maratoolStanding Palms-In Dumbbell Press
How to do the standing palms-in dumbbell press
- Start by having a dumbbell in each hand with your arm fully extended to the side using a neutral grip. Your feet should be shoulder width apart from each other. Now slowly lift the dumbbells up until you create a 90 degree angle with your arms. Note: Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor. This the starting position.
- Continue to maintain a neutral grip throughout the entire exercise. Slowly lift the dumbbells up until your arms are fully extended.
- While inhaling lower the weights down until your arm is at a 90 degree angle again.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime movers are the deltoids, which raise and rotate the upper arm at the shoulder joint.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the triceps straighten the elbow to finish the movement.
How this movement works
The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
Dumbbells let each side work on its own, surfacing a strength difference between limbs that a barbell would quietly cover for, and leaving the wrist free to rotate through the movement.
Every exercise using:Dumbbell
These train the shoulders too, using equipment this one does not:
- Standing Two-Arm Overhead Throwmedicine ball
- Straight Raises on Incline Benchbarbell
- Two-Arm Kettlebell Cleankettlebell
- Upright Cable Rowcable
- Back Flyes - With Bandsband
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 141 shoulders exercises in this database, 46 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.