dumbell vs. barbell bench

[lkrfan]

dumb bell bench puts less pressure on your shoulders, but you need bar for bigger gains, you may need to work your shoulders more. I used to have same problem, but once I started doing 3 sets of 10 per shoulder area, I had better gains in bench, and less pain. Might help

[Drea'An]

Try talking to the staff at the gym and become "buddies" with them. Mention that "we need heavier ddbls !" They might give in.! At the gym I go to ,Powerhouse, dbbls range from 5lb. to 200lb. Either buy your own dbbls take them to the gym, get an "OK" that you can leave them there. To help lessen your pain, try using the Smith machines once a while.

[migity]

well i have been dumbell benching for a few workouts now and its going ok. My weight is low but i dont want to risk. it. My shoulder hurts n ocassion but its seems to hurt less as my form gets better and my body adapts to it. I just have to stay humble and not push the weight up too fast.

thanks

[migity]

i mean adding weight to the bar not the act of pushing the weight up

[Lizard King]

I love dumbells, I feel like they make me stronger. My regular flat bench is not good at all, as everyone said it kills my shoulders but I dislocated one years ago and it healed a little wrong so I am uneven. I have recently added BB flat bench back to my routin, I just keep it light and go havey with the DB's. Inclines for some reason I cna use the BB with no problem and go pretty damn heavy with no pain.

[migity]

I think I found at least part of my shoulder pain issue. My right side appears to be stronger than my left, and when I use a barbell it sometimes goes up faster causing the bar to be uneven. Obviously with barbells my right side would go up independent of what my left side was doing. I'm just going to concetrate on keeping it even i suppose, and hopefully it will even out with time. Its weird because I am left handed though.

[chewiechomp]

Well, I saw an Ortho the other day and the diagnosis is Multidirectional Instability. It's weaknesses in the rotator cuff and stabilizers. He said it's one of the more common problems he sees with lifters.

I was told to see a physical therapist for a few weeks to strengthen the inside muscles of the shoulder joint. Apparently, by making these stronger, the entire joint will be more stable, and any pain should go away. PT said there's a 50-50 chance I could be doing heavy bar bench again in the future. That'd be nice.

My shoulders are sore like bastards today from the PT. I would have never expected soreness from the exercises they had me do - I sure felt like a chump using a 3 lb. (pink) and 4 lb. (purple) "dumbbell."

We'll see if this works...

[hotdr]

What does the PT have you doing for strengthening the rotator cuff?

I had a rotator cuff weakness in my right shoulder caused by overuse in sports and while it has never been "cured" I have reduced the pain significantly and enabled myself to do barbell bench again with a few super light exercises on a cable machine done 1-2 times per week.

[chewiechomp]

Here's a copy of the exercises they are having me do. The two at the top are done with one of those stretchy band things or a pulley.

The rest are done on a ball or flat bench (forget the silly towel under your forehead.) When doing them on a bench, you do the full range of motion. 1 second up, 1 second hold/flex, 1 second down.

Doing all of them is like 18 sets, and even with very light weight, I could feel it the next day.

[hotdr]

Thanks. The ones I do are 2-3 sets of the first three exercises in the pdf you posted. I do the third exercise standing with a cable machine instead of lying down on my face. I might try some of the others too, but I agree with you that 18 sets is alot!

[Anhdalai]

So I've started focusing more in invert and decline bench than typical flat, and I gotta say, it makes a huge differance. I am VERY pleased with the actual feeling of the lower pecs actually growing.

[dennis]

Originally Posted by Anhdalai

So I've started focusing more in invert and decline bench than typical flat, and I gotta say, it makes a huge differance. I am VERY pleased with the actual feeling of the lower pecs actually growing.

Make sure you do all 3..incline/flat/decline using dumbells and bb.The dumbells should keep the left and right side equally strong.Rotator problems in the shoulder take time to heal..you will have to lay off of flat and decline while it heals..incline lifts do not seem to hurt it.

[hotdr]

I agree that even a mild incline (only the 1st notch on most adjustable benches) takes significant stress off the rotator cuff. If I go too much incline it turns into a shoulder exercise instead of a chest workout (I feel that most non-adjustable incline benches are too much incline - I like to do 30 degrees from horizontal or less)

[Bridger]

Originally Posted by migity

I think I found at least part of my shoulder pain issue. My right side appears to be stronger than my left, and when I use a barbell it sometimes goes up faster causing the bar to be uneven. Obviously with barbells my right side would go up independent of what my left side was doing. I'm just going to concetrate on keeping it even i suppose, and hopefully it will even out with time. Its weird because I am left handed though.

hmm. im left handed and my left side is stronger than my right, and my left pec is noticeably larger than my right. I thought it was from jerking off with my left hand exclusively, should i switch to the right? I know i've read the answer to my question somewhere, but will it even out sometime or will the difference in size become more noticeable? Will use of dumbbells make any difference?

[chewiechomp]

I would say so. There will def. be a difference if you jerk off with dumbbells.