Just this week, I decided that I’m going to ditch barbell presses for a while due to issues with my right shoulder.
When I use dumbbells and HS machines, I don’t have any issues with my shoulders and tend to feel it more in my chest anyway.
I’ve always tended to alternate between barbell and dumbbell for variety, but this time it may be a permanent change.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Cprimero wrote:
Ronnie was a big fan-think he was on to something
Yeah, some might consider his chest development “okay”
S
[/quote]
But doesn’t he have a background in powerlifting? Makes me think he at least used to hit the BB a lot too.
But it is definitely proof that DBs aren’t going to ruin your chest development.
simple. do what works best for YOU! you know your body better than anyone. I don’t mess with bb bench anymore either. I like doing db’s unilateraly
BB = sore shoulders for me.
DBs = no pain.
My gym has dumbbells up to 65kg. I have only DB pressed for the last 4 years, I’m told I have pretty good chest development.
Yes can be taxing getting them in position, yes the load can be an issue as some gyms don’t have heavy enough bells.
Never really managed to get on with the HS bench, seem to end up sliding down a bit when I press.
Someone might laugh but if you can afford home training,then you could try filling a satchel or a travel bag with weights.
No more balancing the weight into position and the associated waste of energy,or risk of shoulder snappage. Just a dead weight on the floor beside you and you can add tens of percents to the range of motion.
You can do like it do and combinate it. I do dbs for flat and decline and barbell for incline.
Uh…what?
[quote]clip11 wrote:
combinate it [/quote]
[quote]clip11 wrote:
You can do like it do and combinate it. I do dbs for flat and decline and barbell for incline.[/quote]
How do you get the heavy DB in place when doing decline? I mean 105lb DB and up. I have to have some one hand it to me.
i prefer to use the Barbell for decline. i tried using the DB’s before and without someone handing them you basically fall into the bench and even if someone does hand them it feels awkward.
only downside, at least for me, is that i do Decline after flat bench and incline so my chest is most fatigued which is the time when having DBs to just drop is most favorable. however i really feel a good stretch with the barbell and if i have to rack it up 1 rep early its worth it.
why not do both? I mean barbell is an awesome mass builder, not only for the chest but for the shoulders, especially if you are handling heavy loads.To me,i feel i cheat less when i do barbell.When i do dumbells, i feel a different contraction, i feel it is a different exercise, but a very good one too.But to me it is always a secondary exercise.Man, nothing beats adding more weight to the bar or getting 2 more reps,which i feel i can do a lot more often with barbell than dumbell.
I wanna throw in a vote for Db. I strained my rotator cuff 4 months ago and had to quit the BB. Started doing incline db’s and never had a better burn or growth. My chest has always lagged but is coming up too par now. BTW I will check out the HS machines I have so zealously avoided.
It seems a lot more people who do barbell get joint problems than people who do dumbbell.
Am I the only one who finds that getting the dumbbells into position when I am going heavy to be the easiest when I am doing decline and hardest when I am doing incline?
I prefer DB bench 90% of the time, and as I just stated, getting them into position on decline is the easiet. Just lean back, slide the DB’s to my rib cage and press them up, the ROM at that point is so small that it’s very easy to get them up, then I start the count.
believe it or not i sometimes feel my chest more on a barbell than DB. i havent done BB in a while though and id be curious to see how ive progressed. i think the last i got on it was 225x5 or 7 now my first set with 95 pound DB’s is x8. no sense in trying to theorize though, better to just do it.
I didn’t do bench for a few years, but wanted to throw it in a few months back for variety. the weight I was using was just pathetic, so I kept it in the routine to bring up the #s. I probably won’t be going back to it though
[quote]Cron391 wrote:
IMO for me at least I feel the Most pumped and “feel” my chest more when I do DB bench ( Flat, Incline ). I almost always do BB decline cause its a pain to get the DB into position on the decline bench.
I always trained BB…well just to say o ya I can bench 350…but never liked doing it because I feel that my triceps take away too much from my chest. ( Narrower grip as opposed to wide). I know the grip has to do with it but that is how it feels natural to me
Now I am thinking I got 350 bench for 2 weeks in a row, now a decent amount of mass already been built, just completely giving up the BB bench. Except the decline.
I mean I don’t do pussy weight on DB 130’s for 7-8 on flat x3
DB 115’s for 6-8 on incline x3
What do you guys would think would happen if at this point I almost never used BB? Is it possible to build a NICE chest with sole DB press only? Adding of course I have made a solid foundation.
O ya flyes, dips etc are still on the plan of attack. Just no BB.[/quote]
Your using more of your stabilisers so your therefore recruiting more muscle fibres so I would say DB are best! Also you are lifting the equal amount of weight supposed to having it distributed along the bar! When fatigued you will tend to push more with your stronger side so with DB there?s no cheating!
Just don?t cut out bench altogether because variation is good! And we all love a good bench now!
[quote]ktennies wrote:
I don’t know how high the DBs at your gym go, but at mine they go to 125. I know a couple guys who did DBs almost exclusively, but at some point had to get back to BB because the 125s were just not enough weight anymore.[/quote]
Just tell them to go slower on the negative or hold it static for 10 sec then complete there reps! You can always make a weight harder to push! But if you talking about just being able to lift more then faire enough lol
[quote]Cron391 wrote:
clip11 wrote:
You can do like it do and combinate it. I do dbs for flat and decline and barbell for incline.
How do you get the heavy DB in place when doing decline? I mean 105lb DB and up. I have to have some one hand it to me.[/quote]
the most ive done is 48kg and i just lock my feet round and slowly lay back! works the abs well lol
[quote]justin1209 wrote:
ktennies wrote:
I don’t know how high the DBs at your gym go, but at mine they go to 125. I know a couple guys who did DBs almost exclusively, but at some point had to get back to BB because the 125s were just not enough weight anymore.
Just tell them to go slower on the negative or hold it static for 10 sec then complete there reps! You can always make a weight harder to push! But if you talking about just being able to lift more then faire enough lol
[/quote]
haha I’m bringing in duct tape for my next back session so I cna add weight to the DBs for rows.
Db’s are great. Whenever I do them I feel like my chest is going to rip open. Althouhg on pretty much any press I mostly just feel my chest working… so meh.