Most people know that strength training exercises like pushups can help you build muscle. But what are some types of dumbbell pushups and why would you do them?
Pushups are a typical bodyweight compound exercise. They are a convenient way to work out a wide variety of muscles at home without any equipment. There are also many pushup variations with a slightly different focus.
Dumbbells are handles with weights attached to them, they are one of the most popular types of gym equipment, and for a good reason.
Dumbbells can play a role in many exercises for a wide variety of muscles including a few pushup variations.
For these exercises, you preferably want hex dumbbells. The weights on these are shaped in a hexagon which makes it harder for them to roll away during your pushups.
You can use regular round dumbbells too but these may require an extra effort to keep in place.
The best weight for dumbbell pushups varies from exercise to exercise and individual to individual. If you are not sure which weight would be right for you, you can start with light or no dumbbells and slowly build up from there.
Keep in mind that even though there are upsides, your injury risk is generally also higher when you do exercises with more weight/resistance. You may want to talk to your primary care provider before starting a new workout routine.
1. Renegade row pushups
Renegade row pushups are basically a pushup combined with a dumbbell row.
Because of this extra movement, you also engage muscles like lats, traps, and other back muscles more on top of the standard muscles you work with pushups.
Take the following steps to do a renegade row pushup:
- Place the dumbbells on the ground at about shoulder width and the grips at horizontal lines with each other.
- Get into the position where your face is facing the floor with your hands on the dumbbell grips. Your arms are stretched and your knees are on the ground.
- Move your feet back until your body is in a straight line. If you notice you need more stability during the exercise you can put your feet slightly more apart.
- Slowly fold your arms at your elbows until your face is close to the ground. Your upper arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees or less to your sides.
- Stretch your arms again until you are back in the position of step 3.
- Raise one dumbbell upward until it is at the height of your upper body. Keep your elbow close to your body and mainly use your back muscles for this movement.
- Lower the dumbbell back into the position of step 3 and do a repetition where you lift the dumbbell on the other side.
The pushup statistics about how much of your body weight rests on the typical muscles will not change much in this variation.
That means the main benefit of renegade row pushups over regular pushups is that they help you train the extra muscles mentioned above. You also train your balance and combination more with renegade row pushups.
A downside is your muscles may fatigue too much for one of the two parts of the exercise. If you stop at that point the muscles of the other part may not get enough of a workout.
2. T pushups
Take the following steps to do T pushups with dumbbells:
- Place the dumbbells on the ground at about shoulder width. You can put the grips at an angle that is safe and comfortable to you, for example at horizontal lines with each other.
- Get into the position where your face is facing the floor with your hands on the dumbbell grips. Your arms are stretched and your knees are on the ground.
- Move your feet back until your body is in a straight line. If you notice you need more stability during the exercise you can put your feet slightly more apart.
- Slowly fold your arms at your elbows until your face is close to the ground. Your upper arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees or less to your sides.
- Stretch your arms again until you are back in the position of step 3.
- Move one arm holding a dumbbell sideways and upward until both of your stretched arms are more or less in one line. Your body will be in a T-shape. Keep your arms slightly less than stretched during this movement.
- Lower the arm in the air back into the position of step 3 and do a repetition where you lift the dumbbell on the other side.
The twist at the top of the movement of T pushups makes it so you train your obliques and shoulders more compared to regular pushups.
Dumbbells are one of the few options you have to make bodyweight pushups more challenging. Compared to renegade row pushups the weight of your dumbbells for T pushups should be relatively low.
3. Neutral grip pushups
Pushups are an extremely popular bodyweight exercise. A good pair of dumbbells allows you to do this exercise with a neutral grip. To do a neutral grip pushup take the following steps:
- Place the dumbbells on the ground at about shoulder width with the handles horizontal to each other.
- Get into the position where your face is facing the floor with your hands on the dumbbells. Your arms are stretched and your knees are on the ground.
- Move your feet back until your body is in a straight line.
- Slowly fold your arms at your elbows until your face is close to the ground. Your arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees or less to your sides. Another way to put it is if someone is looking down at you from above your arms should make an arrow, not a T.
- Stretch your arms again until you are back in the position of step 3.
This different grip may make it slightly easier to do pushups and pushup variations like tricep pushups with a good technique. Neutral grip pushups may also be more comfortable for your wrists.
The muscles you work with neutral grip pushups are similar to regular ones.
This means that some of the muscles you engage with this compound exercise include: triceps, chest, deltoids, core, glutes, quadriceps, erector spinae, and lower back.
4. Weighted pushup
For this type of dumbbell pushup, you preferably have a partner and a hex dumbbell. To do a weighted pushup with a dumbbell take the following steps:
- Lie on your stomach on the ground.
- Get a dumbbell on your lower back or butt in a way that it doesn’t slip off during the pushup. You benefit from having a partner to help you out.
- Put your hands about shoulder width apart under your chest/shoulders. Keep your upper arms at about 45 degrees or less to your sides. Make sure the front parts of your feet are on the ground.
- Push yourself up by stretching your arms until they are fully stretched. Keep your back straight during this movement.
- Slowly fold your arms at your elbows until your face is close to the ground. Your arms should be at an angle of about 45 degrees or less to your sides.
- Alternate between steps 4 and 5 for a certain number of repetitions.
There are better tools to do weighted pushups, dumbbells can relatively easily slide off your back. Some examples of more suited equipment are a weighted vest, resistance bands, and a weight plate.
That being said, even if you only have this type of weight you should be able to use dumbbells to do a weighted pushup.
Strength training exercises done with more resistance will generally allow you to build more muscle faster. The same goes for this type of dumbbell pushup compared to the standard version.
