As part of our ‘gym equipment 101’ series, we wanted to build the most comprehensive exercise list that users can perform on each common piece of gym equipment. To us, that means a focus on effective, high-quality movements and showing you how to do them, rather than churning out 13 different variations of the same exercise and calling it a day. You’ll find no gimmicks here and no exercises that have been added for the sake of padding up the numbers. Just proven, effective weight bench exercises that anybody can do to build strength and muscle.

You’ll need a weight bench to perform these movements in the way we’ve outlined. A pair of dumbbells is preferable, though some of the exercises can be performed using a barbell or kettlebell instead. 

Whatever additional equipment you have available to you, we think you’ll come away from this full of ideas on how you can make the most out of your weight bench.

Arms

Starting off with the essentials.

Biceps

Seated Bicep Curl

• Target: Biceps

Performing this in a seated position reduces how much you can ‘cheat’ with the rest of your body to bring the weight up when struggling. The result is even more isolation on the bicep.

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Incline Dumbbell Curl

• Target: Biceps

As above, but by letting your shoulders hang behind your torso, you’ll benefit from an additional stretch in the bicep as you’re working, which can drive even more muscle growth.

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Incline Hammer Curl

• Target: Bicep brachialis, forearms

An absolute blinder for targeting the bicep brachialis, which is the muscle that does most of the work when you hold the weight in a neutral grip. Make sure you’re doing at least one hammer curl variation in your arm exercises to properly target all areas of the bicep!

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Preacher Curl

• Target: Biceps

A smart way of using a weight bench to mimic a common preacher pad that you’ll find in commercial gyms. Maximum bicep isolation with an emphasis on the short head (peak) of the muscle. To switch things up, perform this with a hammer grip to isolate the brachialis instead.

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Triceps

Skull Crushers

• Target: Triceps (long head bias)

Can be performed with dumbbells, but best performed with an ez curl bar. Set your bench to a mild incline (10°-30°) so you can bring the weights down as low as possible behind your head, providing the best possible stretch in the triceps.

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Close Grip Bench Press

• Target: Triceps (lateral head bias), anterior deltoid

Old school vibes. As you bring your arms down, focus on keeping your elbows tucked close to your body to maintain the focus on your triceps. Holding the bar in a close grip helps you do this by default.

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Single Arm Dumbbell Extension

• Target: Triceps (long head bias)

Performing this in a seated position reduces how much you can ‘cheat’ with the rest of your body to bring the dumbbell back into an extended position. The result is more isolation (and more gains) in the tricep.

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Bench Dips

• Target: Triceps, anterior deltoid

Maybe you used to do this exercise by gripping onto your bed frame for support, but it works just as well with a bench! Better, even.

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Is that it for arms? I thought you’d have more.

There are more arm exercises that you can perform on a bench than this, but none that we could vouch for in good conscience. Tricep kickbacks, for example, sound good on paper but rarely feel good and often cause unnecessary strain on the shoulders. If you’re looking for a simple dumbbell tricep exercise to replace them, then it’s likely you’d see better results by doing overhead extensions instead.

Chest

This is where it pays to have a flat, incline and decline bench.

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest, triceps and anterior deltoids

The flagship dumbbell chest exercise. Some people find this preferable to training with a barbell since it provides a deeper range of motion. Important tip: don’t flare your elbows out fully when exercising. Instead, hold them at a 45 degree angle against your body.

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Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest (upper bias), triceps and anterior deltoids

The higher the bench, the higher up the chest this movement targets. This is a very popular since it targets the upper and middle chest significantly. As above, keep your elbows tucked to a 45 degree angle by your side when lifting the weights up and down.

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Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest (lower bias), triceps and anterior deltoid

If you have a FID bench, then you might as well try a decline exercise since you have the equipment for it! Some people love working on a decline, while others are indifferent. You’ll never know until you try! As above, keep your elbows tucked to a 45 degree angle by your side when moving the weights.

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Dumbbell Fly

• Target: Chest

When the pec deck machine is busy, sometimes you have to get on a bench and perform flys the old fashioned way. Make sure you do this movement slow and imagine you’re hugging a great big tree to capture the movement path you’re after.

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Incline Dumbbell Fly

• Target: Chest (upper bias)

Like the regular fly, but with more upper chest activation.

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Decline Dumbbell Fly

• Target: Chest (lower bias)

Like the regular fly, but with more lower chest activation.

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Flat Barbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest, triceps and anterior deltoid

One of the big three and a truly iconic lift. Spend some time perfecting your form in this movement before going heavy, and remember to keep your elbows tucked at a 45 degree angle by your side when moving the bar to avoid injuring your shoulder.

