Kneeling Dumbbell Arnold Press
The dumbbells start in front of your shoulders, palms facing you, elbows under the dumbbells. On the way up your palms turn to face forward, and at the top your arms are straight. The whole press happens from a tall kneeling position, with your torso upright throughout.
This is the overhead press pattern: the weight travels from your shoulders to arms' length overhead. The Arnold press adds the turn — palms facing you at the bottom, facing forward at the top.
Kneeling is what fixes the position. With your legs fixed underneath you, your torso stays tall and carries the overhead load itself. Anything that reaches the top got there because your shoulder pressed it.
The turn shows you something your shoulder does anyway: every time you take your arm overhead, the upper arm bone turns outwards as it goes. In the Arnold press you can see that rotation, because your palms turn with it.
From the gym floor: This is my favourite of the pressing variations, because it pulls your whole posture up with it. That is what I see in the studio — the research on strength training and posture is listed in the sources below.
Starting position
Kneel down onto both knees, about hip-width apart, with the tops of your feet flat on the floor behind you. Push your hips forward and straighten up until knees, hips and shoulders stack in one vertical line.
Bring the dumbbells to shoulder height in front of you: palms facing you, forearms vertical, elbows directly under the dumbbells. Chest up, brace your abs — from here on, your torso holds the position.
The three cues
- Elbows stay under the dumbbells
- Chest up, brace your abs
- Turn and drive the dumbbells up hard, then lower them slowly
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| Your upper body leans back | Brace your abs and keep your ribcage over your pelvis. If the weight pulls you backwards, reduce the weight until you stay upright for the whole rep. |
| The turn disappears and it becomes a straight press | Go lighter and make the turn deliberate: palms facing you at the bottom, palms facing forward at the top. |
| Your elbows drift out wide | Keep your elbows about halfway out, around 45 degrees from your body. If they still drift wide, take weight off. |
| You stop short of lockout at the top | Take every rep to full lockout, with your arms straight overhead. Go a little lighter and get all the way up each time. |
| Your shoulders ride up towards your ears at the top | Keep your shoulders down and press from there. Keep your neck long and your shoulders set as you press. |
| You bounce the dumbbells at the bottom and rush them straight back up | Come to a stop at the bottom, turn your palms back towards your face, settle into the position — then start the next rep. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| No weight | Learn the path first: palms towards you, turn, press up to straight arms. A few sets are enough for the pattern to stick. |
| Half kneeling | One knee down, the other foot planted on the floor in front of you. The long base front to back helps if you tend to lean back. |
| Tall kneeling, two dumbbells | What we do in the studio. Both knees down, both dumbbells at once. |
| Seated Dumbbell Arnold Press | Seated on a bench is its own exercise with its own page; the movement is the same as kneeling. |
| One arm at a time | One dumbbell, the other hand free. Your torso now also has to stop you bending towards the loaded side. |
Reps and load
Work in moderate rep ranges with a weight you can control cleanly overhead. Strong on the way up, slow on the way back down.
How wide the arc is depends on your shoulder mobility: a wider sweep, with the elbows travelling further away from your body; or a more direct line straight up. Use whichever one feels right for you.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Front delt M. deltoideus pars clavicularis | Prime mover | Drives the arm upwards — the main effort through the bottom half |
| Side delt M. deltoideus pars acromialis | Prime mover | Lifts the arm away from your body and carries it up into the finish position |
| Triceps M. triceps brachii | Prime mover | Straightens the elbows until your arms are straight overhead |
| Rear delt M. deltoideus pars spinalis | Synergist | Works through the turn and helps control the arm on the way down |
| Upper chest M. pectoralis major pars clavicularis | Synergist | Adds to the drive through the bottom half |
| Serratus anterior M. serratus anterior | Synergist | Rotates the shoulder blade upwards so the arm can travel fully overhead |
| Lower traps M. trapezius pars ascendens | Stabiliser | Help turn the shoulder blade upwards and keep it settled on your ribs as the arm travels up |
| Abs and obliques M. rectus abdominis, Mm. obliqui | Stabiliser | Hold your torso upright while the load is overhead |
Your shoulder does the moving; your torso holds. Kneeling puts the work of holding that overhead load on your torso — that is the part of the work that happens out of sight.
