Dumbbell Bench Press

Chest
Shoulders
Triceps

Equipment: Dumbbell

New to this

Your first dumbbell bench press

What weight should I start with on the dumbbell bench press?

Start with 15 or 20 lb dumbbells for 2 sets of 8. Lighter than you'd guess, because each arm now has to stabilise its own weight and that is most of the difficulty at first.

Getting into position is its own skill. Sit on the end of the bench with the dumbbells on your thighs, then lie back and let your legs kick them up into place.

When you finish a set, don't try to lower them slowly. Bring them to your chest, sit up with the movement, and set them down.

What usually goes wrong on the dumbbell bench press?

The dumbbells drift apart at the top. Press them up and slightly toward each other so they finish above your chest, not out beside your shoulders.

One arm lags behind the other. Slow the whole set down until they move together. This is normal and it evens out within a few weeks.

Your elbows go straight out to the sides at the bottom. Keep them at roughly 45 degrees from your body, same as the barbell version.

If the heavy dumbbells are gone

Someone always has the 40s. A machine press gets you the same work with no setup, and the single-arm version lets you use a lighter weight for longer.

How to do it

Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand resting on top of your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.
Then, using your thighs to help raise the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them in front of you at shoulder width.
Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. The dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest, with your upper arm and forearm creating a 90 degree angle. Be sure to maintain full control of the dumbbells at all times. This will be your starting position.
Then, as you breathe out, use your chest to push the dumbbells up. Lock your arms at the top of the lift and squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then begin coming down slowly.
Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.