Dumbbell Push Press

How to do it

1. Stand with feet hip-width and hold a dumbbell in each hand on the front of your shoulders, palms facing in.
2. Brace your core and keep your weight over the middle of the feet.
3. Dip by bending the knees a few centimetres, keeping the torso upright.
4. Drive hard through the legs and use that momentum to press the dumbbells overhead to straight arms.
5. Lower the dumbbells back to the shoulders, bending the knees slightly to absorb them.

Tips

• Keep the dip short and straight down, like a quarter of a squat or less.
• The legs start the lift, the arms finish it.

Common mistakes

• Letting the knees drift forward and the heels lift in the dip.
• Pausing between the leg drive and the press.
• Letting the dumbbells crash onto the shoulders.

Muscles worked by the Dumbbell Push Press

• Front delts Primary27%
• Side delts Secondary15%
• Triceps (lateral head) Secondary9%
• Triceps (long head) Secondary7%
• Upper traps Minor6%
• Triceps (medial head) Secondary5%
• Serratus anterior Minor5%
• Upper chest Minor4%
• Gluteus maximus Minor4%
• Quads (vastus lateralis) Minor4%
• Rotator cuff Stabilizer4%
• Spinal erectors (lower back) Stabilizer3%
• Quads (vastus medialis) Minor3%
• Rear delts Stabilizer2%
• Upper abs Stabilizer2%

Share per muscle in the Zulta muscle model. The model spreads the load of one rep over 40 muscles, based on EMG and biomechanics research.

Dumbbells travel wider and need more stabilising (Saeterbakken 2013). A dip and drive from the legs starts the bar. Pressing overhead is shoulder flexion and abduction with elbow extension: the front delt leads, the lateral delt and triceps assist, and the upper traps and serratus rotate the shoulder blade up.

Dumbbell Push Press alternatives

Same equipment

• Arnold PressDumbbell

Different equipment

• Kettlebell Push PressKettlebell
• Push PressBarbell

Easier

• Dumbbell Military PressDumbbell
• Dumbbell Shoulder PressDumbbell

No equipment

• Handstand Push UpBodyweight

Make it easier

• Kettlebell Push PressKettlebell
• Dumbbell Military PressDumbbell
• Dumbbell Shoulder PressDumbbell
• Kettlebell Double PressKettlebell

Frequently asked questions

What muscles does the Dumbbell Push Press work?

Mainly the front delts. The side delts, triceps (lateral head), triceps (long head) and triceps (medial head) assist.

Is the Dumbbell Push Press good for beginners?

The Dumbbell Push Press is rated advanced. If you are new, learn the Kettlebell Push Press first and build up from there.

What is a good alternative to the Dumbbell Push Press?

For example the Kettlebell Push Press, Push Press and Dumbbell Military Press. They train mostly the same muscles, some with different equipment.

Sources

• Saeterbakken and Fimland 2013, JSCR 27(7):1824-1831 (standing, seated, barbell, dumbbell)

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