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Dumbell Weight vs Barbell Weight for Bench

Which style of bench press is more effective?

  • Barbell

    Votes: 80 42.1%

  • Dumbell

    Votes: 98 51.6%

  • No Difference

    Votes: 12 6.3%
  • Total voters
    190
L

Longhorn85

New member
When I do flat barbell bench I work up to doing 4-6 reps at around 285 lbs.

When I do flat dumbell bench I get a great workout doing reps with 85 lb in each hand. That is much less weight, but the workout feels better during and afterwards.

So I conclude that using dumbells is a better workout. Agree?
 
dumbbells will work the stabilizing muscles more. if you had to choose only one, i'd say dumbbells would be the better exercise. but the barbell version eliminates some of the stabilization so that you can put more stress on the main movers - tris, pecs, anterior delts. more stress will equate to more growth so do both!
 
I agree doing both is very important. From a a sports point of view the dumbells are huge to work stabilzers. Bench keeps you set along a primary plane whereas dbs need to be controlled in all. I'll never forget my first time doing dumbell press alone and I hit fatigue. I nearly scalped myself lol :p

Keep both in your training you'll be better for it.
 
I do both! Man i never did dumbells and let me tell ya, it was hilarious watching me try to use my non existent stabilizer muscles.
 
masonweitzel said:
I do both! Man i never did dumbells and let me tell ya, it was hilarious watching me try to use my non existent stabilizer muscles.
Click to expand...

It requires good technique to be able to bench heavy weight with dumbells safely.
 
Longhorn85 said:
When I do flat barbell bench I work up to doing 4-6 reps at around 285 lbs.

When I do flat dumbell bench I get a great workout doing reps with 85 lb in each hand. That is much less weight, but the workout feels better during and afterwards.

So I conclude that using dumbells is a better workout. Agree?
Click to expand...


I get a better feel ,,,stretch and range of motion with DB's.
 
I like doing both, if I use a barbell for regular bench, I'll use dumbells for incline, and vice versa.

Another great exercise for bench stability is one-arm dumbell bench presses. It's even less weight but is taxing on the body.
 
I do both:

Chest day 1: Incline bar, flat dumbbell
Chest day 2: Incline dumbbell, flat bar
(there are more exercises both days but none that are germane to this thread)

At this point, there isn't a great deal of difference in the two lifts anymore. For the bar bench I'm around 255 X 8 and for the dumbbell bench I use the 100's. Unfortunately at my gym I'm stuck at 100 b/c that's all they offer.

As far as which is more effective, I'm not an expert but the dumbbell's use the stabilizers and I suppose that's useful.
 
The little gym I am using right now only goes up to 85lbs DBs :mad:
Since you are repping with 100s I would have expected you to be repping higher than 255 with the barbell.
 
KC Kancho said:
Another great exercise for bench stability is one-arm dumbell bench presses. It's even less weight but is taxing on the body.
Click to expand...

Sounds great, gotta try it, especially since my gym has limited DBs
 
Longhorn85 said:
The little gym I am using right now only goes up to 85lbs DBs :mad:
Since you are repping with 100s I would have expected you to be repping higher than 255 with the barbell.
Click to expand...

It's a mental block more than anything else. I have real trouble adding plates to the barbell bench press. I still don't use two 45lb plates for that very reason. (I use 1X45, 1X35, 2X10 and 1X5 per side, it seems less daunting).

What's the worst that can happen with dumbbell bench press, I drop the weight? It's probably why that progressed faster.
 
I rep with custom made 143 lbs (65 kgs) dumbells at this hardcore underground gym next to my house. I do incline dumbell presses, dumbell rows, shrugs and seated dumbell shoulder presses. The ceiling leaks when it rains. The floor is cracked from all the heavy lifting. There is a stench of sweat, blood, tears...It's fucking beautiful.
 
i love using dumbbells, and i like to do rep range between 6-8. today put up 100lbs db for 8 reps......any suggestions for the next time i do chest and still use db's?

thanks
 
The_Alcatraz said:
I rep with custom made 143 lbs (65 kgs) dumbells at this hardcore underground gym next to my house. I do incline dumbell presses, dumbell rows, shrugs and seated dumbell shoulder presses. The ceiling leaks when it rains. The floor is cracked from all the heavy lifting. There is a stench of sweat, blood, tears...It's fucking beautiful.
Click to expand...

At your level of strength, progression and safety will come into play with DB presses.

The risk of injury gets high when you use very heavy DBs and they become impracticle because of their size.

I remember watching a video of Ronnie Coleman doing 12 reps (flat DB presses) with 200 lb'ers. He threw them out when he finished his set. This wouldn't go down too well in most gyms. It's not easy to put down a heavy pair of DBs in the flat DB bench without wrenching your shoulders.

Personally I only do incline DB presses.
 
Longhorn85 said:
The little gym I am using right now only goes up to 85lbs DBs :mad:
Since you are repping with 100s I would have expected you to be repping higher than 255 with the barbell.
Click to expand...

i can do the 120's x5 and 285 x5, so i think it just depends on you and your form.
 
Dumbell strength has very little carry over into barbell strength and vice versa.

Dumbells need more stabilizing so it's harder to recruit the prime movers into a press.
The motion is very different between the two.
On a barbell both sides work together.

Which is better?
Completely depends on your goals.

One thing is that if you are going to be using really heavy dumbells try and get two spotters who can hand you the weights so you don't have to try and wrench them into position.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
The key with flat bench is too press your shoulders down and get your chest up slight arch, trust me you will feel it. throw on about 350lbs and rep it out
 
i wish i could use dumbells for flat bench, but the dumbells at my gym only go up to 100, so i am pretty much forced to use barbell for flat
 
Scotsman said:
Dumbell strength has very little carry over into barbell strength and vice versa.
Click to expand...

That's a interesting statement.

Let's take a person who has never done DB presses in his life. Let's say this person has worked up to 300 lbs for reps on the bench press.

Then he starts with DB presses. I'm sure he will push big DB's compared to a non-trainer. I'm sure he would be using 100+ DBs after a few practice sessions to get his balance sorted.

I would say that barbell strength would carry over nicely to DB work, but not so much the other way around.

It's likely that people push big DBs because of their BB work because most trainers do both.
 
tropo said:
That's a interesting statement.

Let's take a person who has never done DB presses in his life. Let's say this person has worked up to 300 lbs for reps on the bench press.

Then he starts with DB presses. I'm sure he will push big DB's compared to a non-trainer. I'm sure he would be using 100+ DBs after a few practice sessions to get his balance sorted.

I would say that barbell strength would carry over nicely to DB work, but not so much the other way around.

It's likely that people push big DBs because of their BB work because most trainers do both.
Click to expand...


The strength may carry over but you won't be able to lift anywhere near as much weight on dumbells especially the first time due to stabilization issues. Otherwise everyone who could bench 300 could also use the 150's on dumbell presses. I was pressing over 400 before the 140's were manageable.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
Scotsman said:
The strength may carry over but you won't be able to lift anywhere near as much weight on dumbells especially the first time due to stabilization issues. Otherwise everyone who could bench 300 could also use the 150's on dumbell presses. I was pressing over 400 before the 140's were manageable.

Cheers,
Scotsman
Click to expand...

Sure, the combined weight of the DB's will always be less than the BB weight.

Here's an interesting question:

If you were in a competition to press the most weight possible with DBs, would you concentrate on DB's or BB bench in your training? If it was me I'd concentrate on the BB bench mostly. Once you're mastered DB stability it becomes second nature, even after a long layoff.
 
I"ve had a lot of guys here superset the two. Going to near failure on flat bench and then straight to dbells to failure...as well as the opposite. Both see good results.
 
tropo said:
Sure, the combined weight of the DB's will always be less than the BB weight.

Here's an interesting question:

If you were in a competition to press the most weight possible with DBs, would you concentrate on DB's or BB bench in your training? If it was me I'd concentrate on the BB bench mostly. Once you're mastered DB stability it becomes second nature, even after a long layoff.
Click to expand...


I'd do both, but really work hard on the dumbells. Knowing how to stabilize and stabilizing on a max effort are two very different things.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
It will always come down to a number of factors...

1. Who is going to be spotting for you and are they an idiot?
2. Are we talking hypertrophy or strength?
3. Are you prone to injury?
... and so on...

Every person is going to have different set of answers here. However I personally would lean towards the bar.



Lets be honest here for a moment, since some idiot made the first set of pink dumbells with 0.5 on the side, I'm sorry, I feel betrayed, there was no need for it, no-one doing 0.5 on anything deserves to be in a gym.

