Standing Palms-In Dumbbell Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Dumbbells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Stand with a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, palms facing each other.
- Set your feet hip-width apart, stomach braced, glutes tight.
- Press both dumbbells overhead, keeping the palms facing each other the whole way.
- Finish with the arms almost straight and the weights over your shoulders.
- Lower under control until the upper arms are roughly level with the floor.
- Keep the elbows in front of the body rather than flaring them out.
Common mistakes
- Letting the palms rotate to face forward. The neutral grip is the whole difference; once the hands turn, this is an ordinary dumbbell press.
- Clashing the dumbbells together overhead. The deltoid is already at its shortest; bringing them together adds nothing and risks losing one.
- Arching the lower back to press. Standing, the arch has nowhere to go but the spine.
- Choosing it only because it feels easier on the shoulder. It often does — the neutral grip keeps the elbows in front — and that is a good enough reason, but it is a different loading rather than a safer version of the same one.