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Critique my Dumbbell Bench

T

TheJabroniLifter

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Hey everyone, these are some vids from today's lifting session. As you can see I lifted in my garage with my Ironmaster DBs (I usually go to the gym, but decided to film myself today and so lifted at home).

Basically I'd like you guys to critique and evaluate my lift (both vids), and tell me how my form and ROM are and anything I should improve. Thanks

My first set with the 120 lbs dumbbells:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-8pHYBJ1LI&feature=channel_video_title

Set to failure with 100s (after 2 heavy sets with 120s):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNY-PxurHHY&feature=channel_video_title

Sorry, don't know how to embed...
 
Last edited:
You seem to be leaning to the left, and right arm makes it closer to lockout. Perhaps a bit of an imbalance. I'll leave it to the pros to critique form, I didn't see anything obviously wrong.
 
ThreeGigs said:
You seem to be leaning to the left, and right arm makes it closer to lockout. Perhaps a bit of an imbalance. I'll leave it to the pros to critique form, I didn't see anything obviously wrong.
Click to expand...

First off, thank you for your input.
Regarding the leaning to the left part, I just noticed that as well watching the video. It might be due to the angle the camera was at (it wasn't on a completely flat surface) but it might also be due to an imbalance. Not sure.
 
KILLEROFSAINTS said:
Smallest 120s of any type i have ever seen....lol at taking 36 seconds before you start the lift
Click to expand...

Those are Ironmaster DBs, Lee Priest uses them as well so you can be sure they arent just some cheap weights. And believe me they are at 120 lbs there, any Ironmaster owner will know that. As for taking 36 seconds, I, and most lifters I know take a little time before a heavy lift to psych up. And anyway, if you aren't going to contribute to the thread or offer constructive criticism why even bother posting? I don't mean to be rude, but seriously...
 
Don't worry, he's just jelous and has nothing good to say. Probably was trying to be funny but failed...

OP, the only thing I would suggest is try to keep your head fixed on the bench. I cringe every time I see somebody's head lift off and thinking about the strain thats going on. Maybe not rely on momentum to much to get the initial press motion started. But these things are being extremely nit picky. Other then that, keep kicking those 120 lb DB asses bro!

Side note, I thought you were going to smack your head on the way back up!
 
Looked pretty good, personally I like to keep my arms a bit closer to the body to limit rotation on the shoulder.

Strong lift.
 
Ezskanken said:
Don't worry, he's just jelous and has nothing good to say. Probably was trying to be funny but failed...

OP, the only thing I would suggest is try to keep your head fixed on the bench. I cringe every time I see somebody's head lift off and thinking about the strain thats going on. Maybe not rely on momentum to much to get the initial press motion started. But these things are being extremely nit picky. Other then that, keep kicking those 120 lb DB asses bro!

Side note, I thought you were going to smack your head on the way back up!
Click to expand...

fufu said:
Looked pretty good, personally I like to keep my arms a bit closer to the body to limit rotation on the shoulder.

Strong lift.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys, I'll keep your advice in mind. Regarding the head lifting off the bench, I do that without even noticing it, but I'll try to fix it.
 
I also can't tell exactly from the video, but it looks like you may be able to get some more leg drive into the lift.
 
Form looks pretty good to me.
Your right arm appears to handle
the weight more comfortably than the left
indicating that you must be right handed.
 
DFINEST said:
Form looks pretty good to me.
Your right arm appears to handle
the weight more comfortably than the left
indicating that you must be right handed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. Yes, I'm right handed haha.

Also I've been stuck at 120s for 5-7 reps for a while now. Anyone have any ideas on how to break through this plateau? I was thinking of switching to Incline DB Press
 
here's my tip.

You shouldn't press the dumbbells that close to lockout. You want to keep constant tension on the chest. Going that high takes tension off the chest and puts it on the triceps and elbows.

I've never understood the point of touching the bells at the top. Some people may argue it hits the inner chest, but that's what flyes are for. Look at Branch Warren for instance, I wouldn't copy his training style completely, as I'd probably tear a muscle or ten lol, but he keeps constant tension on the pecs when benching and has one of, if not the thickest chest on the pro circuit.
 
And change never hurts. I switch between barbell and dumbbell almost every session. I also switch up the first lift all the time. Sometimes I start with incline, sometimes flat.
 
Probably was trying to be funny but failed...
22.gif

 
bigbenj said:
here's my tip.

You shouldn't press the dumbbells that close to lockout. You want to keep constant tension on the chest. Going that high takes tension off the chest and puts it on the triceps and elbows.

I've never understood the point of touching the bells at the top. Some people may argue it hits the inner chest, but that's what flyes are for. Look at Branch Warren for instance, I wouldn't copy his training style completely, as I'd probably tear a muscle or ten lol, but he keeps constant tension on the pecs when benching and has one of, if not the thickest chest on the pro circuit.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your tip, that seems like great advice. I sometimes mix in lighter sets where I don't go all the way up and lock out.
 
