Close-Grip Push-Up off of a Dumbbell

How to perform

1. 01Lie on the floor and place your hands on an upright dumbbell. Supporting your weight on your toes and hands, keep your torso rigid and your elbows in with your arms straight. This will be your starting position.
2. 02Lower your body, allowing the elbows to flex while you inhale. Keep your body straight, not allowing your hips to rise or sag.
3. 03Press yourself back up to the starting position by extending the elbows. Breathe out as you perform this step.
4. 04After a pause at the contracted position, repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

Form cues

• —Brace your core before the first rep and keep it braced.
• —Drive through the full range — do not cut the lockout short.
• —Control the lowering phase — that is where most of the growth stimulus lives.

Common mistakes

• —Using momentum instead of the target muscle.
• —Cutting the range of motion short to add load.
• —Adding weight before the movement pattern is clean.