Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press

Setup

1. 01Set a decline bench to roughly 15 to 30 degrees and hook the feet under the pads.
2. 02Bring the dumbbells to the shoulders and lie back in one motion.
3. 03Turn the palms to face each other in a neutral hammer grip.
4. 04Pin the shoulder blades back and down against the bench.

Execution

1. 01Press the dumbbells up over the lower chest until the elbows lock.
2. 02Lower under control with elbows tracking close to the torso.
3. 03Touch the dumbbells lightly near the sides of the lower chest.
4. 04Drive back up along the same slightly backward path.

Checkpoints

• -Palms stay facing each other for the whole set.
• -Elbows track tight, roughly 30 to 45 degrees from the torso.
• -Shoulder blades stay pinned to the decline bench.
• -Dumbbells move together without drifting apart at lockout.

Common mistakes

• -Letting the wrists rotate out of neutral under fatigue.
• -Flaring the elbows, which removes the point of the hammer grip.
• -Bouncing the dumbbells off the chest.
• -Sitting up with the weights still extended at the end of the set.