Hi, I’ve been lifting for a while and bench pressing is usually a basis of my upper body training but I’ve started to go off the movement just because I often train alone and struggle to get someone competent in my gym to spot me. Also, I don’t have any shoulder injuries as of yet, but I don’t want to provoke any with poor form, which I see as inevitable without a knowledgeable training partner or coach. Just to give you an idea of my goals, they are basically to get in shape and get stronger.
The bench press station in my gym doesn’t tilt at all, so incline or decline variations of the bench press are out of the question. The other benches do however so dumbbell presses are the first replacement option. Obviously the strength progression won’t come as quickly with dumbbells I assume, but could this be a viable alternative? What rep-ranges etc. do you people find most effective?
The other alternative is dips, eventually progressing onto weighted dips. I can’t think of any other alternatives off the top of my head, apart from the chest machines, so open to ideas?
[quote]Lyle77 wrote:
The bench press station in my gym doesn’t tilt at all, so incline or decline variations of the bench press are out of the question.
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If the bench isn’t screwed into the floor, you can place 45lb plates under the front or back of the seat to make it incline/decline.
This is funny only because the word “viable”. Dumbbells are not a “viable” option… they are absolutely a GREAT option to replace a barbell bench press with, ESPECIALLY, if injury concerns are relevant.
Dumbbells, imo, give you a greater muscle activation, which means they are superior in terms of hypertrophy (enlarging muscle), however, in terms of strength gains, a barbell might be OPTIMAL.
However, and listen to this carefully, OPTIMAL IS NOT THE END. YOU WILL GAIN STRENGTH DOING SOMETHING SUB-OPTIMALLY. Matter of fact, almost everything you do in life is done sub-optimally.
[quote]
The other alternative is dips, eventually progressing onto weighted dips. I can’t think of any other alternatives off the top of my head, apart from the chest machines, so open to ideas?[/quote]
Dips are GREAT. Absolutely great, weighted dips too. They CAN but don’t have to replace your decline pressing. I do both.
How heavy do the dumbbells in your gym go up to?[/quote]
the most I ever benched was 80kg, which was just over bodyweight at the time, that was a few months ago though, I haven’t been training for a while, looking to get back into it.
I’m in the same boat when it comes to not having a training partner that’s reliable. I’ve been using Wendler’s 5/3/1 for 3 months now and I can say that not having a ‘spotter’ has been a NON-ISSUE with this program. You use 90% of your 1RM to derive your training max ™. You then use variable percentages throughout the course of the cycle up to 95% of your TM. Even when you are to do as many reps as possible (AMRAP), you are not going to failure, but just shy of it.
As to your shoulder pain, have it checked out by a doctor. Find out what is causing the pain. If it’s incorrect form, fix it. Watch Tate’s videos “So you think you can bench” This will ensure that you are using the correct form. Switching to a powerlifting style of BP has done wonders for me and I’ve come off two major shoulder injuries from mountain biking fails in the past 18 months.
Cheers man, yeah I did have to just go for it without a spotter on some days, the majority of the time I never used weights that I knew I could not handle, it was more just as security if you know what I mean. I will definitely have an in depth form check and look at the powerlifting style like you said, but the problem is it’s still really hard to check my form as it’s one of the movements you can’t see in the mirror haha, and I seriously doubt anyone in my gym is competent enough to check if the form is spot on, at least not check that I’m keeping consistent form.
I have to say, I have heard nothing but good concerning Wendler’s plans, I’ve been thinking about starting 5/3/1 or maybe using that ‘Simplest Template’ he wrote about on this site to make a routine.
As Claudan said dumbbells are definitely an option, personally until about 6 months ago I had only really used dumbbells and had never done any significant amount of barbell benching and have only really recently added it as I want to start competing in powerlifting!
Maybe once you get up to being able to press the 45kg dumbbells for multiple reps you’ll have to start using the barbell bench but until then I wouldn’t say there is anything wrong with primarily using dumbbells. You may find getting heavier dumbbells into position hard to begin with but keep at it and you’ll learn the knack of it, and once you can then the need for any spotter is pretty much gone as opposed to barbell bench where unless you position it carefully in a power rack with guards then you’re always going to want a spotter when going near your 1RM or repping close to failure.
Dips and weighted dips are also great but I know at least a few people who find them hard on their shoulders so that will just be a factor that may or may not affect you.
Again thanks, yeah I think I will definitely be using a dumbbell press and/or weighted dips in my routine over the barbell bench press, bench is a great exercise but its just too hard to regularly progress when you train alone I find (which I don’t find so much on other exercises).
Pressing two 45kg dumbbells would be a decent feat in itself I reckon, considering that I’ve never seen any one press them in my gym - my gym is pretty poor its one of those fitnessy type places, most members are either housewives on cross-trainers or dudes on gear (not everyone, but I have spoke to a few about it etc. so this isn’t an assumption). But anyway, pressing the 45kgs could be a long term goal.
Anyone use the floor press in their routine, I’ve heard lots of praise concerning it?