A Simple and Effective Upper-Body Dumbbell Workout to Target Your Arms

Anyone who enjoys strength training (or wants to get started) need a reliable upper-body dumbbell program. To gain strength and muscle, add resistance to your workouts, even if you can train many of the same muscles with your bodyweight alone.

Dumbbells are an excellent option for external load since they are often more readily available and less costly than other forms of free weights such as kettlebells and barbells. They are also a good alternative for novices since the learning curve is usually rather easy.

So, if you've decided to use dumbbells, what is the greatest technique to develop your upper body? Certified personal trainer Francine Delgado-Lugo, CPT, movement and strength coach and cofounder of Form Fitness Brooklyn, recommends a routine that targets all major muscles in the chest, back, and shoulders. For a really full workout, you should also incorporate isolated exercises. These also target smaller muscles like as your biceps, triceps, and forearms, she explains.

Delgado-Lugo devised an upper-body dumbbell exercise for SELF that targets all of these regions. You'll mostly use two movement patterns: pushing and pulling.

The key to making this a really successful exercise is to utilize a medium-to-heavy weight that feels tough for the amount of advised repetitions, according to Delgado-Lugo. "You'll know you've gone heavy enough if you start to feel fatigued two to three reps before you complete your set," she said. "If you can complete a full set comfortably or with minimal challenge, scale up." This is "a useful workout for anyone who is looking to build strength or add muscle," according to Delgado-Lugo.

Another advantage: Delgado-Lugo's upper-body workouts are straightforward to perform—no complicated choreography or routines here—and serve as a basis for others you may wish to attempt later on. For example, after you've mastered the dumbbell chest press, you can go to the barbell bench press; once you've mastered the bent-over row, you may attempt a chest-supported variant. You don't need to advance beyond these dumbbell workouts. One of the benefits of this dumbbell exercise is that you can repeat it on upper-body days just add heavier weights as you go to maintain seeing results.

The Workout

What you need: Two sets of dumbbells, one heavier and one lighter, that feel medium-to-hard for your moves. You’ll use the heavier set for the exercises that target your bigger muscle groups (like the chest press, row, and press), and the lighter weights for moves that hit your smaller muscle groups (the skull crusher, biceps curl, lateral raise, and bent-over fly.)

Exercises

• Chest Press
• Skull Crusher
• Bent-Over Row
• Arnold Press
• Bent-Over Fly
• Alternating Biceps Curl
• Lateral to Front Raise

Directions

• Do 8-12 reps of each exercise.
• Try to move from one exercise to the next without resting. Take breaks if you feel like you can’t catch your breath or your form is slipping.
• After you’ve completed all seven exercises, rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then repeat the circuit. Complete 3 or 4 rounds total.

Demoing the moves below are Jo Murdock (GIF 1), a registered yoga instructor, dancer, and fitness instructor; Rachel Denis (GIFs 2, 7), a powerlifter who competes with USA Powerlifting; Tray Drew (GIF 3 and 5), MPH, owner/operator of Body By Tray and an ISSA-certified personal trainer and corrective exercise specialist; Francine Delgado-Lugo (GIF 4), cofounder of FORM Fitness Brooklyn who uses strength training to help people cultivate self-love and body confidence; and Cookie Janee (GIF 6), a registered nurse and background investigator and security forces specialist in the Air Force Reserve.

1. Chest Press

• Lie face up with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a weight in each hand with your palms facing your legs and your elbows on the floor bent so that the weights are in the air. This is the starting position.
• Press the weights toward the ceiling, straightening your elbows completely and keeping your palms facing your legs. Pause here for a second.
• Slowly bend your elbows and lower them back down to the floor and out so that they are perpendicular to your torso. This is 1 rep.
• Do 8-12 reps.

The chest press is a great upper-body burner that targets your pecs (chest muscles), triceps (back of your upper arms), mid traps, rhomboids, and a bit of the lats (all in the upper back), Delgado-Lugo says.

Skull Crusher

• Lie faceup with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and extend your arms straight up toward the ceiling at chest level. This is the starting position.
• Slowly bend your elbows to lower both weights toward your head. Keep your elbows in place and simply bend them; don't move your shoulders or upper arms. Try to lower your dumbbells so they are on either side of your head, elbows bent close to your torso (not flared out to the sides).
• Lift your arms back to the starting position. This is 1 rep.
• Do 8-12 reps.

The skull crusher majorly isolates your triceps, which engage every time you straighten your elbow (like when doing a triceps extension or kickback). This muscle helps assist bigger “pushing” exercises, like a chest press or overhead press.

Bent-Over Row

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a weight in each hand with your arms at your sides.
• With your core engaged, hinge forward at the hips, push your butt back, and bend your knees slightly, so that your back is no lower than parallel to the floor. (Depending on your hamstring flexibility, you may not be able to bend so far over.) Gaze at the ground a few inches in front of your feet to keep your neck in a comfortable position.
• Do a row by pulling the weights up toward your chest, keeping your elbows hugged close to your body, and squeezing your shoulder blades for two seconds at the top of the movement. Your elbows should go past your back as you bring the weight toward your chest
• Slowly lower the weights by extending your arms toward the floor. This is 1 rep.
• Do 8-12 reps.

Your rhomboids (in the upper back) and your lats, which cover most of the mid and lower back, get some love in the bent-over row. “Strong backs help mitigate potential back pain or injury,” Delgado-Lugo says. “The bent-over position is great for core strengthening, too.”

Arnold Press

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Hold a dumbbell in each hand above your collarbone, palms facing in, and elbows bent.
• Open up your arms so the dumbbells are above your shoulders, palms facing forward.
• Press the dumbbells overhead, extending your arms straight above your head.
• Reverse the sequence to come back down. This is 1 rep.
• Do 8-12 reps.

Slightly more complex than a traditional shoulder press, the Arnold press moves the deltoids, or the shoulder muscles, through a larger range of motion. This gives them more of a stability challenge and better engages all three heads or parts of the muscle. It also works your upper chest, biceps, and mid to upper traps, Delgado-Lugo says.