Exercise library

Exercises with dumbbells

123 exercises you can do with dumbbells. Tap for technique and tips.

Dumbbells are arguably the most versatile equipment in the gym—123 exercises covering everything from calves to shoulders, with every muscle group trained from multiple angles.

What sets dumbbells apart from barbells is that your arms move independently. This forces your stabilizer muscles to work actively in every rep, and the range of motion becomes naturally larger. The effect shows quickly in balance and control.

The shoulders accommodate the most exercises—36 total. Biceps and triceps combined make up another 41. Beyond that, chest, back, quads, forearms and calves are all covered.

Shoulders, arms and chest

Shoulders can be trained from almost every angle. The Arnold press and Cuban press challenge the entire deltoid, while alternating dumbbell raises and incline bench front delt fly with head support isolate specific parts of the shoulder musculature with precision.

For biceps, concentration curls and alternating dumbbell curls on an incline bench deliver deep isolation, while alternating hammer curls and cross-body hammer curls stress the brachialis and forearms harder. Triceps face resistance in decline dumbbell extensions and narrow-grip dumbbell presses. The chest works in dumbbell flyes, decline dumbbell flyes and dumbbell bench press with neutral grip—three exercises with distinctly different loading angles.

Back, full body and supporting muscles

Bent-over dumbbell rows and bent-over dumbbell rows with palms facing in train the mid-back with grip variations that shift which muscles dominate. Dumbbell rows on an incline bench eliminate body swing—an advantage if you want to isolate the lats.

Pullover with bent arms, dumbbell cleans and dumbbell power cleans are exercises that span multiple joints and muscle chains. Calf raises with dumbbells and exercises for the quads and forearms ensure no muscle is left without work. It's this coverage—123 exercises, eight muscle groups—that makes dumbbells a complete solution whether you train at home or at the gym.

