I work out at bally’s. (I know what your thinking) but I’ll never leave because I pay 9.95 a month with no contract and there’s never a wait for the squat rack. (unless of course they are using it to curl).
But I digress. Of course Ballys being, well, a ballys, the dumbells only go up to 85 lbs.
I have been working my bench press up over the past year and now that I’ve stagnated around the 300 lb mark I’ve switched back to dumbbells.
To both my satisfaction and disappointment I tried the 85 pounders and cranked out ten reps with ease. The last time I remember lifting dumbbells I was only using the 70 pounders. Apparently I’ve outgrown my gym’s dumbbell rack.
Just curious on some number comparisons between what you guys can dumbell bench press compared to your barbell bench press.
Tom H a variation that you can try with the dumbbells, since they are a bit light for you, is a seesaw type of pressing. As one dumbbell goes up the other goes down. You’ll usually have to use less weight. You have to really focus on form here. You’ll see what I am talking about when you try it for the first time. Get a nice wide base with your feet to help stabalize yourself.
i’ve read that 90% of barbell wait for dumbells. I don’t know how true that number is considering that you need so many more stabilizers to work when using dumbells. Since you are comfortable using the bench i would recomend barbell press followed by strict dumbell flyes hands all the way spread with little to no elbow flex. I figure by your numbers that 50lb dbs sound good. It will take you a long time to hit 85lb dbs. good luck, laters pk
I’ve always been stronger with dumbbells that with a barbell. I don’t do a lot of barbell presses because they hurt my shoulder so that could be the reason.
That said, 85 pound dumbbells really aren’t that heavy. You could always put in a request for heavier ones. One gym I trained at had only up to 80’s until enough people complained. In the event that they won’t get heavier ones you could always do what a guy at my gym did. He brought in duct tape and attached a 10lb plate on either side of the dumbbells so he could have 100’s. If they question you just inform them that you’ll be doing this until they get heavier dumbbells.
Tom,
The see-saw rec. and slowing down the ecc. portion are good options. You could also do the presses on a swiss ball or change the bench angle (inclines/declines). I’m sure you could probably manage to hook up some resistance bands as well. Consider asking the management to purchase some heavier dbs. Tell them to put that 9.95/mo. of your hard earned money to good use.
Thanks for the good recommendations. I will try to incorporate them into my routine.
I think pushing for heavier dumbbells will be a good idea as well.
I originally started this thread because I was trying out Chad Waterbury’s ABBH 2 and on his horizontal push day he prescribes 3 five rep sets of flat dumbbell presses with a 7RM load. So I will have to modify his routine a bit.
As far as 85 pound dumbbells not being that heavy, well for T-men no, but at Ballys, let’s just say I had to dust them off. Not to mention the crazy looks I got because I simply walked over to the rack picked them up, leaned back, did my set and sat back up while holding them and placed them back on the rack.
This is the opposite of the 2 man spotting/lifting teams utilized by other “bench press enthusiasts” at my gym. You would think that if the bench press was one of the only two exercises somebody does (the other being squat rack curling) they could at least perform them well. Someday I am going to open up a gym called the Bench and Curl and it will only feature curling bars and benches. With the reduced cost of equipment I should be able to undercut Bally’s and steal all of their business. But that’s for another thread…
Tom_H, from a paper containing “decent” lifting numbers:
Barbell Bench press: 125% of bodyweight for 6-8 reps.
Db Bench press: 45% of bodyweight per dumbbell for 6-8 reps.
Personally, I’m currently using barbell bench press (ABBH). No idea of my performance with dbs.
Bench Press:
Set 1 - 275lbs X 10
Set 2 - 300lbs X 6
Set 3 - 315lbs X 3
set 4 - 315lbs X 3
Incline Dumbells:
Two sets of 12 rep with the 100lbs dumb bells.
Hope that helps with your comparison, funny thing though, I am always stronger with dumbells, after going heavy on barbell bench, if I come in and do dumbells as my first exercise they feel twice as heavy. I guess there is something to be said for bein completekly warmed-up.
Just curious on some number comparisons between what you guys can dumbell bench press compared to your barbell bench press.[/quote]
Dang, there’s some strong folks in this thread!
Anyway, I work out both at home (squat rack and Oly weight set + bench, etc.) and at the gym at the office when I have the chance. After a long layoff due to injuries from a bicycle + Ford F150 accident (I was the bike!) I started using the DBs at the gym exclusively for a while (~2-3 months) and got up to the 80’s (the most they have here at work) for 4 sets of 8.
Then I decided to see what kind of progress I’d made on barbell bench at home. 265lbs (a PR for me).
I guess that’s my comparisson number you asked for?
Clear as mud.
