Dumbbell Bench Press (BETTER CHEST ACTIVATION!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 เม.ย. 2017
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The dumbbell bench press is one of the most classic chest exercises you can do to build a bigger chest. That said, it is not the chest alone that powers the dumbbells up on every rep. The shoulders and triceps are very much involved in assisting with the exercise as well. This can be a problem however when either one of these ancillary muscle groups starts to take over the movement and takes away from the contribution of the chest muscles.
In this video, I am going to show you how to influence the amount of work that is being done by the chest during the exercise with just a few simple tweaks to your hands. By simply adjusting the way that you hold the dumbbells and how you move your hands through space as you press the dumbbells, you can greatly impact the muscle group that takes on the brunt of the work during this popular chest building exercise.
In order to hit the chest more during the db bench press you are going to want to lead with your thumbs during the press. What does that mean? It means that as you press the dumbbells up over your chest you are going to want to tilt them ever so slightly so as your thumbs are pointing up towards the ceiling and your pinkies are tilting downward. This will have the effect of letting the inner half of the dumbbell raise higher than the outer half.
It is important to point out that you are going to want to do this from a position of your hands facing forward during the press, not towards each other. The reason why this alteration in the position of your hands has such a profound effect on the muscles in your chest is because of what it does to the upper arms when pressing.
By having your thumbs ride upwards as you press the dumbbells up, you are getting your biceps to get closer to each other during the ascent. This has the effect of increasing horizontal adduction at the shoulder which is a key component of chest activation. On the other side of this however is that fact that if you do the same exact movement with your thumbs but out of a neutral (or palms facing each other) grip, you would be doing the opposite of what you are trying to do. Here you would be activating your front deltoid muscle substantially more.
For most of us, this is the exact thing we are trying to avoid during the dumbbell bench press. If you feel most of the work being done by your shoulders during a bench press you will definitely want to avoid the neutral grip position as well as the changes and cheats to your wrist placement during the press.
Finally, if you have a bad shoulder and you feel too much pain in the joint during the bench press you can try the variation that I show here last. In this case you want to lead with your pinkies instead of your thumbs. This will take a lot of the strain off of the shoulder and shoulder capsule and instead let the triceps help out the chest to perform the movement. As I said, this is really useful if you don’t want to have to give up dumbbell bench pressing entirely because of shoulder pain.
If you found this tip helpful and wish you could train with a complete program that has these tips and more built into it to help you get much more out of your training, be sure to head to athleanx.com and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.
For more videos on how to get a bigger chest and the best home chest exercises for mass, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at / jdcav24 - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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i don't understand how Jeