Dumbbell bench press

Why it's here

Dumbbells let each arm press on its own and need nothing more than a bench and a pair of weights. In a ten-week trial of resistance-trained men, a dumbbell chest press program improved pressing strength, with the largest gains in the dumbbell press itself ^[1].

The evidence

• Training study Thirty-six resistance-trained men did a chest press twice a week for ten weeks — four sets of six — on a Swiss ball, on a Smith machine or with dumbbells. Every group got stronger, fastest in the first seven sessions, and the dumbbell group improved most in the exercise it trained. Whether dumbbells beat the Smith machine was not shown: that difference fell short of statistical significance. The trial measured strength, not muscle size ^[1].

How to do it

1. Sit on the end of a flat bench with a dumbbell resting on each thigh, then lie back and bring them to your chest.
2. Press both dumbbells up until your arms are straight above your shoulders.
3. Lower them under control until they are level with your chest, then press again.
4. To finish, bring the dumbbells back to your chest and sit up with them resting on your thighs.

Stop an exercise that causes significant or unusual pain and have it assessed. This page describes the movement; it is not rehabilitation advice.

Making it harder over time

This is a moderate compound exercise in the Progressive Overload Calculator, which adds weight in steps of 2.5%–5% once every set reaches the top of your rep range, and adds reps until then.

Alternatives

• Barbell bench press — The standard upper-body press. In men who had benched for at least a year, ten weeks of it thickened the chest by about 17%.
• Push-up — Needs nothing but the floor. Push-ups matched a light bench press for chest growth, and a banded version matched a heavy one for strength.
• Pec deck — A machine fly that works the chest on its own. In a twelve-week trial in untrained men, one hard set grew the chest as much as three.