Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeStrength
- Equipment RequiredDumbbell
- MechanicsCompound
- Force TypePush (Bilateral)
- Experience LevelBeginner
- Secondary Muscles
Shoulders, Triceps
Chest
Dumbbell Bench Press Overview
The dumbbell bench press is a variation of the barbell bench press and an exercise used to build the muscles of the chest.
Often times, the dumbbell bench press is recommended after reaching a certain point of strength on the barbell bench press to avoid pec and shoulder injuries.
Additionally, the dumbbell bench press provides an ego check in the amount of weight used due to the need to maintain shoulder stability throughout the exercise.
The exercise itself can be featured as a main lift in your workouts or an accessory lift to the bench press depending on your goals.
Dumbbell Bench Press Instructions
- Pick up the dumbbells off the floor using a neutral grip (palms facing in). Position the ends of the dumbbells in your hip crease, and sit down on the bench.
- To get into position, lay back and keep the weights close to your chest. Once you are in position, take a deep breath, and press the dumbbells to lockout at the top.
- Slowly lower the dumbbells under control as far as comfortably possible (the handles should be about level with your chest).
- Contract the chest and push the dumbbells back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
**Dropping the dumbbells to the side is discouraged unless you are experienced with the technique or using excessively heavy weights.
**Ideally you should twist the dumbbells back to neutral (palms facing each other), bring your knees up so the ends of the dumbbells are touching your thighs, then use the weight of the dumbbells to rock back to an upright, seated position.
Dumbbell Bench Press Tips
- Maintain more tension through the pecs by not locking out the elbows entirely.
- Keep the weights slightly tilted at a 45 degree angle in order to keep the elbows in a neutral position.
- Don’t allow the dumbbells to collide at the top of each rep - bouncing them together may cause you to lose stability within the shoulder and injure yourself.
- Squeeze the dumbbells as tight as possible to improve a phenomenon known as “irradiation” which promotes greater shoulder stability.
- Keep your shoulder blades pinched together to ensure the shoulders remain in a safe position.
- Imagine you’re trying to push yourself away from the weights rather than pushing the weights away from yourself.
- If you’re feeling pain within the shoulder joint itself (specifically at the front), ensure your shoulder blades are slightly retracted and try to keep the shoulder girdle “packed”.
- Ensure you maintain some tension in your abs and don’t allow your lower back to arch excessively.
- Keep your feet flat on the floor and don’t allow the lower body to move during the set.
72 Comments
HI, I HAVE A 2 PART QUESTION ABOUT DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS AND RIB INJURIES. LAST MONDAY I DID HEAVY BEHIND THE HEAD DUMBBELL RAISES AND THE NEXT DAY HEAVY DUMBBELL BENCH. NOW I HAD SOME INTERCOSTAL RIB INJURIES BUT FELT LIKE I HEALED, SO I STARTED TO FO DUMBBELL BENCH. WELL WHEN I GOT TO MY MID SET AT 80 POUNDS AND GOT WEIGHTS UP AS IM LAYING DOWN ON THE BENCH, ALL I HEARD WAS MULTI CRACKS/POPS BUT WERE LOUDER THAN USUAL. I THOUGHT NOTHING OF IT AND WENT UP NEXT TO 105 WHERE IT WAS HARD TO GET UP BUT I DID THE SET. WOULD ANYONE THINK THAT WITH THE INJURY AND SORE RIBS PRIOR WOULD ACCOUNT FOR THE SORE AND SENSITIVE SPOTS ON MY RIBS? I KNOW ITS A LOT TO READ BUT I HAVE TO WRITE IT SO THAT PEOPLE GET AN IDEA OF WHAT IM GOING THRU. TKS FOR ANY INFO.
Marco, the best suggestion is to get checked out by a doctor and make sure you didn't do anything serious. The soreness may not be that serious, but you also want to make sure you didn't do anything else beyond what you felt.
how much time between reps for resting?
The rest between sets depends on the program you're following. Most if not all of our workouts have rest between sets included.
I love M & S, always gives free PDFs on training, and doesn't pull any bunches. I follow some of the workouts on this site and I am a true believer in my TRX Suspension Pro Straps along with lifting iron too. I love the DB workouts because you have to balance them along with lifting whatever weight one is using. I lift heavy and have the Olympic dumbbell handles from Hampton. Good equipment is all I use in my home gym and the last thing I need is something to collapse when I am lifting because I am a big dude.
Why am i feeling this more in my arm then my chest?
Hard to say, Ramo. Try pulling your shoulders back and together so your chest sticks up more. Then, focus on contracting the chest instead of simply pushing the weight. You can also turn your hands and the dumbbells so they are at a 45 degree angle with your thumbs turned inside. Hope this helps!
