Close-Grip Dumbbell PressMuscles Worked
The close-grip dumbbell press works your triceps, with your chest and front delts helping on every rep. Pressing a single dumbbell squeezed between your palms keeps your elbows tucked and your wrists neutral, which many lifters find easier on the wrists than a close-grip barbell.
How to do it
- Lie on a flat bench with your feet planted and hold one dumbbell with both hands, palms facing each other and squeezing it firmly.
- Start with your arms straight and the dumbbell over your lower chest, shoulder blades pulled back into the bench.
- Lower the dumbbell slowly to your chest, keeping your elbows tucked close to your sides.
- Press it back up by straightening your elbows, keeping the squeeze on the dumbbell the whole way.
- Finish with your arms straight, then lower again for the next rep.
Form tips
- Keep squeezing the dumbbell between your palms throughout so it stays secure and your elbows stay in.
- Let your elbows travel down along your ribs rather than out to the sides.
- You can also press two dumbbells held together with palms facing each other; the cues are the same.
Why it made the list
No. 12 of 12
Best Tricep Exercises
Dumbbell compound pressing with tricep emphasis. Neutral grip is easier on the wrists than barbell close-grip.
More tricep exercises
See it on your own body map
Log your Close-Grip Dumbbell Press sets in KasMaker and watch your triceps, chest, and shoulders fill in on the map, weighted by how much you did. Logging and the body map are free on iPhone.
