Resistance training or lifting weights, like doing dumbbell workout routines or machine exercises, is one of the best ways to get fit, and for men, to gain huge muscles for a ripped physique. Fitness centers and workout gyms are the popular venues for getting your fitness on, and at this places we can always find all sorts of machines and weights to help you get that physique you’ve always wanted.

One of the most common equipment used in the quest for an ideal body are dumbbells. Dumbbells are classified as a type of free weight used in resistance or weight training, either in pairs or individually. They are a staple in fitness centers and workout gyms because of its versatility, and probably the easiest to acquire for use in homes. This kind of exercise equipment is essential for upper body workouts, mainly the chest, shoulders and back area. Let’s go through a few of the best dumbbell workout routines that target the important areas of your torso.

But before diving into any dumbbell workout routines, it is important to do warm up exercises. This gets the blood flowing in your target muscle area and activates all those muscle fibers for more serious lifting post warm up, while lowering the chances of acquiring unfortunate injuries.

The chest or pectorals is one of the more focused areas for weight training, especially in men. The most popular exercise routine for this is the bench press, and it focuses on three target areas for the chest: the upper chest, the middle and the lower chest area. Each muscle area has a specific exercise routine that can utilize dumbbells. We have the inclined press specifically targeting the upper pectorals, the flat press for the middle chest area and the declined press for the lower area.

The bench press is done by lying down with your back on a bench and holding dumbbells on each hand right in front of your chest. You then push the dumbbells out in front as far as you can, and lower them back to the front of the chest. Make sure you tuck your elbows in the sides of your body for proper form.

The deltoids are the rounded contour muscles of the shoulders. To develop this muscle area, you can do the seated shoulder overhead press, the front raise and the upright row to target most of the shoulder area muscles. There are a few other variations of this dumbbell exercise routine to target more specific areas of the deltoids like the popular Arnold Press, named after former Mr. Universe and ex-California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The seated shoulder overhead press is done by holding both dumbbells just above the shoulders and pushing both upward above the head. Front raises are done by holding both dumbbells in front of your thighs and raising both forward up to shoulder height. The upright row involves holding both dumbbells in the same starting position as doing the front raise, and lifting both up along the length of the body until reaching the front of the shoulders.

There are a few sets of back muscles found in our anatomy, but the most worked are the latissimus dorsi, located below our arms; the trapezius, which are trapezoid shaped muscles that cover the neck, scapula or shoulder blades down to the middle of the spine; and the rhomboids, rhombus shaped muscles that are mainly associated with the shoulder blades.

For the latissimus dorsi, or what is commonly known as the ‘lats,’ you can do the kneeling one arm row. This is done by kneeling on one knee on a bench, with one arm used as support while your body is parallel to the bench, making sure you have the correct form to protect your back, with your knees slightly bent on your standing leg. With a dumbbell on one hand hanging down, pull them up towards the side of your chest. Do the same on the other hand.

To work the trapezius, you can do shoulder shrugs. This is basically an exercise where you just lift your shoulders like doing a shrug gesture while holding on to dumbbells in both hands.

For a nice rhomboid workout, the bent over dumbbell row can surely hit the spot. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward at the hips at a 70 to 80 degree angle to get to the right form. With your arms hanging down directly from your shoulders pull both dumbbells up to the side of your chests.

These are only a few of the exercises that can be done using dumbbells, as there are a lot more that can target specific muscle areas. The great thing about dumbbell workout routines is they can easily be done at home as long as you have the right equipment. Check out our Bowflex Selecttech 522 Review for the most convenient and cost-effective dumbbell product out in the market.