How to Do Incline Dumbbell Presses

Building a muscular upper chest brings fullness to the chest and overall mass to your upper body. There are only a few exercises that you can perform to hit the upper chest as best as possible. Incline presses will do the trick, but the dumbbell version will ultimately help to bring up more mass and muscularity. Add incline dumbbell presses to your next chest workout to get the look you want for your chest.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Incline bench
• Dumbbells

1. Find an incline bench in the gym. You can either use the stationary incline barbell bench press station or a free standing incline bench. Either way you will have to adjust the seat or the angle to get the right fit for your body when you perform the exercise. When using the stationary bench you can usually only adjust the seat height. Using the free standing version will allow you to adjust both.

2. Grasp a pair of dumbbells that you can handle for at least 8 repetitions. Starting off with a light weight is a good idea to get your body used to doing this exercise. It can be a difficult one if you have never done it before so it would be advisable to use a spotter to help you with the dumbbells while you get in and out of place for the movement.

3. Sit in the chair and situate yourself. If you are on the stationary bench press there will most likely be foot pads or a foot bar for you to place your feet on during the exercise. This will help stabilize you and keep you in place throughout the movement. If you are using a free standing bench you will just have to place your feet as flat as possible on the floor. If you cannot you can try placing a weight plate flat on the floor beforehand to place your feet on.

4. Lean back on the chair so that your back is as flat as possible on the bench. Raise the dumbbells so that they are just outside of your chest at shoulder width or slightly outside of shoulder width. Once you are in this position with your back flat against the bench and your feet flat on the floor then you are ready to start the exercise. This will be your starting position.

5. Press the weight up until your arms are fully extended or at the point where they are almost fully extended. When you get to about this point you will start to feel a contraction or tightness in your upper chest muscles and your tricep muscles. When you feel this contraction hold it for a split second.

6. Return the weight to the starting position and repeat for at least 8 repetitions. If you find yourself arching your back or struggling to complete for 8 repetitions then you may want to switch to a lighter weight.

Tips & Warnings

• A spotter can come in handy if you are new to this exercise. Your spotter can help you handle the weight as you begin and end this movement.

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