Dumbells switched sides, they cheated on the iron soldiers with the flouncy abercrombie wearing, mobile-in-the-fricking-gym generation. They gave birth to the squat rack curlers, the old ladies who stand around infront of the mirrors, the guys with the missing lats, the idiot with the perma belt who tells everyone how to leg-press, 'don't squat, its bad for your knees', everything we despise was caused by those dumbell touting idiots wanting to open the sport up to a bunch of tards for a profit.

So don't forgive them so easy, they started this.

Like that ex who cheated on you once, you might accidently go back every now and again, after all he/she serves a purpose, but by God I am not letting that cheating bitch take the place of the most faithful thing in my sport - have you ever seen a pink barbell with 0.5 on the side???

- so yeah use the little bitch when it suits you, sometimes she might put on a nice 70kg jacket, but damn we know where she has been and we know where are heart lies.

:)
 
Scotsman said:
I'd do both, but really work hard on the dumbells. Knowing how to stabilize and stabilizing on a max effort are two very different things.

Cheers,
Scotsman
Click to expand...

Which really begs the question, does anyone do one rep maximums on DBs?..or even 2, 3 or 4 reps?

I would say it's the heavy BB benches that builds most people's DB strength. Of course because most serious trainers use both it's impossible to test this scientifically.

Progression of weight can be a problem with DB's. Most good racks don't offer a jump of less than 5 lbs per DB, so that's a 10 lb jump for presses. My gym for example jumps by 10 lbs per DB giving a 20 lb jump for presses. A lot of people will therefore be using weights they cannot properly handle because the jump up is too much. This can seriously hinder progress and lead to unnecessary injuries.
 
Last edited:
Scotsman said:
One thing is that if you are going to be using really heavy dumbells try and get two spotters who can hand you the weights so you don't have to try and wrench them into position.

Cheers,
Scotsman
Click to expand...

That limits me because I like to work out alone. The most I can probably use safely is 100lbs right now.
 
Longhorn85 said:
That limits me because I like to work out alone. The most I can probably use safely is 100lbs right now.
Click to expand...


True, unless you have the benefit of a dumbell bench rack, but I've only seen them in a couple of gyms.

Cheers,
Scotsman
 
I used to use strictly DB's because of the phobia I used to have of using the BB (afraid of it falling on my neck). I finally started alternating between DB and BB every chest day and my DB went way up. So I say use both.
 
tracemhunter said:
I used to use strictly DB's because of the phobia I used to have of using the BB (afraid of it falling on my neck).
Click to expand...

Cool, but I am more worried about dropping a dumbell during the last few reps of a heavy set.
 
hey bro I do them both chest was tonight and I did a 10 x 225 ,6 x 245 and 6x255 . with 85 db s 3x10 x3 and ofcourse other chest exercises.but I get a good pull in the chest and I like the burn so I like the dbs somtimes I use them at the end of my workout and do my 3x10x3 then 2 burnout sets with the dumbells just to get good and toar up. I love that shit !!!!!!!!
 
This is a debate that is totally dependent on what you are training for. Dumbbells rock for chest development while barbell bench is not one of the better chest developers there is. Many consider it one of the worst. (I don't know a single pro bodybuilder that does flat barbell bench press.) But for strength sports, powerlifting, strong man, football, MMA... barbell bench is a great strength developer... and if you lift heavy enough you will see chest development... you just won't see the kind of development you need for bodybuilding.

NOT all exercises/lifts translate to being good for all sports. If I was a football coach, I'd rip my player a new one if I caught him training dumbbells.
 
Last edited:
Longhorn85 said:
Presses or flyes? Incline, flat? How about dips?
Click to expand...
All of the above. Incline dumbbell presses and dips are the #1 chest developers for bodybuilding by a mile. DB Flat and flies are also good.

Physique development aka "looks" plays by different rules than developing raw strength.
 
Longhorn85 said:
The little gym I am using right now only goes up to 85lbs DBs :mad:
Since you are repping with 100s I would have expected you to be repping higher than 255 with the barbell.
Click to expand...


Doesn't work like that.

I rep 100 DB's for 13 reps but can't even put up 8 reps at 235 with a bar. some people are just different/stronger in different ways than others.
 
another debate.. DB or barbel.. LOL... that was a thread talking about the diff between a DB and barbell bench. i forgot which was it. but anyways, it is said depends on what you are looking for. strength builders go on barbell bench, body building on dbs.. but if u talk about the chest muscle, its actually said that its a WHOLE muscle on its on, and its impossible to do an isolation on the chest muscle without involving the whole thing itself. some one also said, he could bench heavy, thus the db or flies is unnecessary. still, back to what ur're looking for.

besides, barbel trains alot of stability, both hands strength, db's, its easy to get out of form.. then again, tats why its called core work out.. :) depends on what u're looking for.
 
