How to do an incline dumbbell press
- Set an adjustable bench to a low incline, about 30 degrees (two or three notches up on most benches).
- Sit down with the dumbbells standing on your thighs. Lie back and use your knees to help bring the dumbbells to your chest as you go.
- Plant your feet, pull your shoulder blades back and down, and keep your chest lifted.
- Hold the dumbbells at the sides of your upper chest, forearms vertical, elbows a little below your shoulders.
- Press up and slightly in until your arms are straight above your shoulders.
- Lower slowly until the dumbbells are beside your upper chest and you feel a stretch across it.
Cues that help
- "Chest up, shoulder blades pinned": the base stays solid and the shoulders comfortable.
- "Forearms vertical": the dumbbells sit straight above your elbows the whole way.
- "Press up, not back over your face": the dumbbells finish above your shoulders.
- "Deep, then drive": take the stretch at the bottom, then press smoothly.
Common mistakes
- The bench too steep. Above about 45 degrees it turns into a shoulder press and the chest does less.
- Elbows flared straight out at 90 degrees. Tuck them to roughly 45 to 60 degrees from your body.
- Bouncing out of the bottom. Control the stretch instead of using it as a spring.
- Losing the shoulder blades and letting the shoulders roll forward at the top.
- Dropping the dumbbells to the floor from arm’s length. Bring them back to your chest and sit up with them on your thighs.
Which bench angle?
A low incline is the usual choice for the upper chest: steep enough to shift some work upward, flat enough that the chest still does most of it. As the bench rises towards upright, the front of the shoulders takes over more and more.
Exact angles matter less than consistency: use the same notch each time so your log compares like with like. If the front of your shoulder complains, go one notch lower.
Sets, reps and weight
- For muscle: 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, stopping 1 to 2 reps short of failure.
- Rest about 2 minutes between sets.
- Choose dumbbells you can get into place without a struggle; that is often the limit before your chest is.
- Dumbbell jumps are big, so add reps first and move up once you reach the top of your rep range on every set.
Safety
- The riskiest moments are getting into position and getting out. Use the knee kick-up and bring the dumbbells back to your chest before sitting up.
- If a rep fails, lower the dumbbells to your chest and roll them down to your sides or onto your thighs; do not try to hold them out over your face.
- With heavy dumbbells, ask someone to spot your wrists or hand them to you.
Variations and alternatives
- Incline barbell press: heavier, with smaller jumps, but needs a rack and safeties.
- Smith machine incline press: a fixed bar path, easy to rack at any point.
- Flat dumbbell press: the same press on a flat bench, more mid and lower chest.
- Incline chest press machine: the same angle with no balancing at all.
- Low-to-high cable fly: an isolation move for the upper chest.
Tracking your incline press
PushBeyond logs the weight and reps of each set and charts the history of the exercise, so you can see your presses progress. Its muscle map counts the incline dumbbell press for your chest and shoulders, with triceps as a secondary muscle.