Devil Press

Move · Resistance Training · Movement, Typed Supps

Each rep moves two dumbbells from the floor to arm's length overhead — a bigger vertical distance than almost any other repeated gym movement.

Stage by stage

Set-up (Load kept deliberately light): The cost comes from distance travelled, so dumbbells heavy enough to slow the hinge defeat the purpose.
During the set (Floor to full overhead): Body mass and load both traverse close to their maximum vertical range, which is why work per rep is so high.
Immediately after (Heart rate climbs steeply): Large muscle mass through a large range with no pause drives oxygen cost up faster than most weighted work.
Weeks later (Repeated-effort capacity): Conditioning and between-set heart rate recovery improve, provided the hinge has not degraded into a rounded-back pull.

Muscles trained

Primary: shoulders, quads
Secondary: chest, abs, glutes

Intensity

8 METs (Circuit training, including kettlebells, some aerobic movement with minimal rest, general, vigorous intensity).

Time to effect

Weeks: Transitioning smoothly from the burpee's chest-to-floor position into gripping and swinging two dumbbells overhead is the main early skill; most of the first couple weeks' improvement comes from reducing wasted motion between the two halves.
Months: Genuine conditioning capacity and shoulder power for sustained sets build over 1 to 2 months, and heart rate recovery between sets typically improves noticeably over that window.

Related supplements

Common myth

"Devil presses are just burpees with extra steps." In reality: The double-dumbbell hip-hinge swing to overhead is a distinct explosive pulling movement layered onto the burpee, not a cosmetic addition, and it asks for real hip drive and shoulder stability the burpee alone doesn't require. Fatigue in the grip and shoulders often becomes the limiting factor before the legs give out, which doesn't happen in a standard burpee.