Dumbbell Chest Exercises With No Bench

While a bench provides a stable surface on which to weight lift, it is not necessary for a complete or safe chest workout. By using different body positions with dumbbells, you can get an effective workout without a bench. Using the floor rather than a bench may help prevent injury from over-extending muscles.

  1. Dumbbell Flies

    • Lie down with your back flat on the floor and your knees bent. With one dumbbell in each hand, hold your arms straight out from your sides with your palms facing up while gripping the dumbbells. Keep your arms straight throughout the exercise without locking your elbows. Lift the weights off the ground slowly and monitor your breathing, keeping it slow and even. Take about 2 seconds to raise the weights all the way up and about 3 seconds or longer to lower them back to the ground in the starting position.

    Dumbbell Press

    • Make two stacks of books about 1 foot tall on either side of where you will lie on the ground for this exercise. Place your dumbbells on these stacks of books for a safe starting position. Lie on the ground with a stack of books and a dumbbell within reach of each hand when your arms are straight out from your shoulders with elbows bent. Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and lift your forearms until they are at a 90-degree angle from your upper arms. Push the weights up until they are over your head. Do not clink the weights together. As you raise the weights, focus as much on pushing up as you do on squeezing your chest muscles in toward each other. Raise the weights over a two-second count and lower for three. Focus on squeezing your chest muscles as you lower.

    Hip Dumbbell Press

    • Lie down on the floor with your back flat against the ground. Bend your knees with your feet on the ground to protect your lower back. Thrust your chest out and keep your shoulder blades pressed together to help reduce strain on your shoulders. Keep your upper arms down and elbows close to your sides throughout the exercise. Use books to elevate your dumbbells into position at a 90-degree angle to the ground. Push the dumbbells up over a two-count and bring them back down over a count of three.

    Exercise Ball

    • Perform any chest exercises for which you would usually use a bench by using an exercise ball. You can substitute these large, inflatable rubber balls for a bench by lying with your upper back on the ball. Stabilize yourself by placing your feet hip-distance apart on the floor in front of you with you knees bent directly over your ankles. Proceed to do incline presses and chest flies using your ball as your foundation. Not only will you be able to do more workouts without a bench by using a ball, but you will also activate your core muscles for stabilization, thereby working out more of your body simply by having to balance on the ball.