Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

How to perform

1. 01Secure your legs at the end of the decline bench and lie down with a dumbbell on each hand on top of your thighs. The palms of your hand will be facing each other.
2. 02Once you are laying down, move the dumbbells in front of you at shoulder width.
3. 03Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. This will be your starting position.
4. 04Bring down the weights slowly to your side as you breathe out. Keep full control of the dumbbells at all times. Tip: Throughout the motion, the forearms should always be perpendicular to the floor.
5. 05As you breathe out, push the dumbbells up using your pectoral muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up..
6. 06Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.

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.