left arm before repeating on the right arm.

Pro Tips

Start of the licensing process:

✅ Only move your forearms, keeping your body as still as possible.

✅ Slowly lower the dumbbells back to their starting position while maintaining control of the weight.

Overhead dumbbell triceps extension with one arm

Dumbbell overhead triceps extensions target the triceps while also increasing core and shoulder stability.

In the overhead extension, dumbbells instead of an EZ-bar ensure that each arm is worked separately, which ensures that one stronger side is not carrying the weaker side.

You should also do the exercise with one arm at a time.

How To Do It

✅ Lift a dumbbell overhead with your right hand while standing shoulder width apart.

✅ Overhand grip (palm facing forward) with it straight overhead.

✅ When your elbow forms a 90-degree angle with your left shoulder, lower the dumbbell behind your head.

✅ Repeat for as many sets and repetitions as you like.

Pro Tips

✅ It is important to move the weight in a controlled manner.

✅ Let your forearms drive the movement instead of your arms.

Triceps extension with dumbbells lying on the floor

You can begin your triceps routine with a dumbbell lying triceps extension. Triceps extensions are isolation exercises, which means only one joint is used.

For people with wrist strains or injuries, tricep extensions can be a beneficial exercise to fix imbalances in the triceps or to rehabilitate from injuries. Tricep extensions do not place pressure on the wrists, so they are a great alternative.

How To Do It

✅ You should lie on a flat bench with your feet flat on the ground.

✅ With a neutral grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand directly above you.

✅ Keeping your upper arms and elbows still, lower the dumbbell behind your head, feeling a stretch in your triceps.

✅ Squeeze the triceps, then raise the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Pro Tips

✅ Keep your elbows stable at all times.

✅ Keep your elbows from flaring out.

Dumbbell extension with two arms

At home, you can easily work the triceps muscles by doing seated dumbbell tricep extensions.

The long head of the triceps is particularly targeted by overhead extension exercises.

How To Do It

✅ Hold a dumbbell in both hands while sitting on a flat bench.

✅ Your palms should face the roof and your elbows should point forward as you lift the dumbbell.

✅ Lower the dumbbell behind your head while bending at the elbows and squeezing your triceps.

Pro Tips

✅ Slowly and carefully perform the exercise.

✅ Maintain a neutral head position, avoiding forward neck jutting.

Tricep extension with an incline dumbbell

A dumbbell tricep extension on an incline builds strength and muscle in all three heads of the triceps.

People looking to gain strength or build bigger triceps can use it.

By doing extension movements, you will be able to stretch the muscle deeper, which should activate more muscle fibers.

How To Do It

✅ Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie on an incline bench.

✅ Your palms should be facing each other as you extend your arms over your shoulders.

✅ Slowly lower the dumbbells behind your head by bending your elbows.

✅ With a controlled motion, raise your arms back up to your starting position after holding this position for two counts.

Pro Tips

✅ Keeping your elbows close to your head, keep your upper arms fixed.

✅ Your elbows are at risk if you use excessively heavy weights.

Tate Press with dumbbells

As an advanced tricep exercise, the dumbbell Tate press targets and builds the tricep muscle differently.

You can do this triceps workout on the floor if you don't have a bench.

With this device, you will be able to target the triceps in a unique way that will help you build a complete pair of horseshoe triceps.

How To Do It

✅ Place your feet firmly on the ground and lie down on a flat bench.

✅ With your palms facing your feet, hold a dumbbell in each hand.

✅ Place the weights in the middle of your chest.

✅ By contracting your triceps, slowly raise your arms up and down without moving your elbows.

Pro Tips

✅ Exercises performed with a slow eccentric motion can improve tension and muscle connection.

✅ At the top of the movement, don't lock your elbows.

The volume of training (sets and reps) for the chest and triceps muscles

This is a great starting point, but the number of sets and reps will depend on your fitness journey:

Sets

✅ For beginners, you should do 10 sets per week.

✅ The intermediate level requires 15 sets per week.

✅ The advanced level is 20 sets per week.

Representatives

✅ Heavy load for 6-8 reps

✅ Moderate load for 8-15 reps

✅ With a light load, 15-20+

Samples of workouts

The first workout plan

✅ Bench Press with dumbbells: 4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

✅ Pullover with dumbbells: 4 sets of 10-12 repetitions.

✅ Fly with dumbbells: 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions.

✅ Four sets of eight to ten repetitions of Kick Back.

✅ 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions of dumbbell lying triceps extensions.

Workout Plan #2 for Single Dumbbell Chest and Triceps

✅ Bench Press with one arm dumbbells: four sets of eight to ten repetitions.

✅ Dumbbell Fly: 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

✅ Pullover with dumbbells: 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions.

✅ Overhead dumbbell Triceps Extension: 4 sets of 8-10 reps.

✅ Kick Back with dumbbells: 3 sets of 10-12 reps.

The third superset workout plan is as follows:

✅ Superset with Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 8-12 reps

✅ Tricep Extension with Inclined Dumbbells: 4 sets of 6-8 reps.

✅ Bench Press with dumbbells: 3 sets of 10-12 reps, superset with

✅ 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions of dumbbell Tate Press.

✅ Flying dumbbells: 3 sets of 8-12 reps, superset with,

✅ Extensions with two arms: 3 sets of 6-8 repetitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Best Workout For Chest And Triceps?

Many fitness gurus and bodybuilders recommend training chest and tricep together to gain mass, as you work the tricep when doing chest.

Is it possible to build my chest and triceps with only dumbbells?

You can build your chest and triceps only with dumbbell exercises.

Dumbbell bench presses and dumbbell squeeze presses are great compound exercises for building bigger chests and triceps.

The following dumbbell only isolation exercises can be done at home without a bench: dumbbell fly, dumbbell floor pullover, dumbbell kick back, and overhead dumbbell triceps extension.

Is it possible to build a tricep with dumbbells?

The dumbbell tricep extension and dumbbell kick back are excellent exercises for building triceps.

What are the best exercises to train my chest and triceps?

Developing chest and triceps strength is easy with weight-lifting exercises such as bench press, push-up, and dip.

Conclusion

You've already seen the best dumbbell chest exercises and the best tricep exercises.

It is imperative that you perform these exercises correctly, as that will have a huge impact on your progress.

A pair of dumbbells, a single dumbbell, and a superset are also shown in three chest and tricep workout routines.

Let us know how one of these worked for you after you've tried it.