Can you build a solid chest w/o barbell?

[The Iotola]

If you do heavy dumbell incline/decline/flat/flies + dips, cables and pec deck is it possible to build a solid chest, or does barbell need to be included?

 

[Extra_Strong]

yes you can!!

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I love heavy DB chest work... my favorite... feels more natural for me, because i keep my hands kinda nuetral throughout.

Everyone's chest is different... see what works for you.

What are your goals exactly? Define "solid chest."

 

[zaxxon1982]

Define "solid chest."

Exactly.

But the short answer is - probably. If you have a powerful genetic predisposition to have a concave chest and are drug free, you will need all the help you can get and may find a barbell necessary. This is most unlikely. On the other hand, if you are Herschel Walker, a couple thousand pushups a day will make you the best athlete in the history of athletes and you can forget not only the barbell but also all those db's, decks, and dips. This is also most unlikely.

More likely you are somewhere in between and will find gains a little tougher without the bar but still very achievable.

 

[needtogetaas]

I have to have my barbell bench.its all about the raw power.me and that masive bar going to war.

 

[The Iotola]

I love heavy DB chest work... my favorite... feels more natural for me, because i keep my hands kinda nuetral throughout.

Everyone's chest is different... see what works for you.

What are your goals exactly? Define "solid chest."

Solid chest to me is nothing too large, but a substantial amount of mass all around the pectoral. Early on in my lifting, I hurt my shoulder real bad on flat barbell press, and ever since I never did it. Its interesting though, I can db press a significantly greater amount of weight then if im under the bar. Im not looking for sheer strength and power, just to spur some growth to my chest. Thx all.

 

[rick_hfh]

I also was in a love affair with the massive weights with the barbell. Since I have added db lifts in my rotation I can see a differance in my chest. I feel a better contraction in the chest with dumbells, also feel the muscle being worked more. So why not mix both of them in from time to time.

 

[The Iotola]

See, im worried that due to the last time I did heavy presses with barbell, I really messed up my shoulder, and vowed never to touch bar again. I would go back to bar, but I dont know how much impact the drastic reduction of weight would make. It's weird going from 110-120DB inclines, to loading up a whopping 185 on the bar and lifting it in fear..

 

[rick_hfh]

Is it your rotator cuff? My friend kept lifting through mild shoulder pain and it fucked him in the end. He had surgery and was weak ass for the next few years. My friend would never warm up either, just jump into a set of bench with 300+. After the surgery he would do as many as 4-5 warmup sets. If it is your rotator there are plenty of exercises to help out.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[fortunatesun]

So you're uneasy about getting back on the horse that threw you. I had the same thing with bikes as a kid. Cracked my head open when young and wouldn't get back on one till I was well into my teens. This stuff just takes some extra time to work itself out. Why not load up a bar with light weight, or even just the bar itself after you've done dumbell presses, and crank out a few very high rep shock sets just to see how it feels? You also may be able to determine if there's still some sort of medical condition you need to re-hab w/o aggrevating it through heavy weights.

 

[zaxxon1982]

See, im worried that due to the last time I did heavy presses with barbell, I really messed up my shoulder, and vowed never to touch bar again. I would go back to bar, but I dont know how much impact the drastic reduction of weight would make. It's weird going from 110-120DB inclines, to loading up a whopping 185 on the bar and lifting it in fear..

The way to mitigate the shoulder strain is to use a narrower grip and keep your elbows in at all times (but especially when the bar is on or near your chest).

Practice this with just the bar and you should find that it was your form and not the barbell that hurt your shoulder. Once you get comfortable with the form it should be no problem upping the weights.

 

[The Iotola]

thanks bros, i will take your advice and try it out on Monday, I guess barbell is an inevitable task to build a solid chest..I thought I could slide by with heavy dumbells...just a major hit to the ole' ego, but that's not really important.

 

[Extra_Strong]

thanks bros, i will take your advice and try it out on Monday, I guess barbell is an inevitable task to build a solid chest..I thought I could slide by with heavy dumbells...just a major hit to the ole' ego, but that's not really important.

just do your regular dumbell work out and when your done do one set of burn out with light weight , trying the narrower grip with the barbell, and slowly work the weight up each workout but if it hurts dont doit.!

 

[silver_shadow]

if you injured your shoulder doing BB bench press, chances are you need to look at your form. someone's probly going to start the *bodybuilder style bench form* BS, but i'd suggest taking time off to look at the PL forum bench sticky. *PL bench form* = more efficient = more weight moved = more hypertrophy (assuming good caloric intake)... that isn't even rocket science, yet, few ppl will comprehend this.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

I hear you on the rotator issues... I've implemented a few rotator exercises and do them 2-3 times every week and has made my shoulders MUCH more stable and tighter feeling going through the motions

Do some research on those exercises... and don't forget to stretch, Ice after too will help tremendously. Sometimes we forget the little things that make a HUGE difference.