The dumbbell push press is a dynamic upper-body pressing exercise and the dumbbell counterpart to the barbell push press. It develops great upper-body and core strength, as well as powerful hip extension and core-to-extremity timing. Read further to learn everything you need to know about the dumbbell push press:
- What Is the Dumbbell Push Press?
- Dumbbell Push Press Benefits
- Muscle Groups Worked
- How To Prepare for the Dumbbell Push Press
- Equipment Needed
- How To Warm Up for the Dumbbell Push Press
- How To Perform the Dumbbell Push Press
- Common Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
- Dumbbell Push Press Modifications
- Dumbbell Push Press Variations
- Common Dumbbell Push Press Workouts
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What Is the Dumbbell Push Press?
The dumbbell push press is similar to the dumbbell strict press in that both vertical pressing movements drive the load from the shoulders to overhead. The dumbbell push press involves many of the same attributes as the barbell push press. This variation allows for slightly more ease in establishing the rack position, and the travel path of the objects is less likely to deviate from vertical trajectory. However, this movement may be more demanding for stabilization in the overhead position.
This movement is initiated with a shallow dip to create knee and hip flexion. This is followed immediately by a rapid hip and knee extension to launch the dumbbells off the shoulders before the arms take over to press them to lock out overhead.
Because athletes use their legs and hips to help propel the weight overhead, they can lift quite a bit more in the dumbbell push press than in the dumbbell strict press. The dumbbell push press also teaches core-to-extremity timing and coordination as the muscles of the hips and legs must seamlessly hand off to the arms and shoulder muscles to get the dumbbells overhead. Once this movement pattern has been mastered, a rapid cycle time for multiple reps is possible, increasing the power output potential for this movement. The dumbbell push press is a great movement to program when a workout demands a vertical pressing movement done for medium to high reps, although with heavy enough dumbbells, this movement can be challenged with near-maximum loading. Add to this the neurological benefits of this exercise — coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance — and the dumbbell push press offers an efficient and potent dose.
Dumbbell Push Press Benefits
The push press develops upper-body pressing stamina, power, speed, neurological skills, and strength.
Stamina
Because of the cycle rate and relatively high number of reps that are typically performed in the dumbbell push press, it is a great exercise for building muscular endurance and stamina in the shoulder region. Workouts may call for upward of 100 reps to be performed of this movement, resulting in great fatigue and the buildup of lactic acid, thereby developing stamina.
Strength
In the dumbbell push press, the prime movers, including the hip extensors (glutes and hams), spinal erectors, and quadriceps, assist the arms in driving the dumbbells overhead. Although the dumbbell push press is known more for utilizing light to moderate loads for many reps, this movement can be done for very heavy loads for a low number of reps to develop maximum strength.
Power
The rapid extension of the legs and hips in the drive portion of the dumbbell push press trains the athlete to impart forces into the ground quickly or powerfully. Similarly, the drive of the arms to press an already moving pair of dumbbells to lockout teaches the athlete how to apply force into an implement, quickly and efficiently.
Speed
As athletes gain mastery of the dumbbell push press, they become fluid at linking reps together. Being that the dumbbell push press is typically performed for many reps, this attribute is essential for maximizing performance. As the dumbbells come down from the overhead position (from the previous rep) and reach the shoulders, the athlete immediately flows into the dip for the next rep. The legs then extend, the dumbbells are driven overhead, and then are returned to the shoulders, where the dip is once again seamlessly performed to start the next rep. In this manner, athletes are able to generate a rapid cycle rate in the dumbbell push press.
Neurological Adaptation
The core-to-extremity aspect of the dumbbell push press is obvious, as a powerful leg drive is used to assist the arms in driving the dumbbells overhead. Performing the movement properly with the proper sequence of muscle contribution develops the neurological skills: coordination, accuracy, agility, and balance.
Coordination: Great coordination is required in the handoff from the dip and drive of the legs to the pressing of the arms. Any slight misjudgment in the timing between these two elements will negatively affect performance.
Accuracy: The dip of the legs can be quick, but must be controlled in order to preserve the line of action and body position. While the drive must be explosive, the torso must remain completely vertical in order to launch the dumbbells straight overhead. The arms must also guide the dumbbells to the correct finish position and stabilize them. All of these elements must be executed with great accuracy for optimal performance in the movement.
Agility: A critical component of executing an effective dumbbell push press is the rapid turnaround from the bottom of the dip into the drive. There should be no pause in the bottom of the dip. The athlete must anticipate the bottom of the dip and immediately and rapidly extend the legs and hips out of the bottom in order to take advantage of the stretch reflex and impart as much force as possible on the dumbbells.
