LiftSets

LiftSets / Exercises / Dumbbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Bench Press

Works the chest. Helped by the shoulders and triceps.

Dumbbell Bench Press, start position, with the working muscles highlighted
Start
Dumbbell Bench Press, finish position, with the working muscles highlighted
Finish

Bright blue is the target muscle. Darker blue is helping. The app shows this as a moving demo.

Muscles worked

chestshoulderstriceps

How many reps

GoalReps per set
Strength3-6
Muscle size6-10
Endurance12-20+

Whatever the number, the set should end within a rep or two of the point where you could not do another with good form.

KitDumbbell
LevelBeginner

What to think about

How to do it

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.

Other exercises for the chest

Track it in LiftSets

Log Dumbbell Bench Press with last time's numbers in front of you, a rest timer on your lock screen and a graph of your progress.

Coming soon to the App Store