dumbell bench

[MR.?]

I was wondering what kind of workouts you guys do with dumbells for bench. Sets, reps, etc.
Right now I bench twice a week. I do speed bench on Monday 8x3 with some heavy singles and I do a heavy bench day on Thursday. Speed bench works great for me but I need a new rep scheme for my heavy days because I am plateauing. Any input would be great.

 

[p03t1c]

new rep scheme??? you should be rotating the exercises every 1-2 weeks depending on your level. also the rep scheme is always the same. you either go for a 1 rep max or dumbbells to failure or say a 5 rep max on the illegal wides.

 

[lilmikey]

With my new routine I do them on sunday which is Westside ME Bench day. I do them at the end of the workout right before some reverse curls. I don't go for extreme one rep maxes and stuff... I do sets of 10, 8, 6, and 6. I have been going up weekly in this and besides keeping my pecs fresh I think it is a fun exercise. I do them at the end of the workout though because i want to give full attention to the supplemental and accessory exercises before doing them.

 

[MR.?]

new rep scheme??? you should be rotating the exercises every 1-2 weeks depending on your level. also the rep scheme is always the same. you either go for a 1 rep max or dumbbells to failure or say a 5 rep max on the illegal wides.

p03t1c, I'm not really a true powerlifter. I play football. This is what my coach more or less has me do. I don't train westside as far as band and chains or things like because I just dont have the eqipment. But I have done rack bench before thats about it as far as a variation from flat bench. Thanks for you helps.

 

[Arioch]

When I rotate them in for a three week microcycle, maybe twice a year, it is more to give my system a break and to strengthen connective tissue than anything else. When this is the case, I generally perform two sets of twenty reps of flat DB bench, and one set of twenty inclines. 20 being the goal, of course, even though I do not always get all of them.

 

[MR.?]

When I rotate them in for a three week microcycle, maybe twice a year, it is more to give my system a break and to strengthen connective tissue than anything else. When this is the case, I generally perform two sets of twenty reps of flat DB bench, and one set of twenty inclines. 20 being the goal, of course, even though I do not always get all of them.

Thanks for the info Arioch

 

[barbell265]

I like to toss in drop sets every 2 weeks at the end of my routine. I do chest on Monday and do flat, decline and incline, not not necessarily in that order. I start with 80's and go to failure, drop them and grab 70's and go to failure right down to 30's with no rest in between. Sometimes I will only get 2-3 reps but I'll do 3 sets of these with a 5 min break between each set.

The results are incredible! I work in a hospital lab and was able to run a cpk on myself on one such day post workout. Normal is less than 50, mine was 2,260! Cpk is an enzyme released by muscle tissue under stress,(understating for simplicity), and one can judge the amount of damage sustained by the results.