1. Take position, sitting at the front end of a flat bench with your feet on the floor and the dumbbells upright on the thigh muscle just above your knee cap. This means the palms are facing each other.
2. Keeping the dumbbells on the thighs, rock back into the lying position with dumbbells at the sides of shoulders. (This practice is imperative to get right with lighter weights to allow you to lift heavier weights once you get stronger).
3. Rotate your wrists so that your palms face forward and press the weight up so that your arms are extended. Then rotate the palms back to facing each other. This is the starting position.
4. Commence the movement with a slight bend at the elbow, lower the dumbbells outward to the sides over 1-2 seconds as you breathe in and feel the stretch through your chest. Take a short pause at the bottom of the movement where your chest is at full expansion and your palms face the ceiling.
5. Then squeeze the chest as you reverse the arms back up to the starting position over 1-2 seconds, exhaling as you do.
6. At the completion of your set, hold the dumbbells outstretched at the top of the movement and rotate the wrists back so that they face each other. Lift your legs up and rock back slightly at the waist to allow you to lower the dumbbells first to the thighs. When your rock forward again, you will have momentum to stand up, dumbbells remaining on your thighs where you can then take them to the ground for the safest dismount.