Wow, I voted Barbell Simply cause it lets you push more raw weight and is far easier to manage. But after hearing everyone say Dumbells develop the chest a lot more I might try doing some of them after I get to a good flat bench strength level.

Interesting read on the subject.
 
Both, like everyone said. By using both you will improve the main antagonists and the stabilizers in the same process. Get the best of both worlds, and avoid staleness.
 
with dumbbels its harder but then you end up lifting heavier when you use a barbell. I switch. its good to alternate.
 
I just rotate between the two. Per say one week I'll do barbell flat bench and DB incline and a decline db flyes and the next week maybe I'll still do the barbell on flat but I'll do incline flyes and barbell decline. Basically I rotate every week between the barbess and dumbell exercises.
 
Longhorn85 said:
When I do flat barbell bench I work up to doing 4-6 reps at around 285 lbs.

When I do flat dumbell bench I get a great workout doing reps with 85 lb in each hand. That is much less weight, but the workout feels better during and afterwards.

So I conclude that using dumbells is a better workout. Agree?
Click to expand...

Noob's Humble Opinion.

When I do Dumbells for Incline Bench

I do

80x15
85x12
90x10
95x8

I just bumped my weight up over last week

I was doing 65, 70, 75, and 80.

The week before, I was doing 50, 55, 60, 65.

I am just getting back into shape and imo, dumbell bench press has helped me make the best gains in the shortest ammount of time.

Anyways, at my gym, the dumbells only go to 100 lbs.

I guess after that I am going to have to go to Barbells, but I really prefer Dumbells.

Any thoughts on this?

Maybe I can stick with the Dumbells longer by increasing the reps.

Some of you are advocating to keep doing Dumbells even if you max out. Just do Barbells.
 
Last edited:
Gotta have um both. Every body loves barbells because you put the weight on heavy, Thats good heavy=growth but dumbells have all the stablizing muscles coming in to play, dumbells really work on my fore-arms and shoulders thats why Gotta have um both...............
 
Caleb's Tree said:
Noob's Humble Opinion.

When I do Dumbells for Incline Bench

I do

80x15
85x12
90x10
95x8

I just bumped my weight up over last week

I was doing 65, 70, 75, and 80.

The week before, I was doing 50, 55, 60, 65.

I am just getting back into shape and imo, dumbell bench press has helped me make the best gains in the shortest ammount of time.

Anyways, at my gym, the dumbells only go to 100 lbs.
Click to expand...

In the heyday of Muscle Beach back in the 30s and 40s... the guys didn't look at the Oly lifts as the definition of "being strong." The gold standard back then was that if you could do your sets on incline dumbbell bench press with 100s... you were strong... very strong.

A lot of the old timers still consider it the best metric.

At Gold's Venice years back we used to do a group cheer every time a guy hit it for the first time.
 
SofaGeorge said:
In the heyday of Muscle Beach back in the 30s and 40s... the guys didn't look at the Oly lifts as the definition of "being strong." The gold standard back then was that if you could do your sets on incline dumbbell bench press with 100s... you were strong... very strong.

A lot of the old timers still consider it the best metric.

At Gold's Venice years back we used to do a group cheer every time a guy hit it for the first time.
Click to expand...

And check this out....I got low Test, under 300, and I can push that weight.
I don't do any AAS. I eat right, and take my protein, like a good boy, so that's my natural base strength.

Soon, I will be doing HRT as my doc approved it. Gel at first, but then hopefully injectibles. Can't wait to start pushing up the 100 dumbells. I am not into killing myself though. I do proper warmups, and get spotted.

Thanks for telling me about the "Muscle Beach" story. After seeing my test levels this week, this gave me a bit of a boost. I am curious though, with such low "Test" levels, how in the hell, am I able to progress? Another thing I wonder about is why my arms never, I mean never get sore, even when I bump up weight.
 
Caleb's Tree said:
And check this out....I got low Test, under 300, and I can push that weight.
I don't do any AAS. I eat right, and take my protein, like a good boy, so that's my natural base strength.

Soon, I will be doing HRT as my doc approved it. Gel at first, but then hopefully injectibles. Can't wait to start pushing up the 100 dumbells. I am not into killing myself though. I do proper warmups, and get spotted.

