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Dumbbell Bench Press illustration, start and end position

Illustrations: Everkinetic (Greg Priday), CC BY-SA 4.0 · cropped, resized & combined

Chest

Dumbbell Bench Press

Beginner Dumbbell Compound Chest

How to do it

  1. Sit at the end of the bench with the dumbbells standing on your thighs, then lie back and knee them up one at a time.

  2. Lock your position: shoulder blades together, chest tall, feet flat on the floor.

  3. Start with both dumbbells straight over your chest, palms facing forward or slightly angled in.

  4. Lower under control until the dumbbells are level with your chest and you feel a stretch, elbows about 45 degrees from the torso.

  5. Press back up while bringing the dumbbells slightly toward each other, but never clanging them together.

  6. To finish, tuck your knees, bring the dumbbells back to your thighs, then sit up.

Common mistakes

  • Dropping the dumbbells so deep that the shoulders roll forward and the joint gets pinched.

  • Clanging the dumbbells at the top and resting there, which kills the tension on the chest.

  • Letting the arms drift out of sync because the weaker side lags behind.

  • Throwing the dumbbells to the floor after the set instead of controlling them down.

Tips

  • Dumbbells give you more range than a barbell, so use it and lower for a full 2-3 seconds.

  • Run the first set light to check that both sides travel the same distance.

  • Once the weight is hard to get into position, have a spotter hand you the dumbbells.

Secondary muscles

Alternatives

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