Bench press: barbell vs dumbbells

>it's a fucking bitch getting 80 lb dumbbells into position to bench.

er... no it's not.

>tfw live in a condo so free gym
>tfw heaviest dumbbell is 50lbs
Nothin wrong with 4x11 right lads

How the fuck do you do it then?

BB is better for strength and DB for pump and stabilizers.

I do incline DB because I'm not strong enough to do a proper weight BB and better results

You fucking retarded nigger son of a bitch never post again on fit

What do you mean? I lift them with my hands and proceed to do my reps until I complete my set.

80lbs is not super heavy, but getting dumbbells in position is still pretty ez.

>sit down, place each dumbbell on each knee
>sit back and bring your legs with you to put the dumbbells in position
>lift them

>80lbs is not super heavy
are you fucking retarded
for some people 80lbs i super heavy and for some its leight weight

do you realize this then why do you make a general statement like 80lbs is not super heavy

Lol that's my warm up kid. Learn how to load into position properly

You start with both dumbells at your side, squat down and keep back straight, grab them, squat up. Then sit down on the bench and rest the dumbells on your thighs.

I'm 5'6" and can bench 80lb dumbells.

no 80lbs is universally light you must be pretty weak

you must be a big guy

leave this place and never come back for assuming 80lbs is heavy for me

your fucking statement is still piss shit

Nice troll.

Whether or not 80lb dumbells are light is relative to height.

>being this wrong
>being this confident about it
Remember Veeky Forums, Veeky Forums doesn't know shit

haha no dont u know all powalifters do the barbell XD
only bodybuilder who want to have a detailed chiseled chest look do db :)) everyone knows wtf

no my statement is pretty correct, i think you need to do some research

Is this the guy who has a weak af squat that went ballistic?

everything in this fucking universie is always fucking relative to us or to yourself
80lbs i fucking heavy to a kid or moutbreathing cocksucking goblin like you are
while 80lbs i fucking easy leight weight for me

FUCK
this is the guy that fucked your mom AND DAD every fucking night the other day

>every fucking night
>the other day

Can't even insult me right, shut the fook up.

>getting this mad on a Czechoslovakian acupuncture board

How much do you weigh?

How much can you DB bench?

How's your first 6 months of lifting going? Sit on the bench with the dbs on your hands, swing them up on your thighs then as you lean back us your legs to throw them into place

Barbell is superior if you are a believe in progressive overload like you should be.

With the barbell you can easily microload with 2.5lbs or 5lbs. With dumbbells you are basically forced to go up 10 pounds(5 pounds each arm) each time which obviously is much harder to progress unless you are on noob gains or steriods.

for whatever reason, DB bench is massively uncomfortable for me. Incline DB is okay, but flat DB just feels all wrong, and I worry even more about fucking my shoulders up on that than I do with BB bench

beside all the shitstorm happening above, I believe there are 2 points we all have to agree:
bb: progressive overloard, can control the weight way better
db: way bigger range of motion, plus, you train each side of the chest separately

flat barbell bench, incline dumbbell press

nah ,8, we powerlifters inject the creatine into the nipples. then does the push ups

The crosift use the barbell to do the lift of the bench

My gym has dumbbells that go by 2.5 increments

Anyways I've only been lifting for a few months and I switched to DB press to mix it up a bit. However I feel it activates my shoulders a lot more than when I barbell bench, is this normal or bad form?

It's probably just working your stabilizers more

you have to realize that this is the internet, and people can and will inflate their own egos.

Video of this technique?

Lol

Seriously,these idiots are the reason Veeky Forums is shit now

I do barbell because

>easier progression with mini plates
>easier racking
>hits triceps better (they're lagging so my grip is a bit narrow)
>no shoulder problems (as of yet)

Incline DB press is fucking great for building big pecs though.

my gyms dumbells only go up to 90 so I switched to barbell after I could rep them for 8

Fuck I know this feel
>55lb master race condo

youtube.com/watch?v=VmB1G1K7v94

ty based herman

Woah dude chill out.

I'm thinking of dropping barbell bench
It "pips" my right shoulder but dumbell bench doesn't

>inb4 ure form a shit
I've had multiple people check my form and they say it's good

Pops*
Kek

How about you three guys. You whine that Veeky Forums is shit now because a poster is wrong, but you don't correct him, you only throw insults.How about you make Veeky Forums great again?

roidbro detected

faggot

Dyel

Barbell bench presses allow for more total weight, they're easier to go low reps with, they're easier to overload in small steps, they hit the triceps more.

Dumbell don't have a way bigger range of motion. The difference is negligible for most people.

ure form a shit. 100% you're not arching enough.

