How to do the dumbbell bench press
A flat press that lets each arm find its own path, so it's kind to shoulders and a great first chest lift. Here's how to set up, press and pick your dumbbells.
The Helthy team · Updated · 6 min read
- Works
- Chest
- Also works
- Front delts, Triceps
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Level
- Beginner
The dumbbell bench press builds the same muscles as the barbell version, but each hand works on its own. That means your stronger side can't quietly carry the weaker one, your wrists and shoulders can settle into whatever angle suits them, and you can lower a little deeper than a bar lets you. For most beginners we'd make this the first chest press they learn, ahead of the barbell, because you don't need a rack, a spotter or much confidence to train it hard. The only tricky part is getting the dumbbells into position, so that's where the steps start.
How to do a dumbbell bench press
- Sit on the end of the bench with the dumbbells standing on your thighs. Hold them upright, close to your knees, with a full grip around the handle.
- Lie back and bring the dumbbells with you. As your back meets the bench, drive one knee and then the other up into the dumbbells to help them travel to your chest. They should land beside your lower chest, not up by your shoulders.
- Set your feet and shoulder blades. Plant your feet flat, a bit wider than your hips. Pull your shoulder blades back and down into the bench so your chest is up and your upper back feels pinned.
- Press to the start position. Push the dumbbells up until your arms are almost straight and the weights sit over your shoulders. Turn your hands so they point mostly forward with a slight inward angle, like holding a steering wheel at 10 and 2.
- Lower the dumbbells beside your chest. Take about two seconds. Stop when the handles are level with your chest, or just below it, with your elbows about 45 degrees from your sides and your forearms close to vertical.
- Press up and slightly in. Drive them back up along the same line so they finish over your shoulders, a few inches apart. Squeeze your chest at the top but stop just short of snapping your elbows straight.
- Finish by bringing the dumbbells back to your chest. Tuck your knees up, rest the dumbbells on your thighs and use their weight to rock yourself back to sitting. With light weights you can lower them to the floor beside you instead.
When the rep is right, you'll feel it mostly across your chest with the front of your shoulders and your triceps helping. A sharp pinch at the front of the shoulder usually means your elbows have drifted out too wide or your shoulder blades have come off the bench.
Cues that keep the dumbbells steady
"Forearms stay vertical." Picture your forearms as table legs holding up the weights. If they tilt, the dumbbells drift, and a drifting dumbbell feels twice as heavy.
"Elbows point to your hips." This keeps your elbows tucked to that 45-degree angle without you having to measure anything.
"Push yourself away from the dumbbells." Instead of pushing the weights up, think about driving your back into the bench. It's the same movement, but it keeps your shoulder blades pinned.
If none of those land, try "make an A with your arms": dumbbells close together at the top, elbows wider at the bottom. Use whichever cue makes the set feel smoother and ignore the rest.
Common mistakes
Letting the dumbbells drift forward or back. You'll see it as the weights ending up over your face or over your stomach at the top of the rep. It usually starts at the bottom, where your forearms tip out of vertical and the press follows the lean. Lighten the load for a week, slow the lowering, and stack the dumbbells over your elbows before each press.
Dropping the dumbbells instead of lowering them. A fast, loose descent is where shoulders get tweaked, because the bottom of the rep is where they're most stretched. It also skips the half of the rep that does a lot of the building. Two seconds down is enough. You don't need a slow-motion tempo, just a rep you could stop at any point.
Swinging the weights up. If you're heaving the dumbbells with a hip thrust or a jerk from the bottom, they're too heavy. The press should start with your chest and arms, and your butt stays on the bench throughout.
Clanking them together at the top. It feels like a good squeeze but it pulls your arms inward and dumps tension off your chest right where you want it. Finish with the dumbbells a few inches apart.
Flaring your elbows straight out. Elbows at 90 degrees to your body turns the bottom of the rep into a shoulder stretch you didn't ask for. It's the same fault as on the barbell bench, and the same fix: tuck to about 45 degrees.
Breathing
Breathe in as you lower the dumbbells and let your chest rise into them, then breathe out as you press. On sets above 10 reps you'll want a fresh breath at the top of every rep. Don't hold your breath through a whole set of 15.
Sets, reps and picking your dumbbells
For muscle growth, 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 12 works well. For strength, sets of 5 to 8 are fine, though very heavy dumbbells get awkward to kick into place, so most people save their heaviest pressing for the barbell. Choose dumbbells you could press for 2 or 3 more reps at the end of each set. Put it first in a session if it's your main chest lift, or second after a barbell press, and rest about two minutes between sets.
A short ramp is enough to warm up. If your working dumbbells are 50 lb (22.5 kg) each, do a set of 10 with 25s (10 to 12.5 kg) and a set of 5 with 35s (15 to 17.5 kg), then start.
Progressing is the awkward part. The jump from one pair to the next is usually 5 lb (2 to 2.5 kg) per hand, which on light dumbbells can be a 20% increase. So we'd use a rep range instead of chasing weight every session: stay on the same pair until you can do 12 clean reps on every set, then move up and start again at 8. The progressive overload guide covers this in more detail. Helthy picks up a new rep or weight PR on its own when you log your sets, which makes it easy to see when you're ready for the next pair.
Here's roughly what people use for normal working sets. The weights are per dumbbell:
| Bodyweight | beginner | intermediate | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 20 lb (9 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 60 lb (27 kg) |
| 160 lb (73 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 70 lb (32 kg) |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 30 lb (14 kg) | 55 lb (25 kg) | 85 lb (39 kg) |
| 220 lb (100 kg) | 35 lb (16 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) | 100 lb (45 kg) |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 75 lb (34 kg) | 115 lb (52 kg) |
These numbers move a lot with arm length and training age, and dumbbells don't scale neatly to your barbell bench. Most people press a total that's a bit less than their barbell weight, but there's no reliable conversion, so don't try to predict one from the other.
Variations and alternatives
- Push-up: the no-equipment version. Good for hotel rooms, warm-ups and extra volume.
- Chest press machine: a fixed path and no dumbbells to wrestle into place, useful for heavy sets to failure at the end of a session.
- Incline dumbbell press: the same movement on a 30 to 45 degree bench, with more work for your upper chest and front delts.
- Barbell bench press: lets you load heavier and progress in smaller steps. Worth learning once the dumbbell version feels solid.
- Single-arm dumbbell bench press: one dumbbell at a time, which makes your core fight to keep you from rolling off the bench. A good option when you only have one heavy dumbbell.
Dumbbell bench press questions
Is the dumbbell bench press better than the barbell bench press?
Neither is better in general. Dumbbells are friendlier to shoulders and fix side-to-side imbalances, while the barbell lets you load more and add weight in smaller steps. If you only do one, pick whichever you can train consistently without pain.
How do I get heavy dumbbells into position?
Use your knees. With the dumbbells standing on your thighs, lie back and kick each knee up into its dumbbell as you go, so your legs do the lifting and your arms just guide. Once you're using 70 lb (32 kg) dumbbells or more, it's worth asking someone to hand you one while you kick the other.
Why is one arm always shaking?
Almost everyone has a weaker side, and dumbbells show it. It usually evens out within a few weeks. If it doesn't, start each set with a weight your weaker arm can handle and stop the set when that arm is done, not when your strong one is.