NO BENCHES when on or off aas!

[drb_iac]

I often mention that flat bench presing isn’t good for the long haul, since it’s not friendly to the shoulders. Many will admit to feeling a little impingement in the shoulder on occasion, but have never had a significant injury. Since they have not yet had significant injury they march on with the almighty egotistical bench press. Add some Dbol to the mix...and oh yeah...you will eventually hurt yourself

Add any of the aas known for strength gains...and oh yeah!!



Insisting on heavy one-rep-max bench press workouts is insisting on future painfull grief. I myself have tried different approaches (light weight, high reps, varied grips), none of which were pain-free or non-aggravating.

Scrutiny of the all-star favorite weightlifting exercise, the big daddy of musclebuilders, the big daddy of the ego, showed me the flat bench press is not only conflicting in muscle action, it isn’t the hunky musclebuilder it was cast to be. Dissecting the movement does not jive with the anatomy of the shoulder girdle my bros.

Dumbbells are, in fact, much better, safer and more interesting. Performance proves that. Plus, the actions of grasping, heaving and wrestling the iron mounds into place and back to the rack again are impressive muscle- and might-producing exercises above and beyond the dumbbell pressing itself....lol...right? Dumbbells are generous. Dumbbells keep giving as we keep taking..




Most will have a problem at some point with the bench press. I started many years ago to have shoulder pain. I swithched to dumbbells and the pain was gone for good..

The bench press is notorious for shoulder injury. For on thing, we cannot control ourselves from going heavy, too heavy, and compromising a healthy groove to complete a damaging set or rep.

Mix it up a bit, the various degrees of incline being most beneficial – more delt and upper pec engagement and development. Inclines are more strenuous and, thus, require less weight to be effective. Flys and forward-leaning dips are dependable additions.

You might try dumbbell presses supersetted with straight-arm pullovers for a fun and worthy upper-body blast.

Remember: the more we focus on muscle engagement and the less we hurry, the more we are able to achieve from the less-than-heavy weights.






Dumbbell flat and incline presses work the chest better than the bar and are safer on the shoulders: 4 to 5 sets of 12,10,8,6 and sometimes 4 or fewer reps for each exercise chosen is smart. Throw in stiffarm pullovers as a second part of a superset when performing your dumbbell presses for added pec recruitment and blood concentration. Excellent combination.

Add dips (machine dips are okay) leaning forward to recruit the pecs (perhaps on triceps day), sets of 10-12; cable crossovers are essential. Work the chest 2x per week.




As I faded away from the bench press I began to favor dips.Back in the day we took a plate and a chain with a S hook and loaded plates around our necks,connected the S hook, and off we went for some heavy dips.WAY WAY better than the flat bench.

I am headed back to Costa Rica today, so I will write when I can.When I am there I have very little sitting on my ass time...lol...which is a good thing.

Take care all...and Happy New Year

 

[GTFORMULA]

Most of the time I agree with you DRB. However this time I must at least only half lol. I love flat bench press. It has always been in my sets as well as all types of dumbells. I alternate from bar to dumbell. I have never had shoulder pain from any of it. I may just be lucky or perhaps genetically gifted in this area. Ive almost always been able to bench double or more of my body weight. Also on dumbells over my body weight. I use flat bench as a scale of my progress and power. But only part of a wide range of tools to get bigger. Doing dips works my tris and shoulders mostly. If you can do bench without pain or injury I see it as a needed tool. But can't be like many bros who use it as only a couple exercises. Diversity is key.

 

[JM750]

I have an old motorcycle shoulder injury, and flat benching always seems to stir up the hornets nest. I'll still do them, but I never try to go with too much weight. I know my limits. Plus, it's not how much you can lift. It's how much you look like you can lift that counts! hahaha

 

[jcoutts91]

I used to hate flat bench used to get horrible shoulder impingement but lowered my weights fixed my form and let my body do the lifting and not my ego and I have never been better have made tons of tricep and pec gains since fixing my issues

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[xdevinxsoccer]

I used to hate flat bench used to get horrible shoulder impingement but lowered my weights fixed my form and let my body do the lifting and not my ego and I have never been better have made tons of tricep and pec gains since fixing my issues

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Same here. I use to have a wide grip which put a lot of pressure on my shoulders even though I could bench more I knew it wasn't good for the long haul. Changed my grip and the pain in my shoulder went away. It's all about form [emoji5]


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[GTFORMULA]

Most people that hate flat bench either have previous injuries, bad form, or went too heavy too quick and created an injury in my experience.

