what is the better for your chest dumbells or barbells?

ripple-effect

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I'd say bench press because it isolates and focuses on mainly the chest. Using dumbbells allows free motion which not only works the chest but other muscles as well(if you are doing a chest workout). I prefer bench press myself.
 

Harie

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Strength development = BB Bench
Overall symmetric chest development = DB Bench

If you have bad shoulders, stick do DB's.
 

powersam

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isnt it more dependent on how far apart your hands are, rather than what you are lifting? i prefer dumbbells myself because i think forcing myself to keep the width constant throughout the motion builds other stabilizer muscles that might normally get ignored, plus it helps symetry and i can go lower on down.
 

muaythai187

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Well it depends what area in your pecs you want to develop.
For example the barbell bench press involves the upper pecs and front delts more than the dumbell version, while the the dumbbell bench press hit the lower pecs to a greater degree. Well the combination of both barbell and dumbell work increases muscular development throughout the whole pec and also the shoulder are, giving you the most balance chest possible. I usually switch back and forth to get both benefits.
 

powersam

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i usually do heavy weights with the dumbells, then at the end of the workout lots of reps with a lighter barbell. will that work or should i be using reasonably similar weights for both?
 

Maxpwr

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I find it awkward to do dumbbell presses. The bench setup I have at home is crappy and cramped and makes it hard even to do flyes. I've also always found it a challenge to pick up two heavy-*** dumbbells from the bent over position and lie back with them for a set, keeping in mind I'd have to leave enough energy to still get them back down once I'm ready. I used to do them occasionally, but now don't even bother.

I do my mass building chest exercises with a barbell and isolation exercises with dumbbells... and use pushups to reach failure where needed. I reckon I'm still getting good results this way.
 

CCS

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The following comes from my knowledge of physics, including tensions, angles, and leverages. I don't know what is safest or builds more muscle, but I do know how much force each muscle is getting:

The difference between dumbbells and bench press is dumbbells allow you to take the triceps out of the picture, and hold the bar how you want. As long as your forearms point straight up, it is just a chest/shoulder workout. The more your elbows are flared out at 90 degrees to your body, the more you work your chest, and the less you work your front deltoids. The more you tuck your shoulders to your body (closer to your stomach you bring the weights), the more you work your front deltoids, and less you work your chest. If you do a wide flye, with your forearms leaning outwards or towards your belly, you will work your biceps too. If you do a close flye, with your forearms leaning inwards or towards your head, you will work your triceps.

Dumbbells let you hold the bars in a way that is comfortable for your wrists. Barbells injure my wrists. Dumbbells also let you twist the bars as you raise them. I don't know if that is safer or just builds muscle better, but you can't do it with a barbell. When your forearms are straight up, you can isolate the chest with dumbbells. Compound lifts let you load more muscles at once so you make more growth hormone, but they leave you wondering which muscle group failed first. If you are like me and can't grow from too many sets, doing 3 extra sets too take that muscle group to failure could result in no growth, whereas not isolating it could result in it not getting worked enough. I like dumbbell flyes because I can separate chest and triceps and know that both got their ideal amount of work. I try to get my growth hormone from HIIT.

The ideal grip to bring the chest and triceps to failure at the same time is complicated, and depends on the level of development of both. If you grip is closer together than your shoulders at the bottom, then the chest is not used at all at the bottom.
 

CCS

Senior Member
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The triceps are guaranteed to get worked no matter how you hold the bar with bench press. How much it gets worked compared to the chest depends on grip though. I think the main time the chest is really worked is at the bottom, with a moderately wide grip. The triceps are overworked with a narrow grip.

I'm tempted to tie a string between my dumbbells so I can get a compound lift with the grip I want. It would be very bad though to have that much weight on a thin string cutting into my chest if anything went wrong. I have some 1 inch wide straps I could use. I'm sure everyone would be staring at me though. I would not care if they stared as long as I knew I was doing a good exercise. But if I was doing something dumb, then I'd feel bad later.
 
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