Ditch the gym — you only need 27-minutes to build muscle in your chest and back with this dumbbell workout

woman doing dummbell chest press
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Home workouts are a great way to get fitter and stronger, and they can be used to build serious muscle as well. If you have dumbbells at home you can replicate the heavy lifts you might do in the gym, and increase both the strength and size of your muscles.

This workout from YouTube fitness duo TIFF x DAN is designed to help you strengthen your chest and back in particular. Ideally you’ll have a set of the best adjustable dumbbells to do it, because you’ll be using different weights in the session, but you can also use one set of dumbbells and increase the challenge when required by doing more reps.

Along with your dumbbells it’s also handy to have a bench or bosu ball to lie on for the chest section of the workout, though you can do it on the floor, plus a stool or table to lean on when doing the back exercises.

Watch TIFF x DAN’s 27-minute dumbbell workout

27 Min Chest and Back Workout at Home | Build Muscle Mass - YouTube 27 Min Chest and Back Workout at Home | Build Muscle Mass - YouTube
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There are two sections to the workout, with the first focusing on chest exercises and the second on back exercises. Throughout the session you work for 30 seconds and then rest for 30 seconds, and you’ll be doing three sets of each exercise you do — that’s three sets on each side when doing unilateral exercises like the bent-over row.

In the three sets the aim is to increase the weight of your dumbbell each time. Dan gives the weights he’s using throughout the session, and he increases the weight by 10lb each, For example he lifts 30lb, 40lb and then 50lb weights for the bent over row, and 40lb, 50lb and 60lb for the dumbbell chest press.

If you are using one set of dumbbells for the workout you can increase the reps in each set to follow the principle of increasing the challenge. By the end of the third set of the move you should be fairly close to failure, with this hypertrophy approach to training helping to stimulate growth in your muscles.

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As always, when lifting heavy weights it’s important to get your technique right to reduce any risk of injury and make sure you’re engaging the right muscles. Follow Dan’s form and instructions to get the most from the session, and if you have time it would be very worthwhile to warm up the muscles in your upper body before starting, and do some stretching afterwards to cool down.

This is a tough session that’s aimed at people with some experience of lifting weights, so if you’re looking for more of a beginner-friendly back workout, this 14-minute bodyweight session is a great option to do at home, while this three-move dumbbell workout is another way to target your chest.

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Nick Harris-fry
Senior Writer

Nick Harris-fry is an experienced health and fitness journalist, writing professionally since 2012. He spent nine years working on the Coach magazine and website before moving to the fitness team at Tom’s Guide in 2024. Nick is a keen runner and also the founder of YouTube channel The Run Testers, which specialises in reviewing running shoes, watches, headphones and other gear.

Nick ran his first marathon in 2016 after six weeks of training for a magazine feature and subsequently became obsessed with the sport. He now has PBs of 2hr 27min for the marathon and 15min 30sec for 5K, and has run 13 marathons in total, as well as a 50-mile ultramarathon.

He runs 50-80 miles a week and races regularly with his club, which gives him a lot of opportunity to test out running gear: he has tested and reviewed hundreds of pairs of running shoes, as well as fitness trackers, running watches, sports headphones, treadmills, and all manner of other kit. Nick is also a qualified Run Leader in the UK.