Barbell to dumbell benchpress transition: how much weight?

[pineapple]

The question is in the title. If I was benching say 75 kg, should I start with the 37.5kg dumbbells or should I start off lighter with the 30's?

And also what sort of form should you use to bring the dumbbells into position? I bench much more than I would barbell curl so getting the weights into position might be hard on my wrists or arms.

Thankyou

 

[araiber]

Ide start off with 30's, as maybe you arent used to actually stabilizing the weights individually. See what you can do, and you should figure out how much you can do after your first workout. I bench 205 lbs (93kg), but i still find it hard to do 3 sets using 70lbs (32kg).

 

[JL_204]

Go much lighter starting out with dumbells.

To get them in to position:

1) pick them up off the rack

2) sit on the bench with the DB's on your knees

3) grab them and kind of fall back bringing the wieghts to your shoulders

4) start repping

 

[TheOak84]

ya, just start light and do reps of 8, go up 10 pounds each hand and go untill u max out at 5 reps

 

[musketeer]

Try starting off with the 20kgs and then try to go up a dumbell set (if they are 2 or 2.5 gaps) each week or every other session. Do the reps so that they are relatively wide at the bottom and so that you come as deep as possible without losing your power at the bottom. Especially with dumbells, I like to try and expand my chest up to meet them. Let them come together as you press at the top of the movement, so that you are squeezing the chest muscles together for a fuller contraction than you get from the barbel. I definitely reccomend NOT going below 6 reps to failure on dumbell presses (bench, incline or overhead) because of the instabiliity factor, so if you can't press a weight 6 times then it is TOO HEAVY. Good luck!

 

[eat big]

Take the weight, divide it by two and subtract 10lbs. on each side. That is about how much you can do for dumbells. At least it works for me. So the 30kg's should be about right.

 

[musketeer]

Take the weight, divide it by two and subtract 10lbs. on each side. That is about how much you can do for dumbells. At least it works for me. So the 30kg's should be about right.

Maybe, but because he's never done the movement before, it would be better learning it with less weight - rather than using sloppy form.

 

[rbtrout]

Doing bb bench really hurts my right shoulder, so I mostly do dbs. I go wide at the bottom, touching the dbs to my chest (at the sides) and then bring them together at the top. To start, go light, as you'll find your arms will be moving independantly of each other and it's easier to get used to the weights. Once you're used to the weight, then start going up.
Training my brother-in-law on db benching, it took him about 4 days of dbs to get used to the weights and then he started going heavier rather quickly.