Written by Patrick Dale, PT, ex-Marine

Dumbbell Around The World Exercise

Take a look at almost every chest workout, and you’ll usually see bench presses right at the top. The bench press is a hugely popular exercise, and, after all, Monday is National Bench Press Day in pretty much every gym the world over!

While there is no denying the power of the bench press for building muscle and strength, some lifters are bench press non-responders. But, try as they might, these poor people get very little from the bench press.

They may have long arms, narrow shoulders, or shallow chests. But, regardless of the reason, the bench press just doesn’t do much for them.

Others are simply all benched out, having done the same exercise for so many years. While the bench press IS a potent exercise, it can lose some of its benefits if you do it too often or for too long.

The good news is that the bench press is NOT compulsory, and there are plenty of other exercises you can use to pump up your pecs. Good options include push-ups with a weighted vest, wide-grip parallel bar dips, and close-grip dumbbell bench presses.

And now there is another exercise you can add to your library of chest exercises – the dumbbell around the world. This isn’t a great mass builder, but it’ll leave your pecs pumped and sore, so it’s a great chest workout finisher.

We reveal why and how to do dumbbell around the worlds and the best variations and alternatives.

Although there is quite a lot going on during dumbbell around the worlds, all the movement happens at one joint, which makes this an isolation exercise. The main muscles involved in dumbbell around the worlds are:

Pectoralis major – known as the pecs for short, this is the fan-shaped muscle of your upper chest. There are several sets of fibers that originate from various points on your sternum, clavicles, and superior ribs and insert onto your humerus or upper arm bone. As such, you have an upper, middle, and lower chest, although this is all basically the same muscle.

The actions of the pecs include flexion, horizontal flexion, and medial rotation of the shoulder joint.

Deltoids – these are your primary shoulder muscles. Often called the delts for short, there are three sections or heads to this muscle: anterior or front, medial or middle, and posterior or rear. All three are involved in dumbbell around the world. Still, the anterior is most active, while the other two act as stabilizers.

Biceps – most chest exercises involve the triceps, but this one’s a little different. When doing dumbbell around the worlds, your biceps work with your deltoids to flex your shoulders and keep your arms slightly bent. This isn’t a huge amount of work, but it still means your biceps get an indirect workout from this exercise.

Triceps – located on the back of your upper arm, the triceps must work with your biceps to keep your arms rigid. As with the biceps, this is not a big task, but you may still feel your triceps working.

Get more from dumbbell around the world while keeping your risk of injury to a minimum by following these guidelines:

Not sure if dumbbell around the worlds deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide!

While dumbbell around the worlds are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:

Dumbbell Around the Worlds are an effective chest exercise, but that doesn’t mean you need to do it all the time. There are variations and several alternatives you can use to keep your workouts productive and interesting:

Where regular around the worlds work your chest, this standing variation is all about your deltoids. Like the supine version, this exercise is best done with light dumbbells for medium to high reps, so you get a great burn and pump in the target muscles. It works your anterior and medial deltoids.

This exercise combines two movements to train your chest in two different ways. Like around the worlds, this exercise doesn’t need a lot of weight to make it effective. Technically, this is a pre-exhaust superset, which is a widely recognized hypertrophy (muscle building) training method.

Archer push-ups are a bodyweight exercise that loads one side of your chest more than the other and also keeps your muscles under constant tension. As such, this is a very useful bodyweight alternative to around the worlds for anyone who prefers bodyweight exercises to training with dumbbells.

The dumbbell squeeze press, also known as the close grip dumbbell press, keeps your chest under constant tension and requires only light to moderate weights to deliver a powerful, pec-pumping workout. While it’s best done using hex dumbbells, any kind of dumbbell can work if you keep them close together.

While we don’t know who Svend is or was, we’re grateful for the constant chest tension exercise that is named after him! You won’t need a lot of weight for this exercise, but even so, you’ll definitely feel it working. This is a great finisher for the end of your regular chest workout.  

The Svend press is very similar to the close grip dumbbell press because it also involves pressing two weights together. However, instead of dumbbells, you use weight plates for this exercise.

Doing push-ups with your hands on a medicine ball force you to press your hands together, increasing chest muscle activation. This is a challenging progression from push-ups with your hands on the floor but a very effective chest hypertrophy exercise. Bend your legs and rest on your knees if you cannot do this exercise with good form.

While the setup for this exercise is a little convoluted, it will generate a lot of tension in your pecs. As you press the weights up, the tension from the cables is trying to pull your arms apart, so you’ll have to work extra hard to overcome resistance from two directions at the same time. This all adds up to one of the most demanding chest exercises around!

Exercise variation is the key to interesting and productive workouts. Once you start to get bored of your training, you’ll not only lose motivation, but your workout will cease to be as productive.

That’s why no one-size-fits-all training program exists – even the best workout will stop working once you become accustomed to it.

So, avoid training ruts by making small changes to your workout week by week and more significant changes every couple of months. This includes adding new and unusual exercises to your training from time to time.

The dumbbell around the world hits your chest from an unusual angle, uses a large range of motion, and creates a lot of muscle tension with light weights. As such, it’s a valuable addition to your pec workout library.

Try it; you’re gonna like it!

Patrick Dale is an ex-British Royal Marine, gym owner, and fitness qualifications tutor and assessor. In addition, Patrick is a freelance writer who has authored three fitness and exercise books, dozens of e-books, thousands of articles, and several fitness videos. He’s not just an armchair fitness expert; Patrick practices what he preaches! He has competed at a high level in numerous sports, including rugby, triathlon, rock climbing, trampolining, powerlifting, and, most recently, stand up paddleboarding. When not lecturing, training, researching, or writing, Patrick is busy enjoying the sunny climate of Cyprus, where he has lived for the last 20-years.

Nothing ruins a good workout like bad spotting. Bad spotting can disrupt your set, rob you of the intensity necessary...

Fitness technology has come a long way in the last few decades, and most commercial gyms are full of state-of-the-art...

Increasingly, we are living in a glute-less society. While booty girls rule Instagram, a significant and growing number of men...

The term dumbbell is often used to describe someone stupid like, “Dude, you’re SUCH a dumbbell!” But there is nothing...

While there is nothing wrong with training to look fit and strong, some exercisers want to perform better too. After...

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

At FitnessVolt.com Our mission is to help our readers to achieve their fitness goals, regardless of where you’re at on your journey, we are on a mission to educate You with the latest from strength and fitness space. Read more. Email: sm(at)fitnessvolt.com Disclosure: FitnessVolt.com has an affiliate relationship with different brands and is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. However, our reviews are based on well research backed analysis.

© Copyright 2010 - 2022 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.

© Copyright 2010 - 2022 Fitness Volt IBC. All Rights Reserved.