Doing the press with dumbbells instead of a barbell is much safer for your shoulders by being more flexible with your arm position throughout the exercise.
Using dumbbells for this exercise will also help build the stabilizer muscles in your shoulder that will make it functionally strong and will help to avoid injury.
Take a look at our video tutorial below where I guide you through the exercise and outline the main technique points of how to do a perfect dumbbell bench press.
If you need something to print off and take to the gym as a reminder, the step-by-step exercise technique is further down this page.
How to do a dumbbell bench press – Step-by-step technique
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- Step 1: Sit on the end of a bench with the dumbbells resting on your thighs, holding them with a strong grip in the centre of the dumbbell grip .
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- Step 2: Lower yourself back and bring the dumbbells onto your chest, facing each other.
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- Step 3: Press the dumbbells up, so they are over your chest and your arms are almost straight. Twist your hands so your thumbs are side by side.
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- Step 4: Breathing in, slowly lower the dumbbells to a 2 count, so they reach a point in line with your nipples and your arms are just below 90 degrees.
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- Step 5: Breathing out and leading with your pinky finger, press the dumbbells back up to the start point, with your arms slightly bent.
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- Step 6: Repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
To learn more exercises that you can use in your training, visit our complete exercise library on the Fit Father Project YouTube channel.
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