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Dumbbell Bench Press anatomy plate showing the working muscles

Chest · Horizontal press

Dumbbell Bench Press

The dumbbell bench press is a dumbbell horizontal press movement for the chest. Here is the setup, the execution, the mistakes worth avoiding, and how to program it.

Equipment

Dumbbell

Trains

Chest

Level

Intermediate

DUMBBELLS OVER CHESTFEET DRIVEN

Muscles worked

Chest through the mid range, front delts out of the bottom, triceps to finish the lockout.

Set up

  1. 1

    Set the shoulder blades down and back into the bench, chest up, and keep them pinned for every rep.

  2. 2

    Grip the dumbbell so the wrists stack over the elbows, not behind them.

  3. 3

    Drive the feet into the floor and keep a small arch through the upper back.

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lower under control, about two to three seconds, to the point of full stretch.

  2. 2

    Elbows tucked around 45 degrees from the body. DUMBBELLS OVER CHEST

  3. 3

    Press back up and slightly back toward the shoulders, not straight out over the face.

  4. 4

    Lock out without letting the shoulder blades come unglued.

Common mistakes

  • Elbows flared to 90 degrees

    Fix: Tuck to around 45 degrees so the shoulder stays out of the front of the socket.

  • Bouncing off the chest

    Fix: Touch and press. If it needs a bounce, it is too heavy.

  • Shoulder blades unglued

    Fix: Pin them down and back and keep them there through lockout.

How to program it

Sets

3 to 4

Reps

6 to 10

Rest

2 min

Two pressing days a week beats one, as long as volume stays honest.

No gym version

Push up variations: elevate the feet to make it harder, hands on a counter to make it easier.

Questions

More chest work

Knowing the lift is the easy part.

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