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Incline Dumbbell Press

Incline Dumbbell Press demonstration
  • Chest
  • Shoulders
  • Triceps

Equipment: Dumbbell

New to this

Your first incline dumbbell press

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

Most untrained men should start with 15 to 20 lb dumbbells, most untrained women with 8 to 12 lb. The incline is harder than it looks, so go lighter than whatever you would flat press.

You have got it right if you can do 10 reps and stop with 2 left in you, and the last rep looks the same as the first.

What usually goes wrong on the incline dumbbell press?

Set the bench to 30 degrees. Higher than that turns it into a shoulder press.

Sit down with the dumbbells on your thighs, then kick them up one at a time as you lie back. Start with the dumbbells at chest level, elbows about 45 degrees out from your ribs.

Press up and slightly in, stopping just short of locking your elbows. Lower for a count of 2 until you feel a stretch across the upper chest.

Most common mistake: setting the bench too steep. At 45 degrees or above the front delts take over and the chest barely works. Drop the pin one or two notches.

If the incline bench is taken

The machine press is the closest swap when you want the same pressing pattern with no setup; sit slightly lower in the seat than you think to hit the upper chest. Chest dips are good if you already handle bodyweight work, though they train the lower chest instead of the upper. The incline barbell version is the same angle with one bar instead of two dumbbells: easier to load, less range of motion.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand atop your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.

  2. Then, using your thighs to help push the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them at shoulder width.

  3. Once you have the dumbbells raised to shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.

  4. Be sure to keep full control of the dumbbells at all times. Then breathe out and push the dumbbells up with your chest.

  5. Lock your arms at the top, hold for a second, and then start slowly lowering the weight. Tip Ideally, lowering the weights should take about twice as long as raising them.

  6. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

  7. When you are done, place the dumbbells back on your thighs and then on the floor. This is the safest manner to release the dumbbells.