Chest exercises with dumbbells

What do dumbbells give the chest that a barbell can't?

The bottom of the range, above all. A barbell comes to rest on your chest and that is where the movement ends, no matter how much room is left in the shoulder. Dumbbells pass that line, so the chest works through a stretch of the path that simply doesn't exist with a bar. The catalog describes the same thing from the other side on flyes: the dumbbells come down until the arms are parallel to the floor or slightly below.

The second thing is independent arms. Under one bar the stronger side can quietly add a few percent for years and nobody notices. With two dumbbells the difference shows up in the first set, because the weaker arm finishes sooner. Hence the single-arm versions on the list - one-arm presses and one-arm flyes, where the other hand only stabilizes.

The price is that you have to get the dumbbells over your chest first, and with a heavier pair that is a skill of its own. Until you have it, the versions lying on the floor are simpler: you pick the dumbbell up off the ground beside you instead of from overhead.

Bench or floor?

The floor stops your elbow before the arm finishes traveling. That limits the range, but it can be an advantage - with a cranky shoulder the bottom of a press is usually the spot that speaks up, and the floor version doesn't let you get there. It is also the only sensible option at home without a bench, and the catalog has plenty of it: one-arm presses, presses with the elbow tucked to the torso, flyes lying on the floor.

A bench opens the full path and lets you use what dumbbells do best. If you are picking a single movement, the flat dumbbell bench press covers the most ground: it loads the chest, brings in the triceps and the front delt, and it is the easiest one to record progress in.

The pullover sits a little to the side of both groups. The chest works there in a different position, together with the lats, and the elbow stays slightly bent through the whole arc. The catalog warns outright not to go too deep behind your head, because that is where the shoulder's comfortable range ends.