10 Best Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press Alternatives for Triceps Strength

The Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press lowers two dumbbells to your chest, palms facing each other, elbows tucked close to your body. The Barbell Lying Close-grip Press is the closest swap because it lowers a barbell the same way, elbows held close to your body, with both hands on one bar so they cannot drift apart. Without a barbell, the Close-grip Dumbbell Press lowers a single dumbbell to your chest, both palms pressed against its sides, with only your shoulders resting across the bench.

Original Exercise: Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press

Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press
Primary Muscle
Triceps
Equipment
Dumbbell
Difficulty
Intermediate
Type
Compound
Secondary Muscles: Chest, Shoulders
How to Perform Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and your arms extended straight up over your chest.
  3. Slowly lower the dumbbells down towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  4. Pause for a moment at the bottom, then push the dumbbells back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Ranked Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press Alternatives

Best Match
Dumbbell Twisting Bench Press

1. Dumbbell Twisting Bench Press

99.4% Match
Triceps Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with an overhand grip, palms facing away from you.
  3. Extend your arms straight up over your chest, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
  4. Lower the dumbbells down towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  5. As you lower the dumbbells, twist your wrists so that your palms face towards you at the bottom of the movement.
Close-Grip Dumbbell Press

2. Close-Grip Dumbbell Press

99.2% Match
Triceps Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Place a dumbbell standing up on a flat bench.
  2. Ensuring that the dumbbell stays securely placed at the top of the bench, lie perpendicular to the bench with only your shoulders lying on the surface. Hips should be below the bench and your legs bent with your feet firmly on the floor.
  3. Grasp the dumbbell with both hands and hold it straight over your chest at arm's length. Both palms should be pressing against the underside of the sides of the dumbbell. This will be your starting position.
  4. Initiate the movement by lowering the dumbbell to your chest.
  5. Return to the starting position by extending the elbows.
Barbell Lying Close-grip Press

3. Barbell Lying Close-grip Press

96% Match
Triceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Grasp the barbell with a close grip, hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing towards your feet.
  3. Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
  4. Slowly lower the barbell towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  5. Pause for a moment when the barbell touches your chest, then push it back up to the starting position.
Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press

4. Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press

96% Match
Triceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie back on a flat bench. Using a close grip (around shoulder width), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
  2. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your middle chest. Tip: Make sure that - as opposed to a regular bench press - you keep the elbows close to the torso at all times in order to maximize triceps involvement.
  3. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your triceps muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
  4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
  5. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
Reverse Triceps Bench Press

5. Reverse Triceps Bench Press

96% Match
Triceps Barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie back on a flat bench. Using a close, supinated grip (around shoulder width), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked extended in front of you and perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position.
  2. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your middle chest. Tip: Make sure that as opposed to a regular bench press, you keep the elbows close to the torso at all times in order to maximize triceps involvement.
  3. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your triceps muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
  4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
  5. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
Dumbbell Floor Press

6. Dumbbell Floor Press

95.4% Match
Triceps Dumbbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lay on the floor holding dumbbells in your hands. Your knees can be bent. Begin with the weights fully extended above you.
  2. Lower the weights until your upper arm comes in contact with the floor. You can tuck your elbows to emphasize triceps size and strength, or to focus on your chest angle your arms to the side.
  3. Pause at the bottom, and then bring the weight together at the top by extending through the elbows.
Ez Barbell Jm Bench Press

7. Ez Barbell Jm Bench Press

95.4% Match
Triceps Ez-barbell Advanced Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Grasp the ez barbell with an overhand grip, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  3. Lower the barbell to your chest, keeping your elbows tucked in close to your body.
  4. Push the barbell back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.
  5. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Close-Grip EZ-Bar Press

