Time to grow your upper chest in 20 minutes! Today’s balloon method workout is an upper chest workout with dumbbells only for maximum growth and convenience.
If you only have a pair of dumbbells and your stuck at home, this is a great upper chest workout routine you can do.
These are 5 awesome upper chest exercises that will place more activation and direct time under tension on the stubborn clavicular head, aka your upper pecs.
Upper chest was always a huge weakness of mine until I switched my upper chest training to more time under tension and use the Balloon Method in every upper chest workout now!
Try this upper chest workout with dumbbells up to 3x per week for a complete upper chest workout program to bring up a lagging upper chest.
Make sure to watch the upper chest exercises carefully below so you can see complete form details on how to execute each move.
Because this upper chest workout is with light dumbbells only, it’s very important you pay close attention to the form and intensity techniques for fast results! Let’s dive into it.
| #1 Incline Reverse Fly |
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This chest exercise uses one of the most underrated chest functions, namely adduction. We all push, but not many people push towards the centre of the body, which is important for a complete chest. The incline reverse fly will primarily target the upper chest and secondarily, its middle and lower parts, along with the front deltoids.
execution
- 1Set up a bench to an incline, 45-degree angle
- 2Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie face down on the bench
- 3Let the dumbbells hang down freely with palms facing one another
- 4Lift the right dumbbell up and across the body
- 5Contract the chest up top and go back down slowly
- 6Do the same on the left arm and alternate between sides
| #2 Dumbbell Around The World |
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If you want to learn how to get a big chest, this is one of the best must-do moves to get into a dumbbell chest workout.
Dumbbell around the world are going to work the chest muscle from all angles, something that many miss out on in their workout sessions.
Because you are working the shoulder joint through the entire range of motion here in a circular motion, you’ll be using lighter weights.
Leave your ego at the door, guys.
Don’t be ashamed if you’re only using 10 lb. dumbbells for this one. That’s normal and natural.
execution
- 1Grab a pair of dumbbells and lie down on the flat bench
- 2Bring the arms down to the lower abs with palms facing up
- 3Contract the chest
- 4Bring the arms back up and behind the head
- 5Repeat the movement pattern
You’ll do two sets of this exercise, taking 45 seconds of rest between each set and aiming to do it for a total of 45 seconds under tension.
This exercise will gain you a feeling of activation like you probably haven’t felt before, so prepare for that. It’s not your typical exercise and you’ll pick up on this right away.
When you push through it though and feel those muscles working, you’ll get a great burn and the soreness you get the next day will help you know that your DB only chest workout is working.
#1 cross body low to high
The cross body low to high mimics a low to high cable fly and is a great upper chest exercise if all you have access to is a pair of dumbbells.
Try going for 15-20 reps on this exercise and rest no more than 45 seconds for a crazy upper chest pump. I recommend that you perform 3-5 total sets. Watch the video above carefully to see a form breakdown to optimal upper pec activation.
#2 Incline pinch press
The incline pinch press is an upper chest exercise that you want to focus on your form more so than the weight you are lifting. I suggest you go very light on this and focus on getting an amazing squeeze.
The key to this upper chest exercise is that you activate your chest by squeezing the dumbbells together as hard as you can as you press the weight up and down directly over your upper chest.
Try doing for 15 + reps or 45 seconds time under tension for a great upper chest workout. I recommend 3-5 sets with 60 seconds or less rest ties.
#3 dumbbell pullover upper chest focused
The dumbbell pullover is a great upper chest exercise - and if you don't have access to heavy weights you can use two lighter dumbbells on this exercise like you see me doing in the video.
Traditionally I prefer to do this exercise with 1 heavy dumbbell, but when I workout at home I only have access to light dumbbells so this does the trick.
Since i'm lifting lighter, i always focus on time under tension.
The key to this upper chest exercise is that you activate your chest by squeezing your upper chest as you can as you pull weight up and directly over your upper chest.
Try doing for 15 + reps or 45 seconds time under tension for a great upper chest workout. I recommend 3-5 sets with 60 seconds or less rest ties.
Try this upper chest workout with dumbbells up to three times per week for the fastest results possible. Remember that more volume is going to equal more growth, so don't be afraid to try this routine more than once per week!
By The Way, Here’s me going through this entire workout on Youtube!