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Incline Barbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest (upper bias), triceps and anterior deltoid

Excellent at building the upper chest, shoulders and triceps in one movement. Requires a squat rack for safe racking and re-racking.

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Decline Barbell Bench Press

• Target: Chest (lower bias), triceps and anterior deltoid

Best performed if your bench has a leg brace that can lock you in place while training. Otherwise, take extra care in setting yourself up in a stable position before grasping the barbell.

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Incline Push-ups

• Target: Chest (lower bias), triceps and anterior deltoid

A beginner-friendly movement that requires absolutely no equipment aside from the bench. The increased angle from your hands being raised reduces the resistance that you need to push up, making it great for progressing into flat pushups as you get stronger.

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Decline Push-ups

• Target: Chest (upper bias), triceps and anterior deltoid

A more challenging pushup variation for once you’ve mastered the regular variant. Since your chest is set at an angle, this variant also recruits your upper chest more than a regular pushup.

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Shoulders

Shoulder Press

• Target: Anterior deltoid, lateral deltoid

The must-have shoulder exercise in your routine. Hits the front and side delts with real venom, and the strength you build in this movement will transfer to a lot of pressing exercises.

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Arnold Press

• Target: Anterior deltoid, lateral deltoid

Named after the big man himself, the Arnold press is a variation of the shoulder press and has added emphasis on the front (anterior) deltoid on account of the starting position where the elbows are in front of the chest. Great for hypertrophy (building muscle), though you won’t be able to lift as heavy in this compared to a traditional shoulder press.

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Seated Lateral Raise

• Target: Lateral deltoid

Looking for those wide shoulders that make your silhouette pop? Look no further than lateral raises. By performing these seated, you reduce the amount of ‘cheating’ you can do to swing the weights upwards, increasing the tension on the lateral deltoid.

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Seated Front Raise

• Target: Anterior deltoid

Simple but effective. Perform this exercise slowly and make sure not to rush when bringing the weights back down. That’s where a lot of the work is being done; it should burn!

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Seated Overhead Press

• Target: Anterior deltoid, lateral deltoid

Using a barbell for this movement rather than dumbbells can reduce shoulder pain for some users, since the shoulders aren’t rotated quite as far back. Adding a stable base underneath you helps to reduce cheating and helps you dial in to your shoulders.

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Back

Bench-Supported Single Arm Row

• Target: Lats, rhomboids, traps, biceps

While this exercise can be performed without an exercise bench, it’s much easier to steady yourself against a surface while you perform the movement with your free hand. The trick here is to focus on pulling with your elbow, not your arm. That’ll help really engage your back.

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Chest Supported Dumbbell Row

• Target: Lats, rhomboids, traps, biceps

As above, once you’re set up in this position with your chest supported, focus on pulling your elbows back as though you’re trying to hit somebody behind you. Squeeze your scapula (shoulder blades) together at the top of the movement and control the weights slowly back to their start position.

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Incline Bench Reverse Fly

• Target: Posterior deltoids

The rear delts are an often-overlooked muscle that you can isolate in this movement. They’re technically part of the shoulder, but since they make up part of your back it’s more common to find them in this category. As with a lot of back exercises, focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together as you perform this exercise to properly engage the rear delts.

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Dumbbell Pullover

• Target: Lats

This is a funky looking exercise but one that really engages the lats, which is the part of the back that contributes to width. Start with a light weight to get a feel for the exercise, stretching the dumbbell as far behind your head as you can before pulling it back over your torso.

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Legs

Bulgarian Split Squat

• Target: Quads, hamstrings

A leg day favourite, split squats are a great unilateral (single leg) exercise where your back leg is supported on a bench and your front leg does all the work. Be sure to complete equal reps with both legs to avoid building up any muscle imbalances!

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Front foot-elevated split squats

• Target: Hamstrings, quads

These are similar to a Bulgarian Split Squat but with the front foot elevated instead, you’ll feel a greater emphasis on the quads when performing this exercise, which is the muscle at the top of your thigh.

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Barbell Hip Thrust

• Target: Glutes

This exercise is most commonly performed with a barbell and a padded sleeve, but if you only have dumbbells available to you then that’s absolutely nothing wrong with placing one of these in your lap (the set up of doing that can be tricky!) and then hinging at your hips to activate your glute muscles.

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You won't be left wanting for weight bench exercises after that! If there's anything else you need to know, we've probably answered it in our weight bench explainer article. 

If not, and you're ready to pick one up for yourself, scroll through our most popular items below. Happy training!