# Arnold Press: how to do it

- Main muscles: front delts, side delts
- Also works: triceps
- Equipment: dumbbell, bench
- Level: intermediate
- 3D demo (side view): https://media.trainaq.com/exercises/arnold_press/ab6077b620/side-m-720.mp4

## Steps

1. Sit tall on an upright bench, dumbbells at chin height, palms facing you.
2. Press up while turning your palms to face forward.
3. Let your elbows open out to the sides as you press.
4. Finish with arms almost straight over your shoulders.
5. Reverse the turn slowly on the way down.

## Cues

- Turn and press together
- Elbows open out as you rise
- Back stays on the pad

## Common mistakes

- Twisting the wrists only at the top: turn smoothly through the press.
- Arching your back off the bench: brace and keep it on the pad.
- Locking your elbows hard: stop just short of straight.

## Starting position

Seated on an upright bench with a back pad. Seat about 46 cm high; back pad vertical (90°), accept 80–90° from the floor (same bench as the seated dumbbell press). Head, shoulders and buttocks on the pad, feet flat about shoulder-width apart, knees about 90°. Torso braced, no low-back arch. Closed grip on each dumbbell, wrists straight. The grip starts supinated (palms facing the body) and ends pronated (palms forward).

## The movement

One smooth movement. As the press begins, the elbows swing out to the sides and up while the forearms turn; the palms rotate about 180° in total, from facing the body to facing forward. By the time the elbows reach shoulder height they sit about 30° in front of the frontal plane, the dumbbells at ear height with palms nearly forward: the bottom position of the seated dumbbell press. From there the dumbbells press up and slightly in. The way down reverses the path exactly: lower to ear height, then bring the elbows forward and together while the palms turn back to the face. Torso and head stay still on the pad.

## End position

(turnaround point): arms almost straight, elbows at about 170–175°, not locked. Dumbbells directly over the shoulder joints, palms facing forward, inner ends about 5 cm apart. Arms close to the ears.

## Tempo

About 2 s up (rotate and press together), about 0.2 s at the top (WebMD advises no long pause), about 2.5 s down, about 0.3 s at the start position.

## Form in numbers

| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dumbbell height at the start | chin | upper chest to chin |  |
| Palm rotation, start to top | 180° | 160–180° |  |
| Elbows forward of the frontal plane, at shoulder height | 30° | 20–40° |  |
| Elbow at the top | 172° | 165–178°, no lock |  |
| Gap between dumbbells at the top | 5 cm | 0–8 cm |  |
| Back pad angle | 90° | 80–90° |  |

## Sources

1. [[ExRx.net: Dumbbell Arnold Press](](https://exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidAnterior/DBArnoldPress)
2. [[WebMD: How to Do the Dumbbell Arnold Press](](https://webmd.com/fitness-exercise/how-to-do-dumbbell-arnold-press)
3. [[ACE: Seated Overhead Press (dumbbells)](](https://www.acefitness.org/resources/everyone/exercise-library/45/seated-overhead-press/)

Source: https://trainaq.com/exercises/arnold-press