Exercise library / Chest
Incline dumbbell press
Chest · Dumbbells
The incline dumbbell press is a chest press done on a bench set somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees. That angle shifts part of the work to the upper chest and the front delt.
Steeper is not better. Past about 45 degrees the front delt takes most of the load and you have built a shoulder press with a wide grip.
Sets, reps and RIR
A heavy multi-joint lift with free weights. Keep a rep or two in reserve on most sets so technique holds.
RIR means reps in reserve: how many you could still have done when you racked it. RIR 2 is two short of failure.
How to do it
- Set the bench to a low incline, around 30 degrees, and sit with a dumbbell on each thigh.
- Kick the dumbbells up one at a time as you lie back, and pull the shoulder blades together and down.
- Start with the arms straight and the dumbbells over the upper chest.
- Lower until the upper arms are roughly level with the torso, elbows around 45 degrees out, feeling the chest stretch.
- Press back up and slightly in, without clanging the dumbbells together at the top.
Common mistakes
- Setting the bench too steep
- At 45 degrees and up the front delt is doing the work. If your shoulders are sore the next day and your chest is not, lower the bench.
- Shoulder blades sliding up
- Losing the shoulder position turns the press into a shoulder exercise halfway through the set. Set them and keep them.
- Stopping short
- Dumbbells are worth using because of the range they allow. Cutting the bottom removes the only advantage over a barbell.
- Letting the elbows flare to 90 degrees
- Straight out is where shoulders get hurt. Keep them tucked in to about 45 degrees from the body.
How it differs from the neighbouring variants
The flat dumbbell press moves the emphasis back down to the middle of the chest and usually allows a little more weight. The incline barbell press lets you load heavier again, but each arm no longer works on its own and the range is shorter.
Low-to-high cable flyes hit the same upper chest with constant tension and no pressing, which makes them a useful addition rather than a replacement.
What it suits
Incline dumbbell press works as the first or second chest exercise. Six to twelve reps, one or two in reserve. If you only have room for one chest press in a session and your upper chest is the part that lags, this is the one to pick over the flat version.
Muscles worked
Primary: Upper chest.
Secondary: Chest, Front delts, Triceps, Rotator cuff.
Estimate your one-rep max
Epley's formula, from a set you have actually done. It is an estimate, and it drifts above eight reps, so keep the input between one and twelve.
Enter a set to see the estimate.
What it is called elsewhere
- Norsk Skrå hantelpress
- Svenska Lutande hantelpress
- Dansk Skrå håndvægtpres
- Deutsch Schrägbankdrücken (Kurzhanteln)
- Español Press inclinado con mancuernas
- Italiano Panca inclinata (manubri)
- Português Supino inclinado (halteres)
- Русский Жим гантелей на наклонной скамье
- Français Développé incliné (haltères)
Related chest exercises
- Bench press (barbell)
- Incline bench press (barbell)
- Decline bench press (barbell)
- Close-grip bench press (barbell)
- Landmine press
- Cable crossover
athlate logs this exercise, keeps the numbers, and tells you what you lifted last time.