Dumbbell Chest Press – Exercise of the Week

13 Feb 2019

One of the best ways to exercise your chest muscles and to help their muscle mass to grow is by challenging them with weights. A staple move here is that of the dumbbell chest press as it utilises a pushing movement to exert the muscles and help them to grow.

Dumbbell Chest Press

dumbbell chest press westpark fitness

For this exercise, make sure and use a dumbbell weight that you can manage for a few repetitions (reps). If you are new to this exercise, it is best to start with a lighter weight until you get used to the movement. Hold a dumbbell of the same weight in each hand with a neutral grip, which means your palms remain in front of you, then lie down flat on a bench. Make sure that your feet are touching the ground, there is a slight arch in your lower back and then while keeping your elbows bent, hold the dumbbells in the air so that they hover just above your chest (as seen in the picture above).

dumbbell chest press westpark fitness

When ready, extend your arms up fully towards the ceiling while keeping a tight grip on the dumbbells. At the top of the movement, try and squeeze your chest muscles together so that they stretch and work as much as possible. Note that your arms, shoulder and chest may all shake when completing this movement. This shows that your stabiliser muscles are at work to support the weight and the more you complete this exercise, they will strengthen and reduce this shaking / supporting movement. To finish, bring your elbows down close to your sides to return the dumbbells back to the starting position (again hovering just above your chest).

A classic and effective chest muscle exercise, as your proficiency improves with it you can raise the bench to target different angles of your chest muscles (known as an incline chest press) and drop it down too (known as a decline chest press). As always, please do talk to any of our fitness team for a demonstration and guidance on how to complete the dumbbell chest press exercise.

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