Forget pull-ups — you just need a set of dumbbells and 5 exercises to build your back and biceps

Man performing dumbbell lateral raises during upper body workout using two dumbbells.

Here are five dumbbell exercises that can build your back and biceps muscles without a load of gym equipment. 

You can build your back and biceps using a medium-heavy set of weights like the best adjustable dumbbells and progressively overload your muscles using weight, volume, or both. Add these to your existing program or use them as a standalone resistance circuit.