Not him, but arching a lot puts the shoulders in a more compromised position.

>fart uncontrollably

I always do dumbell bench and dumbell incline bench. Mainly because I had some pec imbalance in the past and trying to avoid that now. Many people will always push slightly harder with 1 side on barbell bench, almost impossible to avoid.

Also, if you cant get heavy dumbells in position for your bench, your body strenght is imbalanced

herman is goal bod

how get

Dumbell is superior when it comes to ROM and chest activation.
Barbell is still good for the chest but if youre not a powerlifter its not necessary and can be replaced by dumbells/dips.

you should use a barbell, especially for low reps
you can use dumbbells for high reps and to look cool, but only if you're considered a strong guy at your gym

I can only bench 30 pound dumbbells. Am I going to make it?

6'3 if that's relevant

>it's hard to activate pecs when benching with dumbbells
You don't know what you're talking about. Greater ROM + freer vertical path + each side working independently = superior activation.

Sorry bro but that guy warms up with 80 pound dumbells. Looks like youre out of luck.

>if you cant get heavy dumbells in position for your bench, your body strenght is imbalanced

upvoted

I can do 3x8 of 60lbs DB
But can't do 3x8 of 1pl8 BB

Why... most people can bb bench 1.5x their db weight

ROM for db vs bb flat bench is nearly identical unless you cheat on bb with a wide grip.

>greatest amount of stress applied and force exerted on the pecs is at the bottom of the movement, where the muscle must contract from a stretched position
>negligible

Uh huh.

you can get 1.25 plates....

its a pain in the ass for me to do it with more than 75lbs, my pr with dumbells are 95lbs for 4 reps, but my bro helped me getting the dumbells up

The last time I looked research indicated that barbell bench gave greater strength gains in a given period of time, due to reduced activation of stabilising muscles.
Dumbell can be annoying to get in position.
Really the differences are slight enough it comes down to personal choice. Neither one brings significant benefit to make it objectively that much better than the other.

>due to reduced activation of stabilising muscles
That's not the reason, bruh.

Well then what is?

>barbell is better because you can load more weights
jesus fucking christ, has there ever been a more retarded argument on this board?

Lesser involvement of the triceps.
You can't put in any lateral force with dumbells, because they're not held together.

I'm a noob at the gym, outside of cardio, with a strong paranoia that if I use the barbell I will crush my neck/head and die. Will I look like a cunt if you use dumbells for bench press? Can I replace most composite lifts with dumbell equivalents?

Dumbbell bench press is far superior.

>Will I look like a cunt if you use dumbells for bench press?

Like a sick cunt, sure.

Db bench press is far better than barbell for EVERYTHING except powerlifting. And that's only because it's one of the big 3 lifts.

It's literally better in every way.

>Can bench safely without spotter
>Unilateral movement which means you won't have issues with muscle imbalances/dominant arms
>Greater rom
>A lot harder to cheat
>Much better stretch in pecs
>More work on stabilizing muscles

it's just better in every way. No one can prove why Barbell bench press is done. It's just "Lol ur a fag if u dont do it BRO"

>Can I replace most composite lifts with dumbell equivalents?

Honestly, yes.

Things like squats or deadlifts will be kind of difficult though but i GUESS you could do 100lb dumbbells and go for more reps if that's all you got.

Just looked it up and indeed you're right

Yeah I'm curious why he's wrong desu, new to lifting here

He's sort of right

Barbell bench press is only really useful for powerlifting.

For everything else that a regular lifter would be interested in, dumbbell is superior.

No, not at all.

I listed most differences here Dumbells do allow each side to be worked independently.

Meant to respond to with the second part.

>Dumbell don't have a way bigger range of motion. The difference is negligible for most people.
rubbish, you can't believe this if you've ever done the two exercises

Thanks for advice user, I think I would be comfortable using barbell for squats and dead lifts since not much chance of shit going wrong.

>>Can bench safely without spotter
THe only time I snapped my shit up was during a db bench press.
>>Unilateral movement which means you won't have issues with muscle imbalances/dominant arms
Exactly the opposite, unless your 'imbalances' are just you jacking off as your only previous activity. Having a body with imbalances means you'll rip shit up when you least expect it.
>>Greater rom
yes
>>A lot harder to cheat
Exactly the same on both, m8.
>>Much better stretch in pecs
yes
>>More work on stabilizing muscles
Yes, but that's unnecessary, unless you don't actually do anything other than bodybuilding and shitposting.

And??? These are completely negligible.

