If I switch from BB Benching to DB Benching...

[fixationdarknes]

and then do that for a couple of months, then go back to BB, will my BB Bench be stronger or weaker? I know I will get stronger, but since BB and DB are different, would I have to get used to the BB again for a few weeks and then my bench will show the progress?

[SW]

Could go either way. If your pecs were lacking, and you kept up an auxiliary tri exercise i.e. skulls, then probably after about a week of starting back up you would see better gains.

On the other hand, it may just not ****ing work.

If your gains are teh suckage right now, give it a shot and report back

[PowerManDL]

Why would you neglect technique on an exercise you want to improve?

[fixationdarknes]

Yeah, my Bench gains are crappy right now (been stuck for about 5 weeks), so I may as well give it a shot and switch to DBs.

Powerman- Actually, I've realized that I don't even care about how much I BB Bench. I just want to get stronger...either DBs or BB, it doesn't really matter to me. I just wanna see some gains again!...Haven't seen those with bench in a while.

[HahnB]

Most likely going to get weaker.

[PowerManDL]

Honestly I think I'd be more worried about what I was eating than what exercises I was doing.

[dw06wu]

I did exactly what you are talking about and my bb dropped 5lbs when I came back. Hopefully this week it will be back up to speed.

[fixationdarknes]

How would benching with DBs make me weaker? I thought I've heard so many people say that DB Benching owns...

[bIgHwN86]

that worked for THEM....all i can really say is

If your gains are teh suckage right now, give it a shot and report back

try stuff out...

[PowerManDL]

You people think too much.

[jack_of_all]

heres why they got weaker, when moving two seperate objects you need ALOT more stabalizing from smaller muscles. this makes the lift in general smaller and makes the stronger muscles less worked which leads to a lower bb bench. i think however that alternating between workouts would probably at least work as good, but imho better.

[fixationdarknes]

Alright, I might as well try the DBs I don't have much to lose, since I'm kind of stuck at 105 lbs. on BB. So, what do you guys think is a good weight to try out with DBs?

[dw06wu]

I think mine went down because I haven't been consuming enough protein lately. Slackerrrrr. I agree with PowerMan, you guys worry too much about little stuff.

[Canadian Crippler]

I was doing 8x125 last June. Used DBs until september/october, then first day back I did 7x135. Moved up every week 5lbs or so, since I was still getting used to the exercise. I would say I gained about 20-30lbs on my bench in that summer, without even benching.

Not saying you will see similar results however.

[KingJustin]

If you're benching a 105 lb BB right now then switching might help, but you could probably see better gains if you stuck to benching the barbell. What does your current routine look like? Do you feel over/undertrained?

For most trained individuals, changing from BB bench to DB bench for a notable period of time may help add some mass to the chest, but it will probably also result in a significant decline in one's ability to bench press. Chris Mason talked about a time where he was benching 350 for reps, switched to DB bench for a few months, made great gains, switched back and had a really hard time getting it up (some minor details may be off in this story).

[fixationdarknes]

If you're benching a 105 lb BB right now then switching might help, but you could probably see better gains if you stuck to benching the barbell. What does your current routine look like? Do you feel over/undertrained?

For most trained individuals, changing from BB bench to DB bench for a notable period of time may help add some mass to the chest, but it will probably also result in a significant decline in one's ability to bench press. Chris Mason talked about a time where he was benching 350 for reps, switched to DB bench for a few months, made great gains, switched back and had a really hard time getting it up (some minor details may be off in this story).

I don't feel over or under trained. I'm trying to eat as much as I can, and am trying my hardest to get past the minor plateau I am stuck on.

Here's my Chest/Delt/Tri day:

BB Bench Press
DB Chest Fly
Arnold Press
CG BB Bench Press <--switching that out for Dips

It's kind of short, but I only have 25-30 minutes at the most to complete all my sets (I work out at school).

[Beast]

If you stick with DBs for a while, your BB bench will go down a lot once you switch back... you'll have to get used to the motion again.

[KingJustin]

How many sets/reps per exercise? How close to failure are you going? Do you do this only once a week?

This all in mind, I think people somewhat new to the iron game do much better with a twice a week routine than a once a week. You can recover fully from benching 105 in a couple of days, you don't need to wait a week.

[JSully]

You people think too much.

:withstupi

Do Flat BB Bench and Incline DB Bench on the same day along with some flyes or cable crossovers.

On your next chest day, do Incline BB Bench, and Flat DB Bench along with some flyes or cable crossovers.

That's 3 exercises, do 5 working sets per exercise, of anywhere from 6-10 reps, and make sure you're getting enough food, and you will see gains..

2 weeks later and you still see no gains, eat more.

[mrelwooddowd]

I can totally smoke my old barbell best. I never did more than 5 reps of 135 barbell in my life, and wasn't even at that point when I started working out in September. I've done dumbells exclusively since about October (had a machine before that), and in January, I had my brother hand me the 135 barbell over my dumbell bench to see what I could do with it. I had over ten reps with little effort before he made me laugh and I had to give it back to him. I would have to say that although I didn't have a set barbell 1rm before starting, my barbell bench has increased quite a bit. I'm expecting to do nearly 200 when I get my power rack i a few weeks.

[mrelwooddowd]

heres why they got weaker, when moving two seperate objects you need ALOT more stabalizing from smaller muscles. this makes the lift in general smaller and makes the stronger muscles less worked which leads to a lower bb bench. i think however that alternating between workouts would probably at least work as good, but imho better.

I wouldn't call this entirely accurate, as the main muscles involved in a bench press still have the same movement to do. A 1rm (or 60% of it) will still be established with the dumbells, allowing for hypertrophy. Making the stabilizers stronger with dumbells should improve the barbell bench simply for the fact that you'll have more control and less fatigue of those same stabilizers at previous bests...provided the muscles have had time to get the memory of the movement back.

But..it's gonna affect everyone differently, and they are very different ways to bench, which will result in gains and losses in places you don't realize by doing one movement solely.

[mrelwooddowd]

You can recover fully from benching 105 in a couple of days, you don't need to wait a week.

Not if his max is 105, or even close to that..that's heavy for him, just like mine is heavy for me. I'm not gonna do chest twice a week.

[fixationdarknes]

Not if his max is 105, or even close to that..that's heavy for him, just like mine is heavy for me. I'm not gonna do chest twice a week.

That's my rep weight, but yeah that's a good heavy weight for me to do sets with. I've never tried my max.

So, from what most of you have said, I'll probably just rotate between workouts. And btw, LittleJake, if I do what you said, shouldn't I still do Arnold Press for my delts? And are my tri's getting enough work?

[KingJustin]

Not if his max is 105, or even close to that..that's heavy for him, just like mine is heavy for me. I'm not gonna do chest twice a week.

I am assuming his max is very near 105. Still, as some of the more advanced guys like Chris Mason will tell you, when you are first starting out you can recover significantly faster than when you are advanced. You simply recover faster from using a weight like 105, even if it is close to your max, than a weight like 405 ...

[body]

I am assuming his max is very near 105. Still, as some of the more advanced guys like Chris Mason will tell you, when you are first starting out you can recover significantly faster than when you are advanced. You simply recover faster from using a weight like 105, even if it is close to your max, than a weight like 405 ...

it not that simple. If hes really weak and his full potential if he trained to his very best may be say 140 pounds. while some one is benching like 405 pounds and his name is eg ryan kelly. He will be alot further away from his full potential so can get away with less rest.

its all relative to waht he is capable and how he trians.