The exercises

Alternate Hammer Curlbicepsbeginner Alternate Incline Dumbbell Curlbicepsbeginner Alternating Deltoid Raiseshouldersbeginner Arnold Dumbbell Pressshouldersintermediate Around The Worldschestintermediate Bent Over Dumbbell Rear Delt Raise With Head On Benchshouldersbeginner Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Rowmid backbeginner Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row With Palms Inmid backbeginner Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pulloverchestintermediate Calf Raise On A Dumbbellcalvesintermediate Close-Grip Dumbbell Presstricepsbeginner Concentration Curlsbicepsbeginner Cross Body Hammer Curlbicepsbeginner Cuban Pressshouldersintermediate Decline Dumbbell Bench Presschestbeginner Decline Dumbbell Flyeschestbeginner Decline Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Dumbbell Alternate Bicep Curlbicepsbeginner Dumbbell Bench Presschestbeginner Dumbbell Bench Press with Neutral Gripchestbeginner Dumbbell Bicep Curlbicepsbeginner Dumbbell Cleanhamstringsintermediate Dumbbell Floor Presstricepsintermediate Dumbbell Flyeschestbeginner Dumbbell Incline Rowmid backbeginner Dumbbell Incline Shoulder Raiseshouldersbeginner Dumbbell Lungesquadsbeginner Dumbbell Lying One-Arm Rear Lateral Raiseshouldersintermediate Dumbbell Lying Pronationforearmsintermediate Dumbbell Lying Rear Lateral Raiseshouldersintermediate Dumbbell Lying Supinationforearmsintermediate Dumbbell One-Arm Shoulder Pressshouldersintermediate Dumbbell One-Arm Triceps Extensiontricepsintermediate Dumbbell One-Arm Upright Rowshouldersintermediate Dumbbell Prone Incline Curlbicepsintermediate Dumbbell Raiseshouldersbeginner Dumbbell Rear Lungequadsintermediate Dumbbell Scaptionshouldersbeginner Dumbbell Seated Box Jumpquadsintermediate Dumbbell Seated One-Leg Calf Raisecalvesbeginner Dumbbell Shoulder Pressshouldersintermediate Dumbbell Shrugtrapsbeginner Dumbbell Side Bendabsbeginner Dumbbell Squatquadsbeginner Dumbbell Squat To A Benchquadsintermediate Dumbbell Step Upsquadsintermediate Dumbbell Tricep Extension -Pronated Griptricepsbeginner External Rotationshouldersbeginner Flexor Incline Dumbbell Curlsbicepsbeginner Front Dumbbell Raiseshouldersbeginner Front Incline Dumbbell Raiseshouldersbeginner Front Two-Dumbbell Raiseshouldersbeginner Hammer Curlsbicepsbeginner Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Presschestbeginner Incline Dumbbell Bench With Palms Facing Inchestbeginner Incline Dumbbell Curlbicepsbeginner Incline Dumbbell Flyeschestbeginner Incline Dumbbell Flyes - With A Twistchestbeginner Incline Dumbbell Presschestbeginner Incline Hammer Curlsbicepsbeginner Incline Inner Biceps Curlbicepsbeginner Iron Crossshouldersintermediate Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extensiontricepsintermediate Lying One-Arm Lateral Raiseshouldersintermediate Lying Rear Delt Raiseshouldersintermediate Lying Supine Dumbbell Curlbicepsbeginner Middle Back Shrugmid backintermediate One Arm Dumbbell Bench Presschestbeginner One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curlbicepsbeginner One Arm Pronated Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner One Arm Supinated Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner One-Arm Dumbbell Rowmid backbeginner One-Arm Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyechestbeginner One-Arm Incline Lateral Raiseshouldersbeginner One-Arm Side Lateralsshouldersbeginner Palms-Down Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Benchforearmsbeginner Palms-Up Dumbbell Wrist Curl Over A Benchforearmsbeginner Plie Dumbbell Squatquadsbeginner Power Partialsshouldersbeginner Preacher Hammer Dumbbell Curlbicepsbeginner Reverse Flyesshouldersbeginner Reverse Flyes With External Rotationshouldersintermediate Seated Bent-Over One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raiseshouldersintermediate Seated Bent-Over Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsintermediate Seated Dumbbell Curlbicepsbeginner Seated Dumbbell Inner Biceps Curlbicepsbeginner Seated Dumbbell Palms-Down Wrist Curlforearmsbeginner Seated Dumbbell Palms-Up Wrist Curlforearmsbeginner Seated Dumbbell Pressshouldersbeginner Seated One-Arm Dumbbell Palms-Down Wrist Curlforearmsintermediate Seated One-Arm Dumbbell Palms-Up Wrist Curlforearmsbeginner Seated Side Lateral Raiseshouldersbeginner Seated Triceps Presstricepsbeginner See-Saw Press (Alternating Side Press)shouldersintermediate Side Lateral Raiseshouldersbeginner Side Laterals to Front Raiseshouldersbeginner Single Dumbbell Raiseshouldersbeginner Spell Casterabsbeginner Split Squat with Dumbbellsquadsbeginner Standing Alternating Dumbbell Pressshouldersbeginner Standing Bent-Over One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Standing Bent-Over Two-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Standing Concentration Curlbicepsbeginner Standing Dumbbell Calf Raisecalvesintermediate Standing Dumbbell Pressshouldersbeginner Standing Dumbbell Reverse Curlbicepsintermediate Standing Dumbbell Straight-Arm Front Delt Raise Above Headshouldersintermediate Standing Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Standing Dumbbell Upright Rowtrapsbeginner Standing Inner-Biceps Curlbicepsintermediate Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Curl Over Incline Benchbicepsbeginner Standing One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extensiontricepsbeginner Standing Palm-In One-Arm Dumbbell Pressshouldersbeginner Standing Palms-In Dumbbell Pressshouldersintermediate Stiff-Legged Dumbbell Deadlifthamstringsbeginner Straight-Arm Dumbbell Pulloverchestintermediate Tate Presstricepsintermediate Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacktricepsbeginner Two-Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curlbicepsbeginner Vertical Swinghamstringsbeginner Zottman Curlbicepsintermediate Zottman Preacher Curlbicepsintermediate