The dumbbell bench press trains the same muscles as the barbell version — chest, front delts and triceps — but each arm works on its own. You get a deeper stretch at the bottom, your wrists and elbows can find a comfortable path, and a weaker side can't hide behind the stronger one.
Primary muscles
Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand resting on top of your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.
Then, using your thighs to help raise the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them in front of you at shoulder width.
Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. The dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest, with your upper arm and forearm creating a 90 degree angle. Be sure to maintain full control of the dumbbells at all times. This will be your starting position.
Then, as you breathe out, use your chest to push the dumbbells up. Lock your arms at the top of the lift and squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then begin coming down slowly. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.
3–4 sets of 8–12 reps works well for muscle growth. Move up to the next dumbbell once you hit the top of the rep range on every set.
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