StrengthIn review

Single-Arm Standing Dumbbell Press

A standing overhead press with one dumbbell, counted on each side.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Vertical push
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Unilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Stand with the feet about hip-width apart.
Hold one dumbbell at shoulder height and keep the free hand at your side.

Do the rep

Keep the legs still and press the dumbbell overhead until the elbow straightens.
Lower to the shoulder under control.
Complete the reps on one side, then change hands.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the working elbow straightens overhead and the dumbbell returns to the shoulder with no leg drive. Count each side.

Breathing

Exhale as you lift; inhale as you lower.

Cues

Keep both feet planted.
Do not lean sideways.
Keep the legs still.

Common mistakes

Leaning away from the load
What you seeThe trunk bends sideways as the dumbbell rises.
FixUse less load and keep the ribs over the pelvis.
A steady trunk supports the one-sided overhead load.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if you lose balance or cannot control the dumbbell overhead.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated rep standard under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Front deltoids · moderate confidence
Triceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Side deltoids · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Upper back · moderate confidence

Equipment

Dumbbell

Stand with the feet about hip-width apart. Hold one dumbbell at shoulder height and keep the free hand at your side.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A coach reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 9, written from the blueprint CSV row and the owner rules approved 2026-10-12 in #340. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the owner rules; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press. The copied timed-use state is disallowed; no review evidence is claimed for this draft.
Rule 1 gives home yes because every required picker item is a dumbbell or bench. The CSV says home false. Environment and programming location constraints include gym and home.
Dumbbell load uses kg with load-and-reps and the allowed metrics of ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press (rule 1).
Rule 2 gives this movement primary_vertical_push + secondary_push.
Failure cost moderate: the user must control the dumbbells at the stop, as ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press (rule 3).
Skill tier beginner: a new user can perform one clean rep in the first session, as the owner ruled (rule 3).
The CSV says bilateral. This movement uses one dumbbell and counts each side, as ex_one_arm_dumbbell_row (rule 1).
The CSV optional bench is removed because the movement is standing or seated on the floor (rule 1).
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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