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If you want to add some definition and muscle to your shoulders (while working your triceps as a secondary muscle), the dumbbell shoulder press is a compound exercise you should have in your routine.

But the key to working the muscles you should and avoiding injury (who wants to experience pain exercising, am I right?!) is performing the exercise correctly.

Which is what we’ll be talking about in today’s post.

I’ll be walking you through how to do dumbbell shoulder press with correct form so you can build more muscle in your upper body and get stronger pain-free.

How do you do a dumbbell shoulder press for beginners?

We’ll start first with the proper way to do dumbbell shoulder press.

Then, we’ll go over some of the most common mistakes to avoid as a strength training beginner when performing the exercise.

The video below shows you how to perform the exercise correctly but I’ll be putting into words the correct form as well.

This tutorial demonstrates the correct form for standing dumbbell shoulder press but it doesn’t matter whether you’re seated, standing, or kneeling–the same principles still apply. 

I’ll walk you through the proper way to do dumbbell shoulder press in just 4 quick steps below.

Dumbbell shoulder press muscles worked

I mentioned this in the intro but the primary muscles worked when performing dumbbell shoulder press is obviously your shoulders (specifically, your front shoulder muscles or front deltoids if you want to get scientific). 

But the correct form for dumbbell shoulder press also involves working your triceps.

Step 1: Brace your core

First and foremost, the proper way to do dumbbell shoulder press means bracing your core. 

Here are two cues to help you do that:

1. Pretend someone’s about to punch you in the gut. You’d contract your stomach muscles to better absorb the blow, right? This action will prevent you from arching your lower back too much (there will be a slight arch) and putting strain on it.
2. Squeeze your butt: Imagine you’re trying to hold a piece of paper between your butt cheeks. If you unclench your butt, the piece of paper will just fall out and your core most likely won’t be braced properly.

Step 2: Position your elbows at 45 degrees

A lot of people have the question: Where should your elbows be when doing dumbbell shoulder press?

Rather than flare your elbows out at 90 degrees (this will pinch the nerves in your shoulders and lead to pain), tuck your elbows in at a 45-degree angle. This will require holding the weight a little bit out in front of you. 

The starting position for your dumbbells should be around ear-height. 

Step 3: Press the weight up

It might sound simple, you just press the weight up, right?

Actually, there are a few things to be aware of in terms of the proper way to do dumbbell shoulder press.

Once you get to the top of the movement, make sure your shoulders aren’t shrugged up to your ears.

I want you to think about shoving your shoulders down into your back pockets. 

Also, when pressing the weight up above your head, you don’t want to lock out your elbows completely (I.e. have a slight bend in your arms).

This will save your elbows from pain they don’t have to experience. 

This is not a push-press exercise so you’re not using your hips and legs to thrust the weight up.

If you have to do that, A.) You’re taking emphasis off of the muscles you’re supposed to work, which is your shoulders and B.) You’re lifting too heavy and need to drop down in weight a little bit. 

Step 4: slowly lower the weight down with control

You don’t want to just let the weight come crashing down at the speed of light.

When it’s time to lower the weight back down, do so nice and controlled.

If you just let the weights drop all fast, you’re missing out on a VERY important part of any exercise and that’s the negative, or eccentric phase of the lift.

The eccentric phase is simply the part of the lift where you lower the weight down.

For example, on bench press, the eccentric phase would be lowering the weight down to your chest.

In the case of dumbbell shoulder press, the eccentric phase is lowering the weight back down to around ear-height.

Why is the eccentric phase so important?

Slowing down the eccentric phase places more tension on your muscles.

And the more tension you can place on your muscles the better.

More tension = more muscle growth and strength gains, which = broader, more defined shoulders. 

See if you can take 2-3 seconds to lower the weight down.

It’ll suck (in a good way!) and you’ll feel the burn but your muscle growth results will thank you for it. 

How to do dumbbell shoulder press: Worst mistakes to AVOID (+ How to correct them!)

Flaring elbows out wide

This might just be the most common mistake when it comes to the correct form for shoulder press.

You’re asking for shoulder issues and pain by having your elbows flared out. 

If this is happening to you, rotate your arms in a little bit so that they’re at a 45-degree angle.

This should ring the dumbbells out in front of you just a little bit.

Arching your lower back

You should have a slight and I mean SLIGHT arch in your lower back. 

Without it, you wouldn’t be able to press the weight above your head fully.

But if you’re overarching your back like in the picture above, that’s no good.

Arching your back like that puts a strain on it and can lead to back issues/injury. 

There’s an easy fix for this mistake.

To minimize the arch in your back, call back to what we talked about earlier in terms of bracing your core.