Balance: As the dumbbells travel overhead in the dumbbell push press, the athlete must ensure they stay over the shoulders into the support position. Deviations of the dumbbells outward or forward of the body will cause the athlete to lose stability, pull them out of position, and lose capacity to support the load overhead.
Muscle Groups Worked
The dumbbell push press incorporates the muscles of the legs, core, shoulders, upper back, and arms.
Shoulder, Upper Back, and Arms
As the arms take over to drive the dumbbells overhead, the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, and arms, including the deltoids, traps, rhomboids, lats, and triceps, contract forcefully. The dumbbell push press is a phenomenal upper-body strengthening exercise and develops all of these muscle groups. The utility of the dumbbells requires the arms to work independently of each other to press and stabilize the load. This is a different demand than the barbell push press variation.
Legs
The muscles of the legs, including the glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps, contract powerfully to drive the dumbbells overhead. This develops the ability of the athlete to drive forces into the ground quickly, which is important for movements like running, sprinting, and throwing.
Core
The muscles of the core, including the abdominals and spinal erectors, contract isometrically to transfer forces from the leg drive, through the core, into the arms and the dumbbells. The core musculature remains engaged to stabilize the dumbbells when they are in the overhead position. This engagement helps develop the midline strength that is so important in athletic movements such as sprinting, throwing, kicking, punching, and jumping.
How To Prepare for the Dumbbell Push Press
Preparing to dumbbell push press requires assembling the proper equipment and performing a general and specific warm-up to get the body ready to move through the range of motion required.
Equipment Needed
To train the dumbbell push press, an athlete needs a pair of dumbbells at loads that allow them to achieve the intended stimulus for their daily workout. Dumbbells can range from just a couple of pounds to well over 100 lb and require little space, making it an achievable exercise for nearly all individuals.
How To Warm Up for the Dumbbell Push Press
To warm up for the dumbbell push press, the lifter should perform general movements that work every joint through its full range of motion, potentially prioritizing movements involving the shoulder region. Bar hangs, hollow holds, air squats, ring rows, lunges, shoulder circles, band pull-aparts, and push-ups are good choices for the general warm-up. For the specific warm-up, great options are dumbbell strict shoulder presses, dumbbell overhead hold/walks, and a skill progression for the movement with a focus on mechanics. Consider the following:
General Warm-Up
2 rounds at an easy-to-moderate pace:
30 seconds of jumping jacks
20-second bar hang
20-second hollow hold
10 PVC pass-throughs
10 PVC overhead squats
10 ring rows
Specific Warm-Up
5 dumbbell shoulder presses
3-5 dip and holds with dumbbells in the rack position
3-5 dip and drives with dumbbells in the rack position
5-7 dumbbell push presses
Then build up gradually to the workout weight.
How To Do the Dumbbell Push Press
Performing a dumbbell push press involves establishing the setup position and mastering the dip, the drive, the press, and the overhead position.
Setup
In the setup for the dumbbell push press, the athlete assumes a hip-width stance, with legs and hips fully extended, with one head of each dumbbell touching the shoulders. The athlete has a full grip, and the elbows are forward of the torso.
The Dip
For the dip, the athlete smoothly and under control flexes the knees and hips into a shallow quarter squat. It is critical that the athlete’s torso remain completely vertical during the dip, and their weight is shifted back toward the heels.
Drive
Immediately upon reaching the bottom of the dip, the athlete drives through the heels and rapidly and fully extends the legs and hips to impart vertical forces through the upright torso into the dumbbells. The athlete’s heels should remain in contact with the ground until the legs and hips have fully extended.
Press
Once the legs and hips have fully extended, the arms engage and press the already-moving dumbbells into the overhead position. Correct timing of the press is imperative for proper execution of the movement.
Overhead Position
In the finish position, the athlete pushes up against the dumbbells with active shoulders, legs, hips, and arms fully extended. The approximate finish width of the dumbbells is directly over the shoulders.
Common Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
The most common dumbbell push press mistakes include forward inclination of the chest in the dip-drive phase, a muted hip, arms pressing before the hips fully extend, and pausing at the bottom of the dip.
Forward Inclination of the Chest
It is very common for the athlete’s torso to lean forward during the dip portion of the dumbbell push press. This results in the athlete being pulled forward toward the balls of the feet and may lead to an inefficient, “looping” path of the dumbbells into the overhead position. When the athlete is on the balls of their feet prematurely, the force they can impart into the ground to drive the dumbbells vertically is reduced, and the ability to use the glutes and hamstrings for this task is compromised.
