Help Me With My Decline Dumbell Bench!

Are there any tricks to getting into position on the decline bench, with heavy dumbells, and no spotter? I know I am weak, but I want to do like a 5x5 with the 45s, and I feel like I am going to snap my back or neck off the way I do it now. PLus I hate to bother someone to spot me for 5 sets.

Unless you can find a decline bench that is really low to the ground, you really can’t do it without spotters. I find it’s just too awkward to try to get up on a decline bench with dumbells already in my hands, and the db’s are too heavy to curl into position from the ground once I’ve gotten my body set. It’s lame, because like you I love this exercise, but I don’t wanna rely on spotters so extensively.

This is how i do it. Holding the dbs, I balance the left one on the middle/a little to the right of the top part of the bench, I get my left leg set under the pad, bring the weight over and onto my left leg, bring the weight in my right hand onto the middle of the bench, bring my right leg up, set it under the outside of the pad, then as i slide it in towards the middle i rock the weight up and back to put it up on my right leg. I’m now “set” with the dbs held low on my legs (as close to my stomach as possible). i then lower myself under control and I’m good to go. I don’t know how helpful this is without being able to actually see it done. but once you figure it out, well, i use this technique to decline 110 lb dbs, without a problem, so those 45s should be cake.

I think that’s how I did it last time, but I’m not sure. I had on baggy sweatpants, so that sort of got me tangled up on the pads, this week I’ll wear some tighter fitting shorts or pants. It’s got to know that it’s possible to do this. However, 45s are pretty heavy for me! I was thinking of kind of walking backwards into the bench, opposed to the other method, but I don’t know if it will work.

Here is a method I use with good success. I get my left leg under the pads and then I set the left dumbbell on my left hip and the right dumbbell on my right hip. Keep the flat end pressed against the portion where the hip flexes. Then I sit down on the bench and hook my right leg under the pad. Don’t just plop on the bench or the dumbbells will hurt your hips. I lie back on the bench, ala reverse situps. Then I carefully slide the dumbbells off my hips then start my set with the dumbbells in the down position. After the set, I just drop the weights. With this method I can handle just about any weight that I can pick up.

I’ll have to give this method a try, too. I may try moving the pad around, this may help my cause. I like hearing that you can handle a lot of weight with this method. Thanks for the help!