Dumbbell Chest Press

Exercise Details for Dumbell Chest Press

  • Primary Muscle
    Pec
  • Secondary Muscle
    Front Delt, Triceps
  • Equipment
    Bumbbell
  • Level
    Easy

Why Should You do Dumbell Chest Press?

Dumbbell Chest Press mainly trains your chest muscles but also the triceps and front shoulders. The exercise is done lying down with your back on a bench. If the bench is entirely flat, the focus will be on the middle part of your chest, but the more inclined the bench is, the more the shoulders will take over. When you sit completely straight back, the exercise has turned into a clean shoulder and triceps exercise.

Performance

Select a pair of suitable dumbbells. Sit on the bench with the dumbbells in front of you on the floor at your feet. Lift the dumbbells one at a time on your knees. Then lift them so that they reach your shoulders. Use your knees for this; if you use a heavy weight, kick the leg up. Lean back with your back but keep your arms so that the dumbbells remain at your armpits. Angle your elbows away from your body. You can also lean back while lifting both your knees and transfer the dumbbells from the knees to your armpits.

Make sure your feet are well pressed against the floor and keep them behind your knees. You are now in your start position.

Slowly lift the dumbbells to the ceiling by straightening your arms. Be sure to keep your hands directly above your elbows as much as you can during the movement. Your arms should not flap 90 degrees out from the body but rather 70. If you drive at a 90-degree angle, your shoulders will take a lot of strain due to the rotation inside them. If you get a slight angle, your triceps will take over the lift, aiming at about 70 degrees.

Exhale on the way up. Hold for a short while and squeeze in the top position before slowly lowering the dumbbells down again.

Inclination of the Bench

By varying the inclination of the bench, you can move the load more towards the upper part of the chest. The shoulders are also increasingly engaged the more of an inclination the bench has. In the end, the exercise turns into a pure shoulder exercise.

Guide for Dumbell Chest Press

  • Be careful when lifting the dumbbells, use your knees
  • Pull back your shoulders, pinch your shoulder blades together and push your chest forwardNever push your shoulders forward
  • Keep your shoulders down
  • Try to keep your hands directly above your elbows 
  • Aim for an angle between body and upper arms of about 70 degrees
  • Push the weight up in a controlled manner and lower it in a calm way with tension in the muscles you are exercising
  • Exhale on the way up and inhale on the way down

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