Dumblell Rotation

Can someone please give me a correct answer on why or why not dumbells should be rotated at the top of a dumbell bech press or military press. What are the benefits and are they actually worth it? When doing a DB bench press i’ve heard people say to end with you palms facing you to hit more fibers, but doing this is external rotation which is opposite of what the pecs do (internal rotation). Which is right? Thanks for the help and don’t be affaid to back up your responses with the proper kinesiology.

For dumbell shoulder presses, rotating your palms (so they face each other at the bottom of themovement)gives you a better range of motion. In other words you take the dumbells further down. I am not sure about chest, i dont see the benefits.

Also, Dave Tate recommends a palms-in grip in his Big Bad Bench program because it has a greater functional carryover to the bench press.

Check out the alignment between the insertion and origin of the muscle. That will give you a clue as the the effect of any change in placement.
An easier way, is to head down to your local book store and check out the two books currently in the weight lifting section. One was done using electrical measurement of the amount of energy the muscle was generating due the lift and the other is a very draw book highlight the muscle used in each exercise.
However, my main advise that this time is to have your movements copy your activities.
Best of Luck.

Supposedly if you rotate in at the top you get a better range of motion. However, since resistence is gravity and it is strait down, that extra bit wouldnt be much beneficial. Some people like that squeeze feeling in there pecs though. As for external rotation, I dont even know why people still do flys in that position.

I think it’s usually a bad idea to use rotation when using heavy weights. Doing the exercise alone is hard enough on the joints without adding rotary work. The recommendation of turning the palms in on dumbell bench press is supposed to be coupled with squeezing of the chest to hit more of the inner fibers however most people just end up working more tricep rather than chest.

I agree, why externaly rotate the humerus at the end of a press when the pecs are internal rotators? Keeping them externaly rotated the entire time (neutral grip) is a good variation for the above mentioned reasons. I occasionaly see people doing presses starting pronated and finishing completely supinated, it makes me queasy, damn near ruins my workout every time. I just want to run over there and grab them by the ears and yell “Why are you doing that?!! Give me ONE good reason!!” As for shoulder presses, I would imagine externaly rotating the humerus at the upper portion of the concentric phase would cause the elbows to adduct therefore shifting tension away from the medial delt towards the anterior delt. Still never going to make an appearance in my workout journal.

I just want to run over there and grab them by the ears and yell “Why are you doing that?!! Give me ONE good reason!!”< Its about time someone said it. A bloke once insisted to me that palms down or pronated rows work triceps while supinated works Biceps??? Even after I asked him where he felt the pump. He was a young roid boy who hadn’t paid his dues so that about says it.

Nothing against roids by the way just people who rely on them, dont put in the work, study and nutrition etc and are still experts.