Quick Dumbbell Chest and Tricep Workout

Chest and Tricep Workouts

Bodybuilders and powerlifters often incorporate chest and tricep workouts in their training routines. This workout program is designed to focus solely on these two muscle groups, with the aim of building both size and strength.

Combining these complimentary muscle groups makes sense because they are frequently used together during pushing movements like the bench press. It’s also more efficient than training a single muscle group in every workout.

Finally, by working on your chest and triceps on the same day, you minimize the risk of overtraining one or the other, which can happen if you train your chest one day and triceps the next.

Benefits of Chest and Tricep Workouts

• Combine complementary muscle groups.
• Increase workout efficiency.
• Reduce the risk of overtraining.

Choosing Your Workout Split

The chest and tricep workout is best used with a modified bro split, where you train one or two muscle groups in every session. This allows you to train your entire body in as few as four days per week.

However, you can expand on the bro split even further and train specific muscle groups twice per week. Some studies suggest this is the ideal frequency to maximize size and strength gains¹.

There are many options for creating a workout split involving a chest and tricep day; here are some of the most common.

Example 4-day Workout Split

1. Chest and Triceps
2. Back and Biceps
3. Legs
4. Shoulders

This workout split could be done in four consecutive days with three rest days. Or you could do it two days on, one day off, two days on, two days off.

The benefit of this split is that you train every muscle group in just four days per week. And there is ample rest and recovery time between workouts.

Example 5-day Workout Split

1. Chest and Triceps
2. Back and Biceps
3. Legs
4. Shoulders
5. Arms

Performing the five-day split involves working out on consecutive days, typically from Monday to Friday. However, you can exercise on any day of the week that suits your schedule. 

One of the key benefits of this workout split is that it enables you to target your biceps and triceps twice a week, which are muscles that many people like to focus on.

Example 6-day Workout Split

1. Chest and Triceps
2. Back and Biceps
3. Legs and Shoulders
4. Chest and Triceps
5. Back and Biceps
6. Legs and Shoulders

This more advanced workout split targets every major muscle group twice a week. However, it involves only one rest day, which means you must have your recovery dialed in.

Remember that you can also change the order of these workouts to fit your schedule and avoid training a muscle when it’s still sore.

Using Dumbbells

You can use various exercise equipment during a chest and triceps workout, including barbells, dumbbells, cables, and machines. However, dumbbells offer some advantages over other equipment.

First, dumbbells are relatively accessible and affordable compared to larger weight sets or machines. So, it’s easy to build a simple home gym with only a modest set of dumbbells.

Second, free weights like dumbbells work more muscle groups than machines or cables, which is great for overall strength. The unilateral aspect of dumbbells requires more stabilization than barbells.

Most importantly, dumbbells allow you to quickly transition between exercises, saving time and increasing workout intensity and calories burned.

Supersets

Supersets are a form of resistance training where you perform two different exercises back to back with little to no rest in between. Usually, the two exercises target different muscle groups, but they can also target the same muscle group from different angles.

For example, you could do a set of bench press followed immediately by tricep extensions to work complementary muscle groups. Or you could do a bench press before a set of chest flies to target the same muscles differently.

Conversely, you can also perform the isolation exercise (fly) before the compound exercise (bench press) to ensure the target muscle (chest) fails first. This is called the pre-exhaust technique, which works excellent with dumbbell exercises.

Dumbbell Chest and Tricep Workout

If your dumbbells aren’t heavy enough to challenge you on the bench press movement, the pre-exhaust technique makes your workout more challenging with less weight. To do it, start your workout with a dumbbell fly exercise and then go straight into a dumbbell bench variation.

You should notice that your pectorals fatigue much faster, even with lighter dumbbells. And your chest will almost definitely fail before supporting muscles like the shoulders and triceps.

Since you have the bench set up, you can jump into a lying dumbbell tricep extension or skull crusher. After this exercise, rest until you catch your breath and perform two more supersets with the same exercises.

The next superset is a chest dip combined with the overhead dumbbell tricep extension or French press. You can perform weighted dips with a plate or dumbbell to make it more challenging.

Again, rest briefly after the back-to-back exercises and repeat the superset two more times. Aim to get at least 5 reps but not more than 15 reps on set.

Dumbbell Chest & Tricep Workout With Supersets

Superset These 3 Exercises

1. Dumbbell Fly
2. Incline Dumbbell Press
3. Dumbbell Skull Crusher

Rest for 1-2 minutes and repeat the superset a total of three times.

Next, Superset These 2 Exercises

1. Chest Dips
2. Dumbbell French Press

Rest for 1-2 minutes and repeat the superset a total of three times.

While using supersets in your dumbbell chest and triceps workout is an option, it’s not mandatory. If you have more time, you can use straight sets.

With straight sets, you perform all sets of a single exercise before moving on to the next. This approach uses longer rest periods, usually around two minutes.

Longer breaks allow your heart rate to come down and the ATP energy pathway to recover. This way, you’ll be able to lift heavier weights, which is ideal for strength gains.

In this chest and tricep workout, the heavy compound movements are given priority. Later in the workout, isolation exercises and smaller muscle groups are targeted.

Dumbbell Chest & Tricep Workout Straight Sets

1. Dumbbell Bench Press
   • 3 sets, 5-8 reps
2. Dips
   • 3 sets, 8-12 reps
3. Incline Dumbbell Fly
   • 3 sets, 10-15 reps
4. Dumbbell Skull Crusher
   • 3 sets, 8-12 reps
5. Dumbbell French Press
   • 3 sets, 8-12 reps

Chest and Tricep Exercises

Next, I’ll walk you through how to perform the dumbbell chest and tricep exercises to ensure you activate the muscles properly and safely. I’ll also provide some exercise alternatives to work with whatever gym equipment you have.

Dumbbell Fly

The dumbbell fly is considered an isolation chest exercise since most of the movement occurs around the shoulder joint. As a result, it targets the pectorals with minimal help from the shoulders or triceps.

You can do dumbbell flies on a bench with different angles to target the upper or lower chest. However, the flat bench dumbbell fly is excellent for activating the entire chest.

When doing dumbbell flies, focus on using a slow and controlled motion to keep tension on the pectorals. Feel the chest stretch at the bottom and squeeze at the top.