Intermediate

Flat Dumbbell Press

Dumbbells free each arm to move on its own path, so they even out side-to-side strength differences and let the chest stretch deeper at the bottom than a barbell allows. The added stability demand makes them a great chest builder that is also kinder to the shoulders for many lifters. Reach for these when you want range of motion and balanced development.

Equipment
Bench, Dumbbell
Body part
Chest
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Horizontal Press
Muscles worked
Target
Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
Secondary
Pectoralis Major Clavicular, Deltoid Anterior, Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head

How to do it

  1. 1

    Sit on the end of a flat bench with a dumbbell resting on each thigh.

  2. 2

    Lie back while kicking the dumbbells up so they end at the sides of your chest, palms facing your feet.

  3. 3

    Set your shoulder blades back and down, then press both dumbbells up until they nearly touch over your chest.

  4. 4

    Lower under control until your upper arms are roughly level with the bench and you feel a stretch across the chest.

  5. 5

    Press back up and repeat, keeping the dumbbells stacked over your elbows.

Tips

  • Do not clash the dumbbells at the top; stop just short to keep tension on the chest.
  • Control the eccentric; dropping into the stretch too fast strains the shoulder.
  • To finish a heavy set safely, pull the dumbbells to your chest and sit up rather than dropping them behind you.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Chasing extra stretch by letting the elbows sink well below the line of the bench hands the load to the shoulder capsule. Stop when your upper arms are roughly level with the pad.
  • As the set gets hard the shoulder blades slide out from under you and the shoulders round forward, so the chest loses the base it was pressing from. Reset them between sets, not mid-rep.
  • Pressing the two dumbbells apart in a wide arc rather than tracking them over your elbows turns the top half of every rep into a fly, which is far more shoulder than chest.
  • Wrists bent back so the dumbbells sit behind your forearms leak force out of every press, and that is the usual reason your wrists ache the next day.
  • Do not let your feet wander or roll onto the toes. The floor is what you press against, and a base that shifts each rep shows up as the dumbbells wobbling at the top.

Frequently asked

How many sets of the flat dumbbell press should you do each week when you are new to the exercise?
Six to nine hard sets a week, split over two sessions, is a sensible starting dose: three sets of 10 to 12 on each day, every set stopped about two reps short of failure. That rep range is easier to control than heavy triples while you learn to keep the bells stacked over your elbows. When 12 feels comfortable on every set, take the next pair up and expect to be back near 8 for a session or two.
What can I do instead of the flat dumbbell press at home?
Push-ups are the direct bodyweight stand-in; raise your feet slightly or slow the lowering to three seconds once ordinary sets get easy, and load a backpack across your upper back for real resistance. If you own adjustable dumbbells, the floor press keeps almost everything except the deep stretch. In the gym, the barbell bench press is the heavier alternative, but it will not even out a weak side.
What is the flat dumbbell press good for compared with a barbell bench press?
It builds the mid and lower chest through a longer range than a bar allows and makes each arm carry its own load, which evens out side-to-side differences. That makes it a strong main press for size and a good option for lifters whose shoulders dislike a fixed bar. It is the wrong pick when your goal is a maximal bench, since balancing two bells caps the load well below what you could push on a bar, and when you have to get heavy dumbbells into place alone with nowhere safe to put them down.

Related exercises

Other movements among FitRay's 2,000+ exercises that load the same target muscle — same equipment and level first.

All Chest exercises