Dumbbell Overhead Extension

Muscles worked: Triceps.

How to do it

1. Sit down on a bench with back support and grasp a dumbbell with both hands and hold it overhead at arm's length.
2. Keeping your upper arms close to your head (elbows in) and perpendicular to the floor, lower the resistance in a semi-circular motion behind your head until your forearms touch your biceps.
3. Go back to the starting position by using the triceps to raise the dumbbell.
4. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.

Coaching cues

The two cues IronPack shows on this exercise's card mid-workout:

• Both hands under one bell overhead
• Elbows in - lower deep behind the head

Logging it

IronPack suggests working in the 8 to 12 rep range, progressing in 2 kg jumps when you own the top of the range. Records are tracked automatically at every rep count from 1 to 12. Check your estimated 1RM from any hard set.

Related exercises

• Dips - chest, triceps
• Triceps Pushdown - triceps
• Overhead Triceps Extension - triceps
• Skullcrusher - triceps

Photos and steps: free-exercise-db (public domain). Cues, muscle weighting and logging guidance are IronPack's own app data. Last generated 2026-07-17.