You don’t need a full hour to get a solid upper body session in. Sometimes 15 minutes and a pair of dumbbells is all it takes.
This upper body dumbbell circuit workout hits your arms, back, chest, and shoulders through 8 exercises with 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. You’ll run through two rounds, so every muscle gets plenty of attention.
Grab your weights and follow along with the full dumbbell workout routine below:
Push-Ups
Before you even pick up a weight in this upper body dumbbell circuit workout, you’ll start things off on the ground with a classic.
It’s a great way to wake up your chest, shoulders, and triceps early on so they’re warmed up and ready for the dumbbell work ahead.
How to perform:
- Get down on the ground with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Choose your variation: on your toes or on your knees.
- Lower your chest toward the ground by bending your elbows.
- Push back up to the starting position.
- Perform for 30 seconds without stopping.
Overhanded Back Row
Now that your upper body is warmed up, grab your dumbbells and shift the focus to your back.
The overhand grip changes things up from a regular row, and you’ll feel the difference through your lats and rear shoulders pretty quickly.
How to perform:
- Grab your dumbbells with an overhand grip (palms facing toward you).
- Hinge forward at the hips with a nice flat back.
- Drive your elbows backward, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top.
- Control the dumbbells on the way back down.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Tricep Kickbacks
You’ll stay in that same hinged position from the rows, so the transition here is nice and smooth.
Since all the effort is isolated to your triceps, don’t be surprised if the burn sneaks up on you faster than you’d expect.
How to perform:
- Stay hinged over at the hips with a nice flat back.
- Bring your elbows back as if you were doing a back row.
- Lock your elbows in place so your upper arms don’t move.
- Extend only the lower half of your arms straight back.
- Flex and squeeze the tricep at the top of each rep.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Curl to Shoulder Press
If you like moves that give you more bang for your buck, this one’s for you.
It pairs a curl with an overhead press back to back, which makes this dumbbell workout routine feel way more efficient without adding extra time.
How to perform:
- Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand at your sides.
- Lock your elbows and curl the dumbbells up (palms facing each other).
- Once at shoulder height, press them directly overhead.
- Keep a slight bend at the top, don’t lock your elbows out.
- Lower back to your shoulders, then back down to your sides.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Back Row to Reverse Fly
This is another two-for-one move, and it’s all about strengthening your back from multiple angles.
The row takes care of the bigger muscles while the fly targets the smaller stabilizers around your shoulder blades, so you’re working on posture and strength at the same time.
How to perform:
- Hinge forward at the hips with palms facing inward toward each other.
- Drive your elbows backward for the back row, squeezing your shoulder blades.
- Bring the dumbbells back down to center.
- Turn your palms to face downward and extend your arms slightly backward for the reverse fly.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades and bring your arms back to center.
- Repeat the full sequence for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Bicep Curls
After all those compound movements, you’ll finally get a chance to zero in on your biceps.
The tempo matters here more than the weight does, because slowing things down is what really makes each rep count in this dumbbell circuit workout.
How to perform:
- Stand upright with your palms facing upward.
- Lock your elbows at your sides.
- Curl the dumbbells all the way up toward your shoulders.
- Extend your elbows all the way down at the bottom for full range of motion.
- Control the weight on the way down, don’t swing.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Chest Press
Time to head back down to the ground, and the good news is you don’t need a bench for this one.
The floor naturally limits your range of motion, which actually helps you focus on building pressing power without overextending at the bottom.
How to perform:
- Lie down on the ground with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Rest your elbows on the floor at a slight diagonal (not directly out from your shoulders).
- Press the dumbbells upward and squeeze your chest at the top.
- Slowly lower back down.
- Focus on the upward pressing motion, don’t rest too long at the bottom.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Side Lateral Raises
This is your burnout to close out each round, and fair warning, 30 seconds will feel a lot longer than it sounds.
Your shoulders are already fired up from everything before, so even a lighter weight is going to have them working hard by those final reps.
How to perform:
- Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand.
- Position your arms slightly forward, not directly out from your sides.
- Turn your palms to face downward.
- Lift both arms straight out to about shoulder height.
- Lower with control and repeat for 30 seconds as a burnout.
Overhead Tricep Extension
For Round 2, you’ll swap out the kickbacks for this overhead variation instead.
It works your triceps from a completely different angle, which is a smart way to challenge the full muscle without just repeating the same movement twice.
How to perform:
- Stand upright and hold both dumbbells together above your head.
- Lock your elbows in place so your upper arms stay still.
- Lower the dumbbells behind your head by bending only at the elbows.
- Use your triceps to press the dumbbells back up above your head.
- Perform for 40 seconds on, 20 seconds off.
Article Medically reviewed by
I’m fitness coach Ashley Castleberry, an NASM-certified personal trainer and nutritionist, as well as a coach on an established YouTube Channel with over 1 million followers. With certifications from major fitness brands, I specialize in athletic, HIIT, and strength training. Leveraging my experience coaching clients on lifestyle changes, I provide customized exercise and nutrition guidance to help people reach their fitness goals, whether that be weight loss, muscle gain or overall health improvement.
