Chest: barbell vs dumbells

[ant256]

how do dumbells compare against the barbell when working your chest on a flat, incline or decline press? When i use a barbell, i lift more weight, so does it work the chest better?

 

[Vigorous]

re chest

Barbells let have alittle more control cause your working as one. They also let you press more weight... Dumbells allow a fuller range of motion ( past the top of ribecage where barbell stops).
Dumbells tend to more isolate the chest.. Its mostly personal pref.
I usually use barbells for incline bench and dumbells for flat or decline, thats just my personal pref... As far as where it targets your chest. I beleive that the incline targets more upper chest. flat targets more middle and decline targets lower, but your prob hear alot of different opinions on that.. Its your call

Vigorous

 

[Thaibox]

90% of the people I know with serious shoulder injuries got them from BB benching. This includes me. I only use dumbells now(with no shoulder problems doing them) and I continue to see progress.

With the exception of satisfying my ego with a heavy press, I really don't miss barbells.

 

[Blkout]

90% of the people I know with serious shoulder injuries got them from BB benching. This includes me. I only use dumbells now(with no shoulder problems doing them) and I continue to see progress.

With the exception of satisfying my ego with a heavy press, I really don't miss barbells.

I totally agree.

 

[danielson]

i do dumbell press, mainly due to the fact you isolate your chest more, and its handy if you dot have a spotter. in fact the only thing i dont use em for is squats and curls i think

i've always wondered how much i could BB press, but never tried it before

 

[CytoMel]

I got into powerlifting 12 months ago and I have been benching with a barbell 2x a week every week and my chest has gotten a lot bigger. I havent done a heavy set of dumbell presses either.

I dont have anthing against dumbell presses, but using a barbell is much better and allows for a lot more variety.

People who hurt their shoulders barbell benching generally do them wrong-with their elbows flaring out.

 

[Robert Jan]

i prefer tha dumbs. i too noticed it feels better on the shoulders

 

[The Dude]

DBs do isolate the chest more and you do have more range of motion at the top (but not at the bottom unless you're turning the dbs parallel to your body and really dropping your arms back behind your torso). BBs for people with past shoulder problems can still be used in order work with that heavier weight on presses. Just stop 2-3 inches above the chest instead of touching it. You'll notice that this range of motion on the bottom part of the exercise is almost identical to the range of motion for dbs. It's A LOT easier on the shoulders and I've had two shoulder injuries to slow me down in the past. Two to three inches is all it took to keep BBs a part of my workout.

 

[Blkout]

I got into powerlifting 12 months ago and I have been benching with a barbell 2x a week every week and my chest has gotten a lot bigger. I havent done a heavy set of dumbell presses either.

I dont have anthing against dumbell presses, but using a barbell is much better and allows for a lot more variety.

People who hurt their shoulders barbell benching generally do them wrong-with their elbows flaring out.

How can you say one is better than the other when you stated that you have not done dumbell presses?

 

[Manu]

Does the 2 or 3 inches makes difference in terms of pecs workout?
Besides avoiding injuries.