Watch Chelsea Handler put a twist on a standard one-arm chest press

Watch Chelsea Handler put a twist on a standard one-arm chest press

If you think regular chest presses are hard, just wait until you see the latest exercise Chelsea Handler demonstrates on social media. Her trainer, Ben Bruno, shared a video on Instagram of the comedian's latest workout session, which involved doing a one-arm, one-leg dumbbell press. (Related: Chelsea Handler Made This Impressive Core Exercise Look Easy)

In the clip, Handler rests her upper back on a bench with her right foot on the floor and right knee bent at a 90-degree angle. Your left leg is lifted off the ground with your left knee bent at a 90-degree angle. She holds her left hand straight up while holding a dumbbell in her right hand at chest height with a neutral grip and presses it directly overhead for a one-arm chest press. She keeps her upper body flat and her hips raised.

The handler performs ten reps on the right side — breaking her previous personal record of eight reps, according to Bruno's post — before immediately moving to the left side. "Let's see what happens on this left side," she says in the clip as she places the weight in her left hand and also switches the placement of her feet. Sure enough, she also gets ten reps on the left side. (Related: Why You Can't Lift As Much on Your Left Side and How to Fix It)

"I love this exercise and this is really powerful," Bruno wrote in his Instagram caption, noting in the text shown above the clip that Handler uses a 30-pound dumbbell.

“I use [this exercise] with both my male and female clients,” Bruno wrote in a text that appeared above the video. “Once people get the hang of it, they can use about the same weight they would for regular one-arm dumbbell presses, plus you get some extra work on the glutes and core,” he added.

Still, a standard dumbbell chest press is a classic exercise you should have up your sleeve. "The bench press works your shoulders, triceps, forearms, lats, pecs, trapezius, rhomboids, and pretty much every muscle in your upper body," Running App Studio lead instructor Lisa Niren previously told Shape. (See also: The Best Chest Workouts for Women)

Combine that with the strength required to stabilize the body in Handler's precarious position with only her upper back on the bench, and you have a total body exercise. This move requires core and glute strength in addition to the chest and arm work required to press the dumbbell, as Bruno mentioned in the post.

Not to mention, it's a unilateral (aka unilateral) movement that also offers tons of benefits. "Yes, [unilateral training] can build a more symmetrical body, but it can also help prevent injuries, give you the extra strength you need to break through a plateau, and improve stability and midsection strength," Alena Luciani, MS, CSCS, a certified strength and conditioning coach and founder of Training2xl, previously told Shape.

If chest presses have become too easy or feel boring for you, try this celebrity trainer-approved variation next time you head to the gym.