Dumbbell presses offer a fuller range of motion, and another
dimension is added into each rep - balancing. With dumbbells,
your stabilizer muscles comes a lot more into play to just
balance the dumbbells. Which is why most will find that
they can't dumbbell press as much as they can barbell press. But give it a little time, and your dumbbell press can be
just as impressive as your barbell bench press.
Flat dumbell bench press will build strength and mass in your middle and outer pectoral muscles. Secondary muscles include the deltoids and the triceps.
Performing the Flat Bench Dumbbell Press Exercise
See illustration below:
Dumbell Press Exercise
Lie flat on a bench with feet firmly planted on the floor, buttocks, back, shoulder, and head positioned on the bench
If you're doing heavy dumbbell presses, you may need to use your legs to help "kick up" the dumbbells into the starting position - or, have your spotter hand you the dumbbells
Keep your shoulder blades pinched together - this creates the most stable pushing environment
Start the movement with the dumbbells at about shoulder level and palms facing foward
Push the weigths up and then lower the dumbbells as low as you can and feel the complete stretch in the pec muscles
Incline Dumbbell Press, Best Chest Workout
Incline dumbbell press is probably one of my favorite chest exercises. It's by far one of the best chest exercises you can perform to build the upper chest muscle, and give you that full, "non-droopy" looking chest. When performing the incline dumbbell press, I always keep the bench at the lowest level of incline allowed by the bench. The higher the incline of the bench, the more effort you shift to the deltoids. Hence, it's important to keep a low incline angle to maintain maximum force on your pectoral muscles.
The incline dumbbell presses are performed very similar to the flat dumbell presses, except its done on an incline bench:
Incline Dumbell Press Exercise
Lie flat on a bench with feet firmly planted on the floor, buttocks, back, shoulder, and head positioned on the bench
Clean the dumbbells and hold them at shoulder height with palms facing forward
Keep your shoulder blades pinched together - this creates the most stable pushing environment
Inhale as you lower the dumbbells and exhale as you press them up
Lower the dumbbells as low as you can and feel the complete stretch in the pectorals.
Decline Dumbbell Press
Decline dumbell press targets the middle and lower chest areas. It's performed just like the flat and incline dumbell presses, except done on a decline bench.
Lie flat on a bench with feet firmly planted on the floor, buttocks, back, shoulder, and head positioned on the bench
You may need your spotter to hand you the dumbbells at the start
Keep your shoulder blades pinched together - this creates the most stable pushing environment
Inhale as you lower the dumbbells and exhale as you press them up
Lower the dumbbells as low as you can and feel the complete stretch in the pectorals.
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