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Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell Bench Press Benefits
The dumbbell bench press is a great alternative to the barbell bench press. There are many benefits to using dumbbells, such as the fact that they let you get better stretch at the bottom of the movement and also a more intense contraction at the top than if you were using a barbell.
Dumbbell bench presses will add more muscle to your chest and can also help you increase your max on the barbell bench press.
Dumbbell Bench Press Muscles Worked
Dumbbell bench press is a movement that specifically targets the muscles of the chest, triceps and the front of your shoulders or anterior deltoids. It is an exercise that is not only advanced but should also be done with a spotter when you are training heavy.
Dumbbell Bench Press Form
One should train dumbbell press getting the dumbbell to get as low as possible in that it actually touches your pec-delt tie-ins and that you feel the stretch. This is important if you want to get the best results from doing this movement and get broad flat muscular pecs.
It is also important to not only keep your feet flat on the ground but to also make sure that your back and lower back are resting comfortably on the bench before you start the concentric move upwards. Your breathing should always be out on extension, which means you are blowing the weight away.
One should keep your wrists straight and lower the dumbbells towards your chest while bending your elbows and keeping your arms flared outwards. One should not get into the bad habit of arching your back and try to keep it resting on the bench throughout the movement.
You will be using too many other muscles if you get into the habit of lifting your head off the bench at the top of the lift so it is important to always isolate when doing this movement and that takes concentration. Be weary to warn your spotter to never bend over you but rather bend their knees to reach you.
Dumbbell bench can also be used very effectively with incline as well as decline press using dumbbells. There is no doubt about it that it could make a big difference to your muscle gain generally if you have never trained heavy with dumbbells in the past. But you should start slow and work yourself up to a heavy weight and failure.
When starting out using dumbbell bench press for the first time the accent of the movement should be on technique and not the weight that you are working with. This is important because one can get into the bad habit very quickly and it is difficult to break once it sets in.
It goes without saying that this movement works a lot on the triceps especially in getting to the lockout position so you need to be weary of any weak links that you might have. These weak links are where you are weakest in the movement and will tell you a lot about where you need to concentrate in order to improve your strength.
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Dumbbell Bench Press