>Barbell bench presses allow for more total weight

Why is total weight the most important thing? Muscle activation is more important unless you're literally a powerlifter trying to put up as much weight as you possibly can for which you arch your back like a fucking monkey

>they're easier to go low reps with

Why would the average trainee ever need to go low reps?

The goal of 99% of people who lift is: General strength and muscle development.

>they're easier to overload in small steps

Only valid point. But just do more reps. For example: When you can do 12 reps of a weight easily, up it and go back down to 6-8 reps.

>they hit the triceps more.

You can just do tricep isolations.

What you said about not having a sigificantly higher ROM is just plain idiotic and makes me believe you've never done a dumbbell press.

>Exactly the same on both, m8.
how do you cheat with dumbbells?
most people in my gym bounce the barbell off their tits though

>Greater ROM
Not really, the extra angle you get with DBs takes the tension off your chest, ROM is pretty similar between DB and barbell bench.

>THe only time I snapped my shit up was during a db bench press.

Well you're a retard then. Why is it relevant?

>Exactly the opposite, unless your 'imbalances' are just you jacking off as your only previous activity. Having a body with imbalances means you'll rip shit up when you least expect it.

Wat?

When you do a barbell movement you could be pressing signficiantly harder with one half of your body. It would be VERY hard to notice and fix this, especially when it's minor doing barbell bench.

On dumbbells you can quite clearly see that one of your arms isn't able to lift the weight as the other is. Easy to spot and fix.

>Yes, but that's unnecessary, unless you don't actually do anything other than bodybuilding and shitposting.

How is it unnecessary? Your stabilizing muscles are tremendously important

On flat bench just grab them, sit down and place them on your thighs, then lay down and pull them across your body. Maybe its difficult on incline or shoulder press, but flat db bench is izi

I hope u talk about less than 25lbs dbs, otherwise switch to bb asap

Honestly just do dumbbell bench press.

Even Mark Rippetoe - the ultimate preacher of barbell lifts has said he deems the Dumbbell bench press much better in everything except powerlifting.

""" In fact, the dumbbell version of the exercise, which actually predates the barbell version due to its less specialized equipment requirements, is probably a better exercise for most purposes other than powerlifting competition. This is especially true if the weights used are sufficiently heavy, challenging the ability of the lifter to actually finish a set. """

>how do you cheat with dumbbells?
- Change the vertical path to always favour your strong points, which is impossible with barbells; you either start and finish wide, or narrow.
- Clang the dbs together at the top to shorten ROM, while fooling yourself that you're doing full range of motion.

Also, bouncing the barbell is cheating only if you're doing babyweight.
If you're lifting heavy, it means you hate your sterum and want to die. Try bouncing anything heavy off your chest and see if you live.

>If you're lifting heavy, it means you hate your sterum and want to die. Try bouncing anything heavy off your chest and see if you live.

People do it all the time.

Or arch their back such that they have 4 inch rom

People have different body proportions, mate.
I can barely get the bar to touch my chest, and I'm at the outer limits of my mobility.
(And no, I don't have tight shoulders, my PT even told me I'm almost hypermobile in them)

Most people I've seen are already pretty close to how far they can go just by touching the bar to the chest.
If you feel like you can get a significantly bigger range of motion with dumbells, go for it.

Total weight (through a large range of motion!, so not using a big arch) is important because why do ten exercises when you can do one?
Remember that most people don't want to spend three hours a day in the gym.
Also greatest systemic overload, blabla.

For optimal strength and size gains, using both high and low reps is better.
Low reps is particularly handy to gain strength and size rapidly as a novice.
You don't *need* to go low reps, just like you don't *need* to go high reps.

Again, why do more exercises when you can just do a few compounds?
Also, triceps isolations are harder on the elbows than compounds.

In conclusion, do whatever the fuck you want. It won't matter much.
If you're unsure, do both.

>Wat?
>When you do a barbell movement you could be pressing signficiantly harder with one half of your body. It would be VERY hard to notice and fix this, especially when it's minor doing barbell bench.
>On dumbbells you can quite clearly see that one of your arms isn't able to lift the weight as the other is. Easy to spot and fix.
Only if you're a cripple with no proprioception.

With a barbell you can keep the bar path level.
Corrective excercises for people with imbalances are done with a barbell for a reason.

>How is it unnecessary? Your stabilizing muscles are tremendously important
You train your stabilisers by actually using them throughout the day.
If your only stimulus is through fucking dumbell training, than you're already fucked beyond redemption.

>Corrective excercises for people with imbalances are done with a barbell for a reason.

They literally aren't.

You can be pressing the bar up more with one side of your body and your other half could simply be holding it up (if that makes sense)