 

[RickRock]

I have to agree with all that was said here about flat bench pressing. Like many, it was a favorite of mine for years and eventually I messed my shoulder up pretty bad about 18 months ago doing bench and I abandoned the movement completely since then. It was hard for me to forget it, since it was one of my more impressive and powerful exercises, being able to bench twice my weight and push up over 400 lbs at a body weight of 190.

However, I have noticed since then my growth and thickness in my chest take off doing a lot of DB movements, machines, Hammer strength, incline, etc.....and I also have absolutely no injuries or pain related to chest exercises anymore

Thanks for the post Drb!

 

[TIN MAN]

No flat bench or flys for me it also takes the pressure off my shoulders too

 

[DylanGemelli]

i definitely agree... i mix flat bench in once every month or so just to have different compound movements but i've been saying this for many years about flat bench.. it does far more harm than good... it can cause so many different issues and its something that is just not necessary... mixing in flat benches, hammer strength, cables etc. is where you will find the most muscle growth and also have the longevity in tendons and ligaments to ensure max potential is reached...

 

[TX TERROR]

I agree mostly but I do love to bench. Hell I'm still battling the remains of a shoulder injury from something else but was still able to rep 405 on incline a few times. It all goes into the warm up and the time put in to prep my body for the lifts. I think people forget how to bench and the proper approach to the bench press.

You can tell 99% of those who bench don't know wtf they are doing. Or how to warm up correctly. Don't roll out, don't stretch or do mobility work. Just straight to the bench like dumbasses lol.

I found for me what helped me survive the bench was the proper warm up and supporting lifts to add to my chest day.

Luckily no injury has really been from the bench press it's always from dumbbells. That being said I think I enjoy dumbbells more if you compare the lifts. I'd take a set of 200's for reps over a 1 rep of 500 on barbell bench.

I dont plan to truly compete powerlifting really though. I'd like to one day but just don't see it working out like I hope. That being said it's just not on my list of shit to do really.

Results wise dumbbells have always been more productive. I'm a big advocate for the thickness bench will bring. You just won't get that width and density like you do with bench using dumbbels. But for physique lifting dumbbels are always going to be more productive. Just think about the lift. Your have a bar wich limits your range vs to dumbbells wich allow you to contract the pecs together. It's a no brainer.


All I gotta say is be smart. Do it correctly and check your ego at the door. Bench has a place for a lot of people for sure but remeber just cause someone can lift one shity little rep doesn't mean it was done correctly or to any benifit.

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[GTFORMULA]

I agree mostly but I do love to bench. Hell I'm still battling the remains of a shoulder injury from something else but was still able to rep 405 on incline a few times. It all goes into the warm up and the time put in to prep my body for the lifts. I think people forget how to bench and the proper approach to the bench press.

You can tell 99% of those who bench don't know wtf they are doing. Or how to warm up correctly. Don't roll out, don't stretch or do mobility work. Just straight to the bench like dumbasses lol.

I found for me what helped me survive the bench was the proper warm up and supporting lifts to add to my chest day.

Luckily no injury has really been from the bench press it's always from dumbbells. That being said I think I enjoy dumbbells more if you compare the lifts. I'd take a set of 200's for reps over a 1 rep of 500 on barbell bench.

I dont plan to truly compete powerlifting really though. I'd like to one day but just don't see it working out like I hope. That being said it's just not on my list of shit to do really.

Results wise dumbbells have always been more productive. I'm a big advocate for the thickness bench will bring. You just won't get that width and density like you do with bench using dumbbels. But for physique lifting dumbbels are always going to be more productive. Just think about the lift. Your have a bar wich limits your range vs to dumbbells wich allow you to contract the pecs together. It's a no brainer.


