Dumbbell Press Bridge
Dumbbell Press Bridge
The shoulder bridge to dumbbell press is a free weights, pilates, and total body exercise that primarily targets the chest and to a lesser degree also targets the calves, glutes, hamstrings, lower back, quads and triceps.
Grab dumbbells with an overhand grip and lie flat on your back. Bend the knees with feet firmly planted on the floor. Keeping your triceps firmly on the floor, activate (contract) the chest, then press. Squeeze the chest at the top of the ovement.
Slowly lower the weights, returning to starting position with a 3-4 second negative to place more stress on the chest.
The Floor Press develops the same muscles as the Bench Press—the pecs, triceps and anterior shoulder. However, the focus shifts primarily to the chest and triceps for me. On barbell bench press or dumbbell bench press I always feel more on the anterior shoulder than my chest.
By incorporating the Floor Press into my chest workout, I feel more contraction at my chest to which it feels like more work.
This exercise can also be performed with a barbell with larger diameter plates which allows you to get under the bar more practically and of course, if you progress to heavier weight, the barbell variation is easier to get into position.