Flat-Bench Dumbbell Chest Press

Having well-developed pectoral muscles is important not only for physical symmetry and balance but also for proper function of your arms and shoulders.

Flat-Bench Dumbbell Chest Press

Consistent chest training can give a finished, full look to your pecs, creating upper-body symmetry and carving definition between your shoulders and chest, making your delts appear rounder and fuller.

• Lie on a flat bench with your back arching naturally. You should be able to slide a hand easily underneath your lumbar spine.
• Place your feet flat on the floor to create hip stability and total-body tension, better enabling you to generate power from the floor through your core to your arms and chest.
• Pull your shoulder blades together underneath you for stability and increased power. This position also slightly lifts your sternum, helping focus the work onto the chest rather than the shoulders and arms.
• Hold a set of dumbbells straight up over your chest so your arms are perpendicular to the floor. If they angle toward your head or feet, you’ll lose power and control.
• Squeeze the dumbbells with your hands as if trying to crush them. This helps create tension in your arms, promoting stability.
• As you bend your elbows to lower the weights, keep your wrists stacked over your elbows and your forearms perpendicular to the floor. In this position, the weights will naturally move away from one another as you lower them until your elbows make 90-degree angles or the inner heads of the dumbbells graze your shoulders.
• Inhale and hold your breath to create intra-abdominal pressure and stabilize your spine, then extend your arms forcefully, simultaneously driving down into the floor with your heels and squeezing your glutes to produce more vertical drive.
• The inner dumbbell heads should touch or nearly touch at the top. Do not slam the weights together.