To prevent this forward inclination, the athlete should practice keeping a vertical torso as they dip by pushing the knees forward and out slightly. At first, they can dip and pause at the bottom to make sure they aren’t leaning forward. Once this has been mastered, they can combine the dip and drive, but do it slowly. When they are able to do this without any forward inclination, they can add speed to the dip and drive before attempting the full movement.
To help provide a tactile positioning cue, the athlete can perform each step of this progression with their glutes and back against a wall. By maintaining contact with the wall, they should remain upright.
The Muted Hip
In the dumbbell push press, a “muted hip” occurs when the athlete’s hip moves forward when initiating the descent, which means the hips do not flex at the hip in the dip portion of the lift. Instead, there is a straight line from the hip to the knee. If there is no hip flexion, there can be no powerful hip extension, and therefore no powerful drive phase to launch the bar off the torso. In addition, the muted hip prevents the posterior chain from contributing significantly to the drive, resulting in blunted power. Often, this lack of posterior chain engagement is exacerbated because the muted hip position pushes the athlete towards the balls of their feet.
One correction for the muted hip is to encourage the athlete to push the hips back slightly when they dip. Relative to where the hips are positioned during the muted hip, pushing the hips back should result in the hips remaining directly underneath the shoulders. We just need to be careful not to allow the hips to travel too far back, resulting in forward inclination of the torso.
Early Arm Press
It is common for athletes to engage their arms early in the dumbbell push press as they attempt to get the dumbbells overhead. Pressing early with the arms stops the full force of the leg and hip extension from being imparted into the dumbbells. This is a core-to-extremity violation and will result in less weight being lifted, reduced efficiency, and lead to early fatigue of the upper body.
To learn the proper timing and coordination of the movement, athletes can practice the full dip and drive without engaging the arms. As the athletes dip and then drive aggressively without engaging the arms, they should be mindful of a couple of things.
First, they should focus on what full hip extension feels like. Next, they should observe what happens to the dumbbells when they fully extend the hips without engaging the arms. They should notice the dumbbells pop off the shoulders and move vertically. This transfer of force from the hip extension into the dumbbells that causes the bar to move off the shoulder is the athlete’s cue to engage the arms. With a little practice, the athlete should be able to get this timing right.
Pausing at the Bottom of the Dip
The dumbbell push press requires the athlete to drive out of the bottom of the dip immediately. If the athlete pauses at the bottom of the dip, much of the stretch reflex in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments will be lost, and the drive portion will be diminished.
To remove the pause at the bottom of the dip, a simple drill is to practice the dip and drive at a slow speed, focusing on an immediate turnaround out of the bottom of the dip. As the athlete learns to anticipate the bottom position of the dip and drive instantly out of this position, speed can be added to make the dip-drive more realistic. Once the pause has been removed at full speed, the full movement can be attempted and refined.
Dumbbell Push Press Modifications
Modifications can be made to the equipment and load to accommodate any lifter in the push press.
Load
The dumbbell push press can be scaled all the way down to 1- to 2-lb dumbbells and even to a household object like a can of soup to drill technique and accommodate athletes of any strength level.
Single-Arm Dumbbell Push Press
The single-arm dumbbell push press can be performed by those athletes who may have an injured upper-body extremity or for those who have a hard time achieving full range of motion with both extremities simultaneously.
Dumbbell Push Press Variations
Common variations of the dumbbell push press include a barbell or kettlebell push press and a single-arm push press.
Kettlebell Push Press
The kettlebell push press can be done with two kettlebells, similarly to the dumbbell push press. This variation allows for a slightly different range of motion and rack position demands. This movement also places a demand for slightly more shoulder stabilization when the kettlebells are in this overhead position.
Single-arm push press
Done with a dumbbell or kettlebell, the single-arm push press provides a significant challenge to core musculature as the body attempts to stabilize the uneven loading overhead. The single-arm push press is also a good way to decrease strength imbalances between right and left arms. Single-arm lifting permits more freedom in the movement pattern, allowing an athlete to work around flexibility, mobility, or pain issues.
Barbell Push Press
The barbell push press is a popular movement in many weightlifting communities. This movement is performed similarly to the dumbbell push press. This movement may be more demanding on the rack position for many athletes, and there is added difficulty to ensure the implement (barbell) travels in a straight line into the overhead position due to the need to navigate around the face. This movement is commonly performed for very heavy loads at lower reps as a pure strength-building session, while also being used for light to moderate loads and a high volume of reps.
Common Dumbbell Push Press Workouts
The push press can be used in a variety of workouts, from heavy and low rep to fast, light, and high rep.
Heavy Day: Perform 5 sets of the following dumbbell complex for maximum load:
5 dumbbell shoulder press + 5 dumbbell push press + 5 dumbbell push jerks