Dumbbell bench press: how to do it
Main muscles: Middle chest. Helpers: Lower chest, Front delts (anterior deltoid), Triceps lateral head, Triceps medial head. Below: step-by-step form, common mistakes, a muscle map, reps and rest, and what to swap it for.
Equipment
Dumbbells
Reps
10–15
Rest
75 s
Muscle group
Chest
How to do it
- Lie down with the shoulder blades together, dumbbells over the chest, palms facing forward.
- Lower to chest level, elbows at about 45° to the torso, wrists above the elbows.
- Press up along an arc without banging the dumbbells together.
Common mistakes
Elbows flared straight out, bent wrists, dropping the weight without control.
Muscles worked
primary·secondary
- Primary
- Middle chest
- Secondary
- Lower chest, Front delts (anterior deltoid), Triceps lateral head, Triceps medial head
A secondary muscle gets roughly half the stimulus of a set — that is also how the log’s stats count it.
Programs that use it
- Dumbbells only, 4 days4 × 10–15
Alternatives: similar exercises
Bench press
Barbell · Middle chest, Lower chest
Dips
Bodyweight · Lower chest, Triceps lateral head, Triceps medial head
Close-grip push-ups
Bodyweight · Triceps lateral head, Triceps medial head
Dumbbell fly
Dumbbells · Middle chest
Cable pushdown
Cable · Triceps lateral head, Triceps medial head
Push-ups
Bodyweight · Middle chest
Log your sets — the app suggests the next weight
GymAssist tracks the load on each of 40 muscles, paints it on a body map and uses double progression to tell you when to add weight.
Free forever for the first 500