Incline Dumbbell Press

Incline DB Press, Incline Press

Chest

Horizontal Push

Compound

Intermediate

Set it up

  1. Set the bench to about 30 degrees, one or two notches up from flat.

  2. Sit down with a dumbbell resting on each thigh, handles parallel.

  3. Kick the weights up one at a time as you lie back.

  4. Set your shoulder blades down and back before the first rep.

What I say while you lift

  • Press up and slightly together so the dumbbells finish over your collarbones.

  • Lower until you feel the stretch across your upper chest, then stop.

  • Keep your wrists stacked over your elbows.

  • Own the last inch — nothing crashes into the bottom.

What goes wrong

  • Setting the bench too steep, which turns it into a shoulder press.

  • Clanging the dumbbells together at the top and losing tension.

  • Dropping the elbows behind the body and loading the shoulder capsule.

3011

default tempo

Breathe in as you lower, out as you press.

breathing

Before you load it

Bring the dumbbells back to your thighs one at a time and sit up with them rather than dropping them behind you.

Reduce the incline if the front of the shoulder complains; a flat press keeps the load off that position.

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