What is the burn for 5minutes?
Hi do I make my palms face out when I lay down?
Someone here said they didn't have a bench and you told them to do floor press exercise instead, but on the description of the floor press it says the target muscles are different than this one. Can I really replace this exercise with the floor press?
Hey Peter - yes you can. Floor presses will target more of the triceps due to the limited range of motion, but they are a good replacement.
will doing floor presses help with explosion from the bottom on a regular bench press
Not necessarily from the bottom, Jack. It will, however, help you with the midpoint and lockout. Pause at the bottom of the rep and push up as quickly as you can when you do your reps.
Hello
, i just wanted to know my resting period time, how many seconds should i wait for the next rep?
Thank you
Is it normal that I dont feel my chest during the workout but only the day after (it kind of hurts). And if this isnt normal, what should I change to actively feel my chest during the workout?
can i do normal pushups instead of this as i dont have a bench
Hey ramit - you can do a floor press instead: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/dumbbell-floor-press.html
Is it better to super set the workouts or do one exercise at a time I’m new to working out and for now I’ve been doing one set of each workouts consecutively
Hey Aaron - it depends on the exercises you're super setting. It's best to follow your programming as written and most programs will have you perform all sets of one exercise before moving on to the next.
So do we change up the weights or cause I’m doing 25 pounds rn so everyday do I change the weight or do I continue until I think it’s too easy ?
Hey Jordan - the weight you use will depend on the program.
What if i only have one dumbbell??
Can i do one arm after the other or am i gonna f up my shape??
Hey rayan - yes, you can do one arm at a time.
Can I do this on the floor? If so, what would I change?
Hey Jorge - here's a video of a dumbbell floor press: https://www.muscleandstrength.com/exercises/dumbbell-floor-press.html
When you finish the 8 week program should that be followed by the 4 day workout immediately or do you take a week or two off to recuperate?
Hey Eric - which program are you referencing?
Can we substitute the dumbells with a bar and weights like a regular bench press but lower weight?
As the hodgetwins would say "do whatever the F you wanna do!"
Hi, any diet tips?
Why do I see some people only go to 90 degrees. When I asked they said that if I broke 90 it would cause too much shoulder strain. Thoughts?
Ok, probably a silly question here, but does it matter how you complete the sets? Do you do all 3 sets of the 1st listed exercise & then move onto the next listed exercise? Or do you do 1 set of each exercise listed in order, then start over for 2nd & 3rd sets?
So fare very thing is great
What do you advice as starting weight for women?
Depends on what you're looking for, if you're looking to build strength, target a rep range like 6-12 then pick the lowest weight at which you can obtain 6 reps with perfect form, then work on that weight until you can hit 12 on that first set, once that happens bump the weight up a bit more, rinse, repeat.
Do u perform 3 sets of drop sets on week 2
How do you go about find the correct weight you should use when working out. I would usually just target a certain percentage of my max lift weight for whatever results I was looking for endurance, strength or Mass, etc.
im 65 yrs old shoud i not lift real heavy
Can I do this on the bed? because I dont have any chair or table to do this ?
can i do this exercise with only 1 dummbell ? if so how can i perform it
You just do one arm at a time until you are satisfied at which point it seems like you can move onto the other arm.
HI two questions if any can answer them, are 20 pounds dumbells good to start off with as a beginner? and what if i dont have a bench, what else good i use substitute?.
every set of body parts have different sizes , for ur chest u have to do daily flat flys with 5 kg , what ever ur workout may be , first do flys then go for ur workout ... u will see differece in 3 weeks....
doing the 12 week beginers program are those sets a miss print is it 21 sets or 2 sets for the first 3 exercises on the table for weeks 4 to 6 of the program
I started as a male a couple months ago and started on 5kgs. Dumbbell presses look a lot easier to master than they are (especially if you overload yourself) so start low on something like 3-4 kgs until u get the technique then move up when you feel you can.
What is a good weight dumbbell for a beginner, female, who wants to build muscle?
No, Nicholas. In my opinion if you're going to bother with anything at all just invest in some gear. Nothing wrong with using the dumbbells and pushups etc, but you're not going to get very far at all. Might see some improvement over a relatively short period of time, then it will stop. Sure, you can maintain it but you wont improve any further without more weight. Commit, do it right, or it's a waste. ;)
Not everyone even has room for a bench, they should figure out a different exercise
I searched for a dumbbell only workout and found this. It shouldn't be in that workout, because you need dumbbells as well as an exercise bench. I don't live close to any gyms and don't have a bench. Does anyone know some good chest workouts I can do?
You could use a cooler as a bench it does the same pretty much as a bench ..