How to do the incline dumbbell press
The shoulder-friendly way to train your upper chest, with each arm pressing on its own. How to set the bench, get the dumbbells up and pick a weight.
The Helthy team · Updated · 6 min read
- Works
- Upper chest
- Also works
- Front delts, Triceps
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Level
- Beginner
The incline dumbbell press is our default upper chest exercise. Setting the bench on an incline puts more of the work on the top of your chest and the front of your shoulders, and dumbbells let each arm move along the path that suits it. That's why it tends to sit better with shoulders than the incline barbell bench press, and you don't need a rack or a spotter to push it hard. If you have room for one incline press in your week, we'd make it this one.
How to do an incline dumbbell press
- Set the bench to 30 to 45 degrees. Start at the lower end: 30 degrees is steep enough to shift the work up your chest without the shoulders taking over. If the bench has a seat, raise it a notch or two so you don't slide down as you press.
- Sit back with the dumbbells standing on your thighs. Hold them upright, near your knees.
- Kick them up one at a time as you lean back. Drive one knee up to pop the dumbbell toward your shoulder, then the other, as your back settles onto the pad. Both dumbbells should end up beside your upper chest.
- Set your shoulders and feet. Pull your shoulder blades back and down into the bench and plant your feet flat, slightly behind your knees if you can. Keep your lower back close to the pad.
- Press the dumbbells up and slightly in. They finish over your upper chest and shoulders, a few inches apart, with your arms almost straight. Your hands point forward or angle in slightly.
- Lower until your elbows are about level with your chest. Take two seconds. At the bottom, the dumbbells sit beside your upper chest with your forearms vertical and your elbows about 45 to 60 degrees from your sides.
- Reverse without bouncing. Pause for a split second at the bottom, then press again.
To finish a set, bring the dumbbells back to your chest, then sit up and let them come to rest on your thighs. You should feel this high on your chest, up near your collarbones, with more front shoulder than a flat press. If your shoulders are doing almost all the work, the bench is probably set too steep.
Form cues
"Stack the dumbbell over your elbow." At the bottom of every rep, check that your forearms are vertical. Most bar path problems start here.
"Punch the ceiling." Press straight up toward the ceiling, not back toward your face. On an incline, straight up already ends over your shoulders.
"Pin your shoulder blades to the pad." If your shoulders creep forward and up as the set goes on, reset them between reps.
"Hands come in like a triangle." The dumbbells start wide at the bottom and move in to a few inches apart at the top. If that doesn't help, try imagining you're pressing up the sides of a steep roof.
Common mistakes
Setting the bench too steep. Beyond about 45 degrees it's closer to a dumbbell shoulder press than a chest press. A lot of lifters set the bench high because it feels like it's working more, when really their front delts are doing most of the work. Keep it at 30 to 45 degrees, and use a phone level app once to check, since bench notches aren't labeled consistently.
Dropping the dumbbells into the bottom. A fast descent gets the dumbbells to your chest sooner, but you lose control right where your shoulders are most stretched, and that's where most tweaks happen. Two seconds on the way down fixes it. A slower lowering also gives your upper chest more work per rep.
Bouncing at the bottom. Using the stretch reflex to launch the dumbbells back up looks like a fast, strong rep, but it takes the hardest part of the lift away from your chest. Touch the bottom position, pause briefly and press.
Arching until the incline disappears. Pushing your hips forward and arching hard makes the chest nearly flat, which undoes the reason you set the incline. A small arch in your upper back is fine; your lower back should stay near the pad.
Elbows flaring straight out. Elbows at 90 degrees to your body put the front of your shoulder under a lot of strain on a lift where it's already busy. Tuck them to about 45 to 60 degrees.
Sliding down the bench. On an adjustable bench without a seat, you can creep down with every rep until the angle is off. Raise the seat if there is one, and push your feet into the floor to stay put.
Breathing
Breathe in as the dumbbells come down, and out as you press them up. On heavier sets of 6 to 8, take your breath at the top of each rep and hold it through the bottom, then breathe out once you're past the hardest part.
Sets, reps and weight
Do 3 or 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps, with a weight you could press 2 or 3 more times at the end of each set. Rest about two minutes. If it's your first chest exercise of the day, put it first and go slightly heavier with sets of 6 to 8. After a flat press, stay in the 10 to 12 range.
A quick warm-up is enough. If your working dumbbells are 45 lb (20 kg) each, do a set of 10 with 20s (10 kg) and a set of 5 with 30s (12.5 to 15 kg) before your first working set.
The jump between dumbbell pairs is usually 5 lb (2 to 2.5 kg) per hand, so use a rep range to progress. Stay on the same pair until you can hit 12 reps on every set, then move up and start again around 8. Logging each set in Helthy makes it easy to spot when you've earned the heavier pair. More on this in our guide to progressive overload.
Here's roughly what people use for normal working sets. Weights are per dumbbell:
| Bodyweight | beginner | intermediate | advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| 130 lb (59 kg) | 15 lb (7 kg) | 35 lb (16 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) |
| 160 lb (73 kg) | 20 lb (9 kg) | 40 lb (18 kg) | 60 lb (27 kg) |
| 190 lb (86 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 50 lb (23 kg) | 70 lb (32 kg) |
| 220 lb (100 kg) | 25 lb (11 kg) | 55 lb (25 kg) | 85 lb (39 kg) |
| 250 lb (113 kg) | 30 lb (14 kg) | 65 lb (29 kg) | 95 lb (43 kg) |
These are rough averages. Bench angle changes the number a lot, as does arm length, so compare yourself only with your own logs at the same setting. Expect to use around 80% of what you'd use for a flat dumbbell bench press.
Variations and alternatives
- Low incline dumbbell press (15 to 20 degrees): a good middle ground if 30 degrees still feels too shouldery. Some lifters feel their upper chest more here than at 30.
- Neutral-grip incline press: palms facing each other throughout. Often easier on the shoulders, and a good swap if the standard grip pinches.
- Incline barbell bench press: lets you load heavier and add weight in smaller steps. Good once you're comfortable with incline pressing.
- Incline machine press: a fixed path, and useful to push close to failure without a spotter.
- Push-up with feet raised: puts more load on the upper chest and shoulders without any equipment.
Incline dumbbell press questions
What's the best incline angle for dumbbell press?
For most people, 30 degrees. It shifts work to your upper chest while keeping your front delts from taking over. If you don't feel it in your upper chest at 30, try 15 to 20 or 45 and keep whichever feels best. There's a lot of individual variation.
Is incline dumbbell press better than incline barbell?
For most people's upper chest growth, we'd say yes, because it's kinder to the shoulders and easier to push hard without a spotter. The barbell wins for loading heavy and tracking strength. Either is a good choice, and plenty of lifters do both on different days.
Should the dumbbells touch at the top?
No need. Stopping a few inches apart keeps tension on your chest, and clanking them together doesn't add anything. Just press up and slightly in.