Incline Dumbbell Press

How to do the Incline Dumbbell Press

1. Lie back on an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand atop your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.
2. Then, using your thighs to help push the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them at shoulder width.
3. Once you have the dumbbells raised to shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
4. Be sure to keep full control of the dumbbells at all times. Then breathe out and push the dumbbells up with your chest.
5. Lock your arms at the top, hold for a second, and then start slowly lowering the weight. Tip Ideally, lowering the weights should take about twice as long as raising them.
6. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
7. When you are done, place the dumbbells back on your thighs and then on the floor. This is the safest manner to release the dumbbells.

Muscles worked

Role	Muscles
Primary	chest
Secondary	shoulders, triceps
Equipment	dumbbell
Difficulty	beginner
Type	compound

No dumbbell? Train the same muscles with these

Ordered by how likely you are to own the 6 options.

Clock Push-Up Bodyweight Decline Push-Up Bodyweight Incline Push-Up Bodyweight Incline Push-Up Medium Bodyweight Incline Push-Up Reverse Grip Bodyweight Incline Push-Up Wide Bodyweight

Harder than the Incline Dumbbell Press

Plyo Kettlebell Pushups expert · Kettlebell Flat Bench Cable Flyes intermediate · Cable Machine Incline Cable Flye intermediate · Cable Machine

Superset the Incline Dumbbell Press with

Opposing middle back work — alternate sets without extra rest.

Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row middle back Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row With Palms In middle back Dumbbell Incline Row middle back One-Arm Dumbbell Row middle back

Common questions

What muscles does the Incline Dumbbell Press work?

The Incline Dumbbell Press primarily works the chest, with the shoulders and triceps as secondary movers. Alternating Floor Press, Barbell Bench Press - Medium Grip, and Barbell Guillotine Bench Press train the same muscle, across 11 equipment types.

What equipment do you need for the Incline Dumbbell Press?

Dumbbells. Without dumbbells, Clock Push-Up, Decline Push-Up, and Incline Push-Up train the same muscle, and 17 of the catalogue's options for this muscle need no equipment.

Is the Incline Dumbbell Press suitable for beginners?

Yes, the Incline Dumbbell Press is rated beginner. Plyo Kettlebell Pushups, Flat Bench Cable Flyes, and Incline Cable Flye are the progressions from here.

Where should the Incline Dumbbell Press go in a workout?

Early — the Incline Dumbbell Press is compound, working 3 muscle groups, so run it first or second while you are fresh, then superset Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row and Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row With Palms In later.

Similar exercises

Alternating Floor Press Kettlebell Barbell Bench Press - Medium Grip Barbell Barbell Guillotine Bench Press Barbell Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip Barbell Bench Press - With Bands Resistance Bands Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover Dumbbell