All I gotta say is be smart. Do it correctly and check your ego at the door. Bench has a place for a lot of people for sure but remeber just cause someone can lift one shity little rep doesn't mean it was done correctly or to any benifit.

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I agree TX. Goes back to my comment on diversity. I see guys doing just bench or just dumbell and get nowhere. You have to mix it up to get good solid gains. I never hurt myself on barbell so I guess I just can't see how it is harder on joints than trying to heave up two dumbells into position to even start your lifts. When I do 125 pounds dumbells it takes all I got to pick them up, walk over, get them ready and get them up haha. All that is stressing my back and ankle the whole time. But I still do it cause its gotta be done.

 

[DylanGemelli]

you can do so many different movements with dumbells... single arm presses, alternating arm, overhead chest press with one dumbbell, arnold presses, close and wide grip with different movements etc... don't forget to mix in push ups every so often for both chest and triceps... some of the most simple movements provide the best results... TRX training for chest is another excellent source to train.. all the different cable movements, the many hammer strength options, the machines... if you ever have a lack of options or are doing the same thing over and over then you clearly have no concept on how to properly train...

 

[RickRock]

I agree TX. Goes back to my comment on diversity. I see guys doing just bench or just dumbell and get nowhere. You have to mix it up to get good solid gains. I never hurt myself on barbell so I guess I just can't see how it is harder on joints than trying to heave up two dumbells into position to even start your lifts. When I do 125 pounds dumbells it takes all I got to pick them up, walk over, get them ready and get them up haha. All that is stressing my back and ankle the whole time. But I still do it cause its gotta be done.

It's denfitely a bit more work with heavy Dumbbells to get them into position, but I really like Dumbbells for flat pressing. I had a hell of a time thickening my chest until I really started incorporating them a lot. I think a lot of it has to do with a combination of using the stabilizers, getting a better range of movement, and getting a squeeze at the top that can't be replicated with BB

 

[IronFox]

Most people that hate flat bench either have previous injuries, bad form, or went too heavy too quick and created an injury in my experience.

Been there done that myself as I tend to grip wide due to my rather long arms on my 5'8" body. Took a bit but found my sweet spot where I can bench with little pain with barbell. Dumbbell benching I love too but only bad thing is it's a bitch to get the heavy db's up into the air so I top out at 80lbs so I go for reps with that weight.

 

[Trenrage]

I agree with this as well but I still find flat bench effective. I find smith machine takes tension off my shoulders, so I go with that a lot

 

[Kman61]

I love your work DRB, I stopped bench presses many years ago. I call the BP a bragging rite that means little. DB and proper machine aided work seems to meet my needs.

 

[MarkD]

Great read and I agree 100%. Incline DB presses, cable flyes and pushups with straps have all made me stronger and increased size greatly. Ive had shoulder issues and flat benching only made them worse.

 

[Iwannagofaster]

Lately, I have been doing less than half of my max on the flat bench. Really fast motions and 20 reps per set. 5 sets. I have been more sore doing this than doing dumbell sets at almost max weight and my elbows and shoulders aren't hurting a bit. It's been a nice change up.

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[RickRock]

My only Hangup from doing dumbbell movements is that my current gym only has Dumbbells that go up to 110 lbs. our gym was renovated and before then we had heavy cast Dumbbells that went up to 130 lbs which was fine and what I used for flat pressing. Once the renovations were complete they got rid of the heavy cast Dumbbells and replaced them with rubber coated ones to protect their floor. Only problem is they only went to 110s...so now I'm doing some pretty high rep sets with them, and it would be nice to get some heavier ones

 

[GTFORMULA]

My only Hangup from doing dumbbell movements is that my current gym only has Dumbbells that go up to 110 lbs. our gym was renovated and before then we had heavy cast Dumbbells that went up to 130 lbs which was fine and what I used for flat pressing. Once the renovations were complete they got rid of the heavy cast Dumbbells and replaced them with rubber coated ones to protect their floor. Only problem is they only went to 110s...so now I'm doing some pretty high rep sets with them, and it would be nice to get some heavier ones

My gym goes to 125s. Which is OK for most stuff I do. However on flat I would like some 150s.