Thanks for telling me about the "Muscle Beach" story. After seeing my test levels this week, this gave me a bit of a boost. I am curious though, with such low "Test" levels, how in the hell, am I able to progress? Another thing I wonder about is why my arms never, I mean never get sore, even when I bump up weight.
Click to expand...
I was talking to some of the old guys from that era... Muscle Beach pre steroids... and it was really interesting to hear from many of them that there were very firms "caps" on where strength developed to. The incline bench was an example. For a guy to reach 100 lbs naturally back then was a serious feat... and to go up to 120 lbs he was super human. There pretty much wasn't anyone in the group who went beyond that. They gave me numbers on some other lifts... one example being 405 lbs on bench... and I don't remember what else... but the common theme was there was a pretty established bar and very very very few people went beyond it. They said that when steroids came along... the old standards just disappeared. It didn't mean anything to be strong any more because every schmuck could do it.
 
SofaGeorge said:
I was talking to some of the old guys from that era... Muscle Beach pre steroids... and it was really interesting to hear from many of them that there were very firms "caps" on where strength developed to. The incline bench was an example. For a guy to reach 100 lbs naturally back then was a serious feat... and to go up to 120 lbs he was super human. There pretty much wasn't anyone in the group who went beyond that. They gave me numbers on some other lifts... one example being 405 lbs on bench... and I don't remember what else... but the common theme was there was a pretty established bar and very very very few people went beyond it. They said that when steroids came along... the old standards just disappeared. It didn't mean anything to be strong any more because every schmuck could do it.
Click to expand...


Wow...That's interesting and sad at the same time. If I did AAS I'd probably be a lot stronger. Even though I'm interested in AAS, I wanted to stay natural. I might end up on HRT though, which really isn't like being on AAS, it is just supposed to elevate test to "normal" ranges. Even on HRT I don't know if I'd even feel an increase in strength or not.

Getting back to the topic, all I know is that I've made my greatest strength gains doing incline dumbell bench press. I started out pressing like 50 some pounds just a few weeks ago, and already am hitting 95 and looking forward to trying to hit 100. After that, I'll just start goin back to barbells, and my guess is that my dumbell press will have helped my barbell press.
 
Caleb's Tree said:
Anyways, at my gym, the dumbells only go to 100 lbs.

I guess after that I am going to have to go to Barbells, but I really prefer Dumbells.

Any thoughts on this?

Maybe I can stick with the Dumbells longer by increasing the reps.
Click to expand...

Congrats on working your way up to 100s! Maybe now use flyes instead of presses if you want to stick with DBs.
 
Longhorn85 said:
Congrats on working your way up to 100s! Maybe now use flyes instead of presses if you want to stick with DBs.
Click to expand...

Damn..I couldn't imagine doing flies with 100 pound dumbells, but then again, I never imagined I could press 100 pound dumbells till I tried it this week. I used to look at them and think how ungodly big they were and who in the hell would be able to even use dumbells that big?

I can do flies with 70 pounds, but I don't lock my elbows out, instead I dip the weight below the bench and then force my pecs to bring the dumbells back together. Elbows are like 45 degrees. I have a bit of a "loose" shoulder, so I guard it, but still get my workouts in without doing any damage.

Some say the way I do flies isn't good form, but I think it works for me on the flies. Thoughts?
 
How are these old ass threads popping up when the last person that posted was in May?

Anyway, I love the good ole bench press but my shoulders hate me for it. I feel more powerful with db's.
I am also stronger on my incline dumbells than with flat dumbells.
 
PWR said:
How are these old ass threads popping up when the last person that posted was in May?

Anyway, I love the good ole bench press but my shoulders hate me for it. I feel more powerful with db's.
I am also stronger on my incline dumbells than with flat dumbells.
Click to expand...

someone takes the survey .. that bumps it..
 
I haven't touched bb bench in over 6 months because of shoulder probs.

I obviously can't move the same weight with dumbells but great pumps and no pain.
 
When it comes to CHEST development i favour dumbells, however you can shift more weight on a barbell so it will help you put on more size in your upper body. The best chest wrokouts i have had are Incline barbell followed by flat dumbell pressess. Like others have already said - mix it up. That goes for reps, sets and order you do exercises.
 
Wow you guys have such his differences between the barbells and dumbbells. I probably have one of the worst bench presses here for my body weight (185lb 1m at 172lb body weight), but I can rep 75lb dumb bells for sets of 5-6. Why is this? I go really deep also. Is it because my stabilizers are strong compared to you guys, but the main movers are weak?
 
