I'm often asked what muscles do dumbbells work for. It's an important question, one that I'm not sure people fully grasp. Let me shed some light on the subject for you. If you have ever watched any Ironman training, then you already know that these are two of the most efficient tools an athlete or bodybuilder has at their disposal. However, the question is: what do dumbbells do for your chest?
Dumbbells work your pectoral muscles much in the same way as they do your triceps or shoulders. They force you to use more muscles during each repetition, building them up both physically and emotionally. Dumbbells can be used for many different exercises such as bicep curls and preacher curls, and even bench presses. As far as training with dumbbells is concerned, there are a couple of main ideas to keep in mind. First off, avoid using a heavier weight than you're comfortable with. This doesn't mean, however, that you should never use a weight beyond what you're capable of handling-you should always be comfortable when using them.
Most common dumbbell curls involve you holding a dumbbell in one hand, while lifting the other in the opposite direction. For example, if your right-handed friend is doing bench presses, and you're doing shoulder presses, avoid pressing the bar with your right hand all the way up to the mark, because it will be too difficult for you to do a decent shoulder workout. Instead, let the bar just touch your shoulder, and focus on building your chest and shoulder muscles from this position. This pattern can be used for any type of chest and shoulder workouts-but it's particularly effective for shoulder-based workouts such as bicep curls and preacher curls.
Another exercise that can help you build up your chest and shoulder muscles is the flat dumbbell fly. To do this, you'll start off with either a dumbbell in each hand, or several dumbbells individually. From this position, slowly lower each dumbbell down until it touches your chest area, and then raise it again in the same manner. It can be tough to do these reps quickly, so make sure that you slow yourself down a bit between reps-just enough to give your muscles a chance to catch up with the movement.
The last exercise we're going to discuss here deals with the triceps, which are probably the most overlooked group of muscles, overall. Because they are positioned close to the hands, dumbbells can really help you isolate and target the triceps, giving them a huge benefit in both strength and size. Start out by holding the dumbbells with both hands, arms extended straight at their widest point. Slowly lower the weights down to the starting position, making sure that you don't fully extend your arms before returning them to the starting position, completing the reps in a strict manner.
If you haven't been working out for some time now, then you should definitely consider adding some heavy dumbbells to your workout arsenal. Not only will this add more mass to your frame, but it will also give your shoulders a huge lift as well. This in combination with proper workouts like squats, shoulder presses, and deadlifts will greatly increase the density of your muscle mass and will help you gain a lot more muscle in a shorter period of time. So what muscles do dumbbells work? Give these a try and see!