8. Close-Grip EZ-Bar Press

95.2% Match
Triceps Ez-barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie on a flat bench with an EZ bar loaded to an appropriate weight.
  2. Using a narrow grip lift the bar and hold it straight over your torso with your elbows in. The arms should be perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position.
  3. Now lower the bar down to your lower chest as you breathe in. Keep the elbows in as you perform this movement.
  4. Using the triceps to push the bar back up, press it back to the starting position by extending the elbows as you exhale.
  5. Repeat.
Ez-bar Close-grip Bench Press

9. Ez-bar Close-grip Bench Press

95.2% Match
Triceps Ez-barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Grasp the ez barbell with a close grip, hands shoulder-width apart, palms facing forward.
  3. Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
  4. Slowly lower the barbell towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  5. Pause for a moment when the barbell touches your chest.
Barbell Reverse Close-grip Bench Press

10. Barbell Reverse Close-grip Bench Press

94.7% Match
Triceps Barbell Intermediate Isolation
How to perform this exercise
  1. Lie flat on a bench with your feet flat on the ground and your back pressed against the bench.
  2. Grasp the barbell with a reverse grip, hands shoulder-width apart.
  3. Lift the barbell off the rack and hold it directly above your chest with your arms fully extended.
  4. Slowly lower the barbell down towards your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body.
  5. Pause for a moment when the barbell is just above your chest.

Why You Might Need a Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press Alternative

A gym without free dumbbells is the most common reason to swap the Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press, and a barbell or an EZ bar covers the gap. The lift asks for a neutral grip, elbows close to your ribs, and full extension at the top, so any replacement should keep the elbows tucked. Some swaps move that press onto a single barbell or EZ bar, which joins your hands on one bar and lets you load more weight than two dumbbells that can drift apart on their own. Others stay with dumbbells and change what you do with them, either pressing one dumbbell between both palms or adding a twist as you push. One drops you flat on the floor, where your upper arms stop on the ground before the dumbbells reach the depth they do on a bench.

How to Choose the Right Substitute

If a barbell is what you have, the Barbell Lying Close-grip Press lowers to your chest on one bar with the same tucked elbows. Stay with dumbbells and the Close-grip Dumbbell Press has you lie across the bench on your shoulders and press one dumbbell held between both palms, while the Dumbbell Twisting Bench Press keeps the dumbbells but turns your palms toward you as you lower and back away from you as you press. With no bench, the Dumbbell Floor Press stops your upper arms at the ground, so the dumbbells never travel as far as on a bench. With an EZ bar on hand, the EZ Barbell JM Bench Press puts both hands on one bar, overhand and slightly wider than shoulder width, elbows still tucked, with no straight barbell or dumbbells needed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I use if my gym only has a barbell?

The Barbell Lying Close-grip Press is the top swap for the Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press, which lowers the same way with elbows tucked to your sides. A single barbell also covers the Close-grip Barbell Bench Press, the Reverse Triceps Bench Press and the Barbell Reverse Close-grip Bench Press. All four keep your elbows tucked toward your ribs and let you load one bar instead of two dumbbells that can drift apart as you press.

How do I make this press harder once it feels easy?

Move the press onto one bar. The Barbell Lying Close-grip Press or the Close-grip Barbell Bench Press keeps your elbows tucked the same way, and one barbell takes more plates than two separate dumbbells, so the triceps get more load once the dumbbell lockout stops feeling like work.

Is there a version of this press that works with an EZ bar?

The EZ Barbell JM Bench Press, the Close-grip Ez-bar Press and the Ez-bar Close-grip Bench Press all use an EZ bar's bent grips instead of a straight bar or a pair of dumbbells. All three keep your elbows tucked in through the press, the same position the neutral grip trains on dumbbells.

Can I do the Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press at home?

Yes, with a pair of dumbbells and a bench. Without a bench, the Dumbbell Floor Press does the same press from the ground. The Close-grip Dumbbell Press needs only one dumbbell, held between both palms, and the Dumbbell Twisting Bench Press adds a twist through the press with the same pair of dumbbells.

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