Starting Position

The starting position is a little awkward for the dumbbell bench press. The DB bench press requires you to bring the weights to the chest rather than un-racking them like you would in the barbell bench press. This process is very simple, you will need to put the DB’s on your knees while you are sat on the bench, then lower the back down to the bench while simultaneously bringing the DB’s to the chest. This process needs to be done with control and while using weights that are appropriate for this process, this is why high level strength development and training is done with a barbell bench press and not the dumbbell bench press.

Creating a Full Stretch

The key part of this exercise is creating a full stretch in the chest in the bottom position. This is what will create the strength and hypertrophy gains you are striving towards. When a weight is too heavy for our current capabilities or we are trying to do too many repetitions, we often shorten the range of motion and do not create a full stretch at the bottom. Not creating a full stretch at the bottom makes the exercise much easier but also makes it much less effective. This is why you need to ensure you are moving through the full range of motion and are creating the full deep stretch at the bottom of the movement.

Locking the Elbows At The Top

When we perform any exercise in our resistance training we are looking to move through the full range of motion of the movement. In this case this means that the elbows will be fully locked at the top of the repetition. This means that strength and muscle will be gained in the entire movement pattern and not in specific portions of the movement pattern. Having strict standards also allows us to accurately record and track our training. If you do not finish your repetitions you do not have any rules for what counts as a repetition and what doesn’t meaning you can just continue to shorten the range of motion.

Keeping The Hands Over The Elbows

The goal of the dumbbell bench press is to apply stress to the muscles of the pectorals, triceps and the deltoids. This is done through letting the weight pass through the elbows and be lifted by the muscles. If the elbows are too aggressively bent then the elbows will have to do far to much work and the position will be very uncomfortable. This can be avoided through keeping the hands over the elbows at all moments of the movement.

Smooth Elbow Trajectory and Correct Positioning

This is probably the most common technical problem when performing the dumbbell bench press, poor elbow positioning and trajectory. When performing the horizontal press movement, like the bench press, dumbbell bench press or press up we are aiming to create a triangle with the elbows and the head, as if the head was the point of an arrow head. This means that the elbows are neither very close to the body nor are they flaring out. This position means the movement will target both the triceps and the pectorals correctly. The arrow head analogy helps beginners understand the position they are trying to achieve, as this is a very simple movement pattern it doesn't take long to pick up, the key is being aware of what good positioning is.

Pressing The Feet Into The Floor

The feet are an important part of both the bench press and the dumbbell bench press. Pressing the feet into the floor, as if you were trying to slide your head away from the feet is an excellent way to create high levels of tension that will support you while lifting the weights.

Core Activation

Just like the feet positioning, core activation is an important yet often forgotten part of the dumbbell bench press. The dumbbell bench press is a full body movement and requires you too create high levels of core tension. This will create a strong and stable base from which you can lift the weights. The DB bench press is too often performed with a relaxed core and a relaxed lower body, this results in performing less repetitions with lower weights which will slow down your progress.