at home i pretty much only have barbells to work with
however recently i started going to a gym and playing with the dumbbells
how much should i be able to bench with dumbbells? (im doing 185x6 for barbell)
i tried and i could do 55x6 which seems really low to me, but i did do alot of other chest work before that so maybe thats it.
is there any general rule or something for converting barbell bench to dumbbell bench?
I can’t give you a specific formula, but I personally think that there is a significant decrease when switching from barbell bench to dumbbells. I stopped doing barbell for about 6 months solely relying on dumbbells (sets of 6-10 with 65-85lbs). When I finally returned to barbells, i was able to max out at 275lbs.
yea - fade is right - there is NO exact formula. its all personal. your barbell will always be more than just the weight of your dumbbells, but the amount will vary b/t people. i rep 90s on flat for 6, but on barbell, my max is only 245 or so… (maybe more now; its been awhile)
i’m also pretty tall (6’2"), so it just depends on a lot.
main thing – dont worry about numbers – just make you KICK YOUR OWN ASS everyday, and you’ll get bigger/stronger/whatever your goal!!!
(eating is ALWAYS #1 important tho)
[quote]thegreenzuchinni wrote:
at home i pretty much only have barbells to work with
however recently i started going to a gym and playing with the dumbbells
how much should i be able to bench with dumbbells? (im doing 185x6 for barbell)
i tried and i could do 55x6 which seems really low to me, but i did do alot of other chest work before that so maybe thats it.
is there any general rule or something for converting barbell bench to dumbbell bench?[/quote]
I would say that 185 bench is about equivalent to a pair of 70 pound DBs. Maybe 75s
In my opinion there is no way to speculate how much you can DB compared to BB bench. With DBs your arms are acting independently of each other. Start with light DBs and work up if you want to see how much you can do.
Don’t worry about the numbers. Just work as hard as you can consistently and you’ll get stronger.
ok thanks. yah i think ill just start out lower and work my way up, see how it goes
[quote]hfrogs00 wrote:
In my opinion there is no way to speculate how much you can DB compared to BB bench. With DBs your arms are acting independently of each other. Start with light DBs and work up if you want to see how much you can do.[/quote]
Well you can at a Poliquin seminar, he said that you should be able to Dumbbell Bench press 90% of your Barbell Bench Press.
Yeah, there really is no formula. In some people they can dumbell bench more than they can barbell bench. Granted these are extreme, and usually have worked out solo just doing dumb bells for a couple years… So I guess it all depends.
[quote]Alphaboy wrote:
hfrogs00 wrote:
Well you can at a Poliquin seminar, he said that you should be able to Dumbbell Bench press 90% of your Barbell Bench Press.
[/quote]
Yea but I think he uses a relatively close grip bench press for assessment. He’s also probably refering to having your lifts in balance, not necessarily the caryover.
Hey, if you want a nice option for building stability, do presses with two loaded barbells-one in each hand, (and a neutral grip of course)
When you’re doing dumbbell presses you’re working a lot of your smaller stabilizer muscles; so, yes, you won’t be able to handle as much weight. For complete development, do BOTH barbell and dumbbell presses.
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