Explained in full
The whole sequence from the side and from behind: the start position, elbows under the dumbbells, the turn on the way up — and how wide the arc can be depending on your mobility. · 0:52
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
See the workshopsNew exercise pages are added all the time — the newsletter keeps you posted.
Sources
Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS. (2013). J Strength Cond Res 27(7):1824–1831. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e318276b873 — A comparison of the shoulder press standing and seated, with a barbell and with dumbbells, in 15 resistance-trained men at a realistic training load. All three parts of the deltoid were recorded, along with biceps and triceps. The free-standing dumbbell version showed the highest shoulder activity together with the lowest load moved. The participants were young men, not the readership of this page. (Evidence type: EMG)
Saeterbakken AH, Fimland MS. (2012). Eur J Appl Physiol 112(5):1671–1678. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-011-2141-7 — Trunk muscle activity during the dumbbell shoulder press in 15 healthy men, comparing the supported seated version with the free-standing one. Without a backrest, the abdominal muscles worked considerably harder. The kneeling version itself has never been measured; the reasoning on this page is carried across from standing to kneeling. (Evidence type: EMG)
Busch A, Sarver X, Comstock K. (2024). J Bodyw Mov Ther 37:308–314. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2023.10.001 — Records the side deltoid, serratus anterior and lower trapezius during overhead pressing in 28 male college baseball players. This is the basis for the two shoulder-blade muscles in the table. Overhead athletes of college age are a different population from time-pressed working adults. (Evidence type: EMG)
Dicus JR, Holmstrup ME, Shuler KT, Rice TT, Raybuck SD, Siddons CA. (2018). Int J Exerc Sci 11(6):708–716. DOI: 10.70252/CUDK5288 — A comparison of overhead pressing with dumbbells and with a barbell in 21 resistance-trained participants, normalised to maximum voluntary contraction. The front deltoid led in both versions, with the dumbbell variant moving less load. (Evidence type: EMG)
Stokdijk M, Eilers PHC, Nagels J, Rozing PM. (2003). Clin Biomech 18(4):296–302. DOI: 10.1016/S0268-0033(03)00017-2 — Three-dimensional motion measurement in 30 healthy shoulders: raising the arm overhead is accompanied by external rotation of the upper arm in every plane. This is the basis for saying that the Arnold press makes that rotation visible rather than adding it. (Evidence type: Kinematics)
McKean MR, Burkett BJ. (2015). J Sport Health Sci 4(3):250–257. DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2013.11.007 — Three-dimensional motion analysis of the seated overhead press in 33 participants, men and women. With normal shoulder mobility and adequate trunk control, the authors classify the movement as well tolerated by the shoulder and the spine. The women showed more spinal movement than the men. (Evidence type: Kinematics)
Katzman WB, Vittinghoff E, Lin F, Schafer A, Long RK, Wong S, Gladin A, Fan B, Allaire B, Kado DM, Lane NE. (2017). Osteoporos Int 28(10):2831–2841. DOI: 10.1007/s00198-017-4109-x — A randomised trial in 99 people aged 60 to 88 with pronounced hyperkyphosis. Six months of supervised back and posture training shifted the measured curve of the upper spine by a few degrees compared with the control group. The participants were considerably older than this page's readership, and what was tested was a whole programme rather than a single exercise. (Evidence type: RCT)
González-Gálvez N, Gea-García GM, Marcos-Pardo PJ. (2019). PLoS One 14(4):e0216180. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216180 — A synthesis of ten randomised trials with 539 mostly female participants who had hyperkyphosis or back pain, averaging twelve weeks at three sessions per week. Strengthening programmes changed posture more than stretching alone. These were programmes running over months; no trial tested a single exercise. (Evidence type: Meta-analysis)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.