Pretend someone’s about to give you a punch to the cut while simultaneously pretending like you’re trying to hold a piece of paper between your butt cheeks. 

Shrugging your shoulders

A lot of people, when they press up, end up shrugging their shoulders because they’re overextending at the top.

This makes the exercise an upper trapezius movement, which is something you want to avoid.

I mean, naturally you’re going to get a little upper trap activation just by nature of the movement but shrugging up toward your ears can lead to shoulder impingement and injury. 

Keep your shoulders down by shoving them into your back pockets.

Pressing the dumbbells out instead of up

A lot of people make the mistake with dumbbell shoulder press of pressing more at an angle outward instead of upward. 

Remember, there will be a slight arch in your lower back (that’s the only way you’ll be able to properly lift the dumbbells above your head) but it shouldn’t be extreme. 

This slight arch will result in proper dumbbell shoulder press form, as you’ll be able to lift the weight more so in a vertical line as opposed to out in front of you in a horizontal one.

Letting the weight fall down instead of controlling it

The correct form for dumbbell shoulder press doesn’t just involve pressing the weight up. 

You need to be controlling the weight on the way down as well.

Remember, the eccentric portion of the lift is the phase where you lower the weight down. 

Neglecting the eccentric phase of the lift means not getting everything you could out of the movement, which = less strength gains and muscle gains.

Take 1-3 seconds to lower the weight down.

It’s better to lift lighter weight with supreme control than to lift heavy weight that causes you to break form.

Letting the weights come crashing down is a recipe for injury.

How to do dumbbell shoulder press: Alternative variations

Arnold press 

You can do Arnold press either standing or kneeling.

You can also do this exercise single-arm.

The Arnold press primarily works your front shoulders but it also works your side and rear shoulder muscles as well. 

When performing this exercise, keep your core tight to avoid arching your back.

As you lower the weight down, you’re twisting your arms and wrists inside so that your forearms are parallel to each other.

You’ll then rotate your wrists and arms back out to a traditional shoulder press position and press the weight up.

Half rep into full shoulder press

This variation places more tension on your muscle fibers because of the half rep you’re adding in.

And as we talked about, more muscular tension will lead to better developed shoulders.

Go all the way down, come halfway back up, go all the way down, come all the way up to the top of the movement. 

That’s one rep

Your shoulders will be overdone toast but that’s how you get the best gains!

Kneeling single-arm shoulder press

Single-arm variation really emphasizes balance and coordination.

Brace your core and squeeze your butt as you press the weight up!

Z press

This exercise eliminates any movement from your legs so it’s straight shoulders. 

Be sure NOT to over-arch your back.

You can have a slight arch but keep your back in as neutral of a position as you can. 

What about barbell shoulder press?

All the same rules and principles for dumbbell shoulder press apply to barbell shoulder press:

• Brace your core and squeeze your butt so you don’t arch your lower back
• Press the weight up and not out
• Keep your shoulders down and shove them into your back pockets.
• Don’t shrug your shoulders or overextend at the top
• Don’t flare your elbows out wide. Have them tucked in at a 45-degree angle.
• Lower the weight down nice and controlled.

Dumbbell shoulder press FAQ

Where should your elbows be when performing dumbbell shoulder press?

Your elbows should be tucked in at a 45-degree angle and NOT flared out at 90 degrees.

Flaring your elbows out places a strain on your shoulders that can lead to pain and injury. 

What are the best dumbbell shoulder exercises?

You have a variety of dumbbell shoulder exercises ot choose from but if you want to hit all parts of the shoulder here are the three staple exercises I’d recommend:

• Some variation of dumbbell shoulder press
• Lateral raises
• Rear delt fly 

Should shoulder press be 90 degrees?

Nope! 

Tuck your elbows in at 45 degrees when performing dumbbell shoulder press.

How much should a beginner lift on dumbbell shoulder press?

The weight you choose will depend on a variety of factors.

But they key to remember is this:

What someone else lifts has no influence on what YOU should lift.

And there’s not some definitive, “You need to lift exactly this much weight as a beginner” formula.

Instead, choose a weight that:

 A.) Is challenging (start on the lighter side) and…

B.) Allows you to perform all reps with proper form.

Don’t worry if you feel like the weight you have to go with right now is light.

The more you practice the movement, the stronger you’ll get and the more weight you’ll be able to lift. 

When should you increase the weight on dumbbell shoulder press?

You simply use the double progression method.

Follow that training strategy and you’ll know EXACTLY when it’s time to increase the weight you’re lifting.

How many reps of dumbbell shoulder press should you do?

Shoot for somewhere between 6 and 12 reps!

That’s the sweet spot in terms of hypertrophy (aka muscle growth) and building the set of shoulders you want.