Bench: Barbell vs. Dumbbell

[AZK]

When I go with a friend or see a non-random friend at the gym, I bench press, military press, etc...

When no one is at the gym, I use dumbbells...

I'd say it's about 3-4:1 dumbell:barbell.

[SmileyEH]

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agreed dumbbells provide a greater range of motion therefore more muscle fibers are being stimulated...ideally you want a spotter with either dumbbells or barbell in order to push out a few more reps with the help of a partner (post-failure lifting)

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Lifting past failure - or even to failure is almost always counter-productive.

[NoRiverRats]

LOL - getting DBs into position for bench press. Right you are, right you are....

Some of the funniest things I've done in the gym(from a spectators point of view) involve benching DBs on my first rep of the last set.

This is where I use a spotter, last set when I am doing big weight(for me - 95-105lbs DBs). I only need a little help, so I find with a quick explanation most spotters are OK. Funny enough, the guys the spot the poorest are the guys who are huge and worry that a skinny kid like me (5'11 - 183lbs) can't handle the weight, they push it up for me. Best spotters are women, they won't do it for you and well, need I say more.

Watching other people benching too much weight with DBs, alternates between hilarious and terrifying.

[RedGladiator]

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agreed dumbbells provide a greater range of motion therefore more muscle fibers are being stimulated...ideally you want a spotter with either dumbbells or barbell in order to push out a few more reps with the help of a partner (post-failure lifting)

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Lifting past failure - or even to failure is almost always counter-productive.

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Please explain why you believe this.

This is dependent on the person. Dorian Yates goes past failure on EVERY set and has been very successful.

I think going past failure via forced reps is excellent when you have been stuck for weeks. Some people abuse force reps and use it every set when every they can find someone to spot them, I can't agree with this but works for some.

[SmileyEH]

http://www.cbass.com/KevinDye.htm

I just googled training to failure and this came up near the top. Don't know this guy but his arguements are basically mine. Traning to failure consistently is counterproductive because you need a lot more recovery, it's very taxing mentally and to your nervous system and is just plain dangerous if form suffers a lot. For beginners I don't think these issues are too big a deal.

The best evidence I can give you though is that afaik almost no successful o-lifters/powerlifters train to failure outside of new one rep max attempts. Personally I never do forced reps although in the past I almost always went to failure. Since abandoning that regime I've stopped hitting plateaus constantly and feeling like [censored] all the time.

[fatgirl_lover]

when i started at the gym i was too shy but now i just ask strangers for a spot when doing benchpress, why not do that op?

[mediaslut]

related topic-- is there a general rule for converting bench press weights to DB press for similar effect (even I know its not 1:1)

For instance, I bench 185 10 times now until fatigue. What dumbbell weight would be roughly the same?

My guess is 60# weights. but this is relly based on nothing.

[pal=m]

AG,

Not at all, dumbells in general offer a little more than a barbell for the reasons some of the other posters already explained. I usually workout by myself also and will not do a flat barbell bench unless someone is in the area I truly trust. You can do incline benches more easily with the barbell by yourself though, which is what I usually do.

pal

[Thremp]

All,

For Smiley's reasoning on not training to/past failure (You are going to hate me for this) look at his log and reference overtraining.

[Reef]

[ QUOTE ]
related topic-- is there a general rule for converting bench press weights to DB press for similar effect (even I know its not 1:1)

For instance, I bench 185 10 times now until fatigue. What dumbbell weight would be roughly the same?

My guess is 60# weights. but this is relly based on nothing.

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probably 80's.