Yarg! said:
Wow you guys have such his differences between the barbells and dumbbells. I probably have one of the worst bench presses here for my body weight (185lb 1m at 172lb body weight), but I can rep 75lb dumb bells for sets of 5-6. Why is this? I go really deep also. Is it because my stabilizers are strong compared to you guys, but the main movers are weak?
Click to expand...

thats a strong db weight compared to your barbell bench.

i find the 2 to be almost irrelavent of eachother. i was db benching 80's when i was bb benching 175. now im bb benching 285, and my db's i can do 90's. i stayed away from the db's for a while cause my shoulder was starting to hurt a little
 
I went on a 2 month semester at sea, there was no barbell, only DBs going up to a hundo.

Take my word, by the end of sea term I could hit 100's for 10 for two sets. When I went back to normal benching after 2 months of DBs I had the most controlled, strict, bench press in my life. The bar moved in a perfectly straight line at a constant speed. It felt strange having so much control, it was like I was using pure muscle to push the bar up, rather than firing it off my chest so to speak. Now its back to firing it off the chest, so I am incorporating DBs again and seeing if I can go back to the more stabilized form I had after sea term.


These to exercise definitely correlate to an extent.
 
I agree with you! If I had the choice to only workout with dumbbells, or barbells, I would go with dumbbells because they hit the stabilizer muscles better and they are more versatile (have more exercises).
 
More effective needs to be defined. More effective for hitting your best max bench, then you have to focus on bench. Specificity in training. For chest size, you could probably pick one or the other, but like so many have said, do both!
 
i prefer barbell benching and i use DB presses as an assistance excersize. ive got a minor injury in the left wrist that surfaces whenever i stress my wrist too much so i stay away from db presses these days.
 
Dumbbells require the use of stabiliser muscles so you won't be able to lift as much. I usually use both barbell and d/b as this gives me a good mix of chest training
 
sounds pretty good. I ve been using db all the time as I have nobody to train with. I must say nobody has chest like me in our gym. there I believe db gives u great shape.
but im recently on the same weight 45kg and not going over. the benchpress might be the right solution :))

Sent from my GT-I9300 using EliteFitness
 
The problem is that most people don't lift heavy dumbbells....
For incline presses at a higher include you have to shoulder those dumbbells in place before you lift them.

I do more dumbbell presses now. I just have to get mentally ready to lift them.
Dumbbells are a much more physically taxing way to do chest presses then barbells... Especially inclines
 
Headholio said:
More effective needs to be defined. More effective for hitting your best max bench, then you have to focus on bench. Specificity in training. For chest size, you could probably pick one or the other, but like so many have said, do both!
Click to expand...

I think people say that to mean dumbells more effective in targeting the chest area. Which I would agree with.
I believe this is measured by EMG
 
Joanna80 said:
Dumbbells require the use of stabiliser muscles so you won't be able to lift as much. I usually use both barbell and d/b as this gives me a good mix of chest training
Click to expand...

Not only does it incorporate stabilizers but also really highlights weaknesses in one side that are masked by barbell presses.

I like to do one set of barbell presses to see how I'm progressing on that particular lift but all other presses I use dumb bells. I had a severe weakness in my left side that went unnoticed for quite a while due to only using barbells. Fast forward 6 months later and it has almost caught up and my barbell press is better than it ever has been.
 
I got 150's DB up for two a few years ago on flat, that was intense.
I rarely BB bench anymore as it jacks my shoulder joint so I so Db press 100's for reps and hammer strength press for heavy weight super set, finish with high rep machine fly's
 
I just do barbell, but whatever to each their own. If this were in the BB forum, I could see the DB's winning, but for weightlifting.... I don't see it. More weight should be the goal (for me anyway).
 
b fold the truth said:
I"ve had a lot of guys here superset the two. Going to near failure on flat bench and then straight to dbells to failure...as well as the opposite. Both see good results.
Click to expand...

This is one of my favorite things to do on chest day. 8-10 reps on bb followed immediately by dumbbells until failure.
 
I usually follow the mixture of both! I don't know how much I'm right on this.
Bench Press - 3 Sets Barbell | 3 sets Dumbbells
Incline - 3 Sets Barbell | 3 sets Dumbbells

At the end satisfaction matters!
 
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Approved Log First 6 months TRT log
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MUSTANG_18
MUSTANG_18
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