Incline Dumbbell Press
- Dumbbells
- Medium exercise
- Chest
For the incline dumbbell press, you lie on a bench set to 30 degrees, lower the dumbbells beside your upper chest and press them up over your chest. It mainly trains the upper chest, with the front delts and triceps helping [1].
ChestShoulders, Triceps
Drag to pause
- Main muscle
- Chest
- Supporting muscles
- Shoulders, Triceps
- Equipment
- Dumbbells and an incline bench
- Reps
- 8–12 for muscle building
- Sets
- 3
- Rest
- 2:00
- Weight step
- 1 kg up to 10 kg, then 2 kg (2.5 lb, then 5 lb)
How to do it
- 1
Set the bench to 30–45 degrees, feet planted.
- 2
Lower beside your upper chest with your forearms vertical.
- 3
Press up over your upper chest, shoulders pinned back.
Tempo of one rep
The figure shows a calm rep of 4.4 s. Tempo matters less than you’d think for growth; reps lasting 0.5 to 8 s build similar muscle [2].
Common mistakes
- Elbows flared to shoulder height.
Your upper arms then sit straight out from your torso and your shoulders take more of the load. Keep your elbows angled under the dumbbells, between tucked and fully flared [3].
- Forearms slanted.
With your elbows ahead of or behind your hands, the weight pushes against your arm instead of straight through it. Keep your elbows under your wrists at the bottom [3].
- Hips lifting off the bench.
Your torso then sits flatter than the bench angle and your upper chest gets less of the work. Head, shoulders and hips stay on the bench, both feet on the floor [3].
- Bouncing the dumbbells at the bottom.
The bounce takes work away from your chest at the bottom. Lower under control to beside your upper chest, then press up from a dead stop.
Sets and reps
How Tarvo plans the incline dumbbell press as a medium exercise, by goal and experience. Rest is the time between two sets.
| Goal | Reps | Rest |
|---|---|---|
| Muscle building | 8–12 | 2:00 |
| Strength | 6–8 | 2:00 |
| Both | 6–10 | 2:00 |
| Experience | Sets |
|---|---|
| New to it | 2 |
| Some experience | 3 |
| Experienced | 4 |
How Tarvo progresses your incline press
Dumbbells go up in fixed steps: 1 kg (2.5 lb) up to 10 kg (25 lb), then 2 kg (5 lb). Until you reach the top of your rep range, you add one rep.
Once your first set hits the top of the range and the others are no more than two reps below it, you move to the next pair. Tarvo works out from your strength how many reps you can do with it.
If the jump is so big that you couldn’t even reach the bottom of your range with the heavier pair, you first add reps beyond the range, one per session and five at most. After that, the jump comes anyway.
Your next incline press
Enter what you did last time. Tarvo works out your target for the next session with the same rule as in the app.
All on target, with two left. So the same weight, one more rep.
Variations
Bench PressFlat bench, more middle and lower chestQuestions
What angle should the incline bench be?
30 degrees. In a barbell study, the upper chest worked hardest there, and from 45 degrees the front delts took over more [1].
How many sets of incline dumbbell press for muscle growth?
Three sets of 8 to 12 reps with 2:00 min rest if you already have some experience. Together with your other chest exercises, Tarvo plans about 12 hard sets for the chest per week, a number in the range that works well [4].
How low should the dumbbells go?
To beside your upper chest, slightly wider toward your armpits, forearms vertical [3]. Your elbows don’t go behind the line of your back.
Incline or flat bench press?
Flat works the middle and lower chest hardest, 30 degrees the upper chest [1]. Tarvo’s Full Body, Upper Lower and Push Pull Legs plans have both in the same week.
What muscles does the incline dumbbell press work?
Mainly the upper chest, plus the front delts and triceps [1].
Sources
- [1]Rodríguez-Ridao et al. (2020). Effect of Five Bench Inclinations on the Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Triceps Brachii during the Bench Press Exercise. Int J Environ Res Public Health. doi 10.3390/ijerph17197339Muscle activity at five bench angles. Flat works the middle and lower chest hardest, 30 degrees the upper chest.
- [2]Schoenfeld, Ogborn, Krieger (2015). Effect of repetition duration during resistance training on muscle hypertrophy. Sports Med. doi 10.1007/s40279-015-0304-0Meta-analysis. Reps lasting 0.5 to 8 seconds built similar muscle; much slower reps built less.
- [3]American Council on Exercise. Incline Chest Press (Exercise Library). acefitness.org. www.acefitness.orgExercise library, read second-hand. Elbows under the wrists, dumbbells to the upper chest, head, shoulders, hips and feet stay on the bench and floor.
- [4]Pelland, Remmert, Robinson, Hinson, Zourdos (2024). The Resistance Training Dose-Response: Meta-Regressions Exploring the Effects of Weekly Volume and Frequency on Muscle Hypertrophy and Strength Gain. SportRxiv (Vorabfassung). sportrxiv.orgMeta-regression of 67 studies. More sets bring more growth with diminishing returns; secondary muscles fit best counted as half.
Keep going
Tarvo sets your next incline press target.
From your last session, set by set. You just check them off.
One email when Tarvo launches. Nothing else. Privacy
Reviewed on · Sources