dumbell benchpress vs barbell?

J

jmm

New Member
Doing dumbell bench presses with 22kg dumbells, but am struggling to up the weight - if I go heavier it's hard to stop the weights swaying into the middle or off to the side. Are there advantages to persisting with DB, or should I just use a barbell (or be really wimpy, and use the smith machine
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). Thanks.
 
Went from 12kg DBs to 22 in 3 weeks, including dropping from 15reps to 10. Upped it to 22 when I dropped to 10reps, and have been stuck there for 3 sessions
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74kg, 27yo, um, what other stats? Thanx.
 
Are you doing any rotator cuff work?  This will help with your bench and the fact that you are getting a lot of swaying hints that this could be an issue.

Rotator Cuff Conundrum

How to Increase Your Bench

If you think that your weights can still safely go up (meaning you can handle the weight and have a power rack or spotters to catch any failures), you may be able to go to BB until you get your rotators stronger, but I am not sure that is a good idea.  It doesn't sound as though you will get very far, either.
 
I'm not real sure what to say either: if you go to barbells and your rotators are needing strength, you may actually get worse, since the bar is doing the stabilizing. I have the same problem with the heavy incline d/b's around 115 and up (lbs, not kg) for the first couple reps, but they seem to stabilize when I find my groove.
One suggestion is that your warmup could go perhaps 13kg, 15kg, 17kg, 19kg, 22kg. This way you set up your groove with low weights and build up to the work set. Also heed Ruth's post, and you should be okay. If you have any sharp pains you should mention that too.
 
Dumbell benches are tricky. It sounds to me like a neural issue. I started db benching in high school and it was very difficult to balance them. After doing them for a long time it was very easy for me, as my muscles and nerves had 'learned' how to balance the dbs as I pressed.
 
Quad has a point on the initial lift.  Is this just the wobblies on the first couple reps, or does it go deeper than that?  If it is just the initial reps, this is normal and you may just have to work through it -- increasing rotator cuff strength should help.  You might even find Power Hooks useful.  I think that Sci uses them and I just got a pair myself (NY Barbell Co. has a good price on the "gym approved" model).

If it is beyond that, you need to carefully evaluate whether it is worth trying to go further until you strengthen your rotators.  My inclination would be to try and strengthen the support muscles before you try to go heavier.  In any event, definitely do the rotator cuff exercises:

1. if you switch to BB, you need to be strengthening the cuffs to avoid the issue Quad mentions
2. It will help with long term strength.
3. Even if Sci is right about neural learning, it should accelerate your being able to stabilize the weight
 
thanks for all the suggestions. With 22kg DB the first rep is a bit wobbly but it's OK once I get going, with 24kg the DB start wobbling as soon as I lift them and I literally can't do more than one or two reps (the weights fall off to one side). Doing the presses doesn't cause pain.

Maybe I could try doing a set with 22kg DB to keep working rotators, keep learning etc., then go to a heavier BB (with a rack)? I'll definitely give rotator exercises a go - is this something I could do on 'rest' days, or would that be overtraining?

And those power hooks do look neat...
 
are you pressing straight up like bb or are you touching dumbells at the top,i find it better to touch at the top stops them swaying out,also you can turn your hands inward.
 
Sort of related is the initiation of an inclined rep. When I 'kick' the d/b's back with my knees to get into position, they can feel really heavy if I let the arms relax at all, and that will cause wobbling or failure in the rep too.
What I do is consider the "loading phase" as part of the rep, and stay as tight as I can, intending to fully control the weight all the way from the 'kickback' to the top of the rep. Trying to 'save' strength while loading just robs me of it if the rep fails or goes up struggling. Better to use up a little staying in control, so I get tight, be tight, and stay tight until I drop the weights.
 
Thanks faz and quad. I've been pushing straight up, but will try pushing inwards if I hit a stop again. n2e's suggestion worked well 2day - managed to move up to 24kg DB for 10reps
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Make sure your elbows are directly below your hands at all times (so your forearms are pointing directly at the ceiling).

Bringing the DBS together at the top is definitely a good idea as that should makre the movement 'more natural'.

Also I used to have a problem stabalising the dbs and it was because I was allowing the weight to twist my hands inwards so the dbs were in danger of falling towards my body. Now I always concentrate on pushing upwards from the inside of the DB (the thumb side) which keeps them much more stable.

Congrats on moving up the weight
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Cheers

Rob
 
I liked Robefc's idea of thinking of the push as toward the thumbs and did that today with success.
Gyms have regional differences and customs...you won't see anyone shirtless or shoeless around Georgia...and if you bang the d/b's together at the top everyone thinks you're a noob. Quiet and controlled is the ticket. Maybe it's different elsewhere. Yelling is okay though...as long as you're somewhere over 115 lbs. and not wearing spandex.
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