I like to changes reps too, to shock the body. Drop sets are also good for that.

Also, you should try an incline only chest day. A lot of people lack a dense upper chest, so their chest looks droopy. I just did an incline only day of incline barbell, incline hammer strength, and incline flyes. My chest was toast.
 
bigbenj said:
I like to changes reps too, to shock the body. Drop sets are also good for that.

Also, you should try an incline only chest day. A lot of people lack a dense upper chest, so their chest looks droopy. I just did an incline only day of incline barbell, incline hammer strength, and incline flyes. My chest was toast.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I also prefer INcline DB Press over flat. It seems to work my chest more. Also many people think it's easier to only do half-reps (going all the way down but not all the way up, locking out), but I feel like it's actually harder and you have to lower the weight. Must be the constant tension on the chest that makes it harder.
 
i do about 3/4-4/5 of each rep. definitely not the kind to bounce it off the chest 4" and call that a set.
 
On dbell benches I would slow down on the negative and then explode on the positive
 
bdeljoose said:
On dbell benches I would slow down on the negative and then explode on the positive
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. So you think I'm not going slow enough on the negative specifically in these videos, or do you mean in a general context? In any case I'll try to slow down a bit on my negatives.
 
bigbenj....your comments are so close to bodybuilding myth, I'm going to reply respectably though. I'm not trying to flame you of course, but my views on the subject differ greatly.

I don't know why it is touted that you have to keep tension on the pecs. Normally it's just an excuse people use for not going down all the way. If you want to keep tension, just do isometric holds. If you want full muscular development, you should stick to full ROM. Sure, the triceps help more with lockout than any other part of the lift, but why would you want to limit that? The OP wants to get stronger at DB benching so he shouldn't cut the ROM on his main lift. Sure you can do abbreviated ROM on accessory lifts, but I would still rely on full range pressing to improve.

The fibers of the pec major run horizontally across the rib cage. There is already enough ambiguity between upper and lower pec, let's not even bring in "inner" and "outer". There is no such thing. A muscle fiber can only contract or not. You cannot specify which end you want it to contract from.

Even if you were on as much sauce as Branch Warren, I'd say don't even attempt to train like him. It's amazing he isn't a paraplegic. I bet he has chronic pain all over.

Inclines can help improve your bench, but like I mentioned, triceps really help with your pressing strength. I'd try declines, dips, close grip benches. Any one of those will add mass and strength to your triceps which will directly increase your bench.
 
simply put, he asked people to critique his form on benching. youre going off on a whole nother' tangent about accessory lifts, tricep exercises, etc, etc. He didnt ask about that, he asked about his form on bench. and the only reason I commented on doing inclines was for the purpose of building a well developed chest.

why would you want to lockout on every rep? that puts unnecessary stress on the elbows. and no, I dont use that as an excuse to not go all the way down. I go down to my chest on every rep, I just dont bring my arms all the way up to lockout. if you want to say constant tension is an excuse, Ill say locking out is just an excuse to catch a quick break before the next rep.

whats the point of locking out? to build your triceps??? thats what tricep exercises are for(as you somewhat eluded to). I think we agree on somethings, and disagree on other. Ill just leave it at that.
 
I would suggest to use a full ROM, and I'm not saying you need to ballisitically extend your elbows into an end range of motion every rep.

The argument of "unnecessary stress on the elbow" is one I don't agree with, unless of course you are jamming out your elbow as hard as you can. Strength training is an unnecessary stress, we don't need to do it. We do it for several reasons...performance, general functionality, aesthetics, health, etc. Weight training comes with an inherent risk of injury. But until someone presents me with evidence that using a full ROM on a press is going to encourage a degenerative process on the elbow joint, I'll say keep doing it.

I don't quite understand the argument for avoiding stress on the triceps either, why would you want to have weak triceps? The triceps are involved with the basic human motion of pressing, and purposely neglecting them by stifling a full ROM is silly to me. Yes, I see that staying within a bottom 2/3 ROM on the bench press will allow for steady tension on the pecs, but whether or not that is necessary for optimal hypertrophy is another story. Using a pro BB training technique isn't really a good example, because they are 1.) genetic freaks, 2.) training and eating for a job and 3.) are on loads of drugs. Mimicking pro BB training isn't always going to work for the average person.

If you don't use full ROM, you won't be strong through a full ROM. So this really all depends on what the OP is looking for, strength/function or size. Obviously you'll get both from either BB or PL type training, but in terms of optimizing your training for strength & function, I'd totally encourage full ROM. To finish up, the elbow joint will not stabilize through bony approximation (bone on bone) with a reasonable elbow extension as long as the muscles of the forearm, upper arm and torso stay within a significant contraction, which of course they will if you are lifting heavy weight & not in extreme levels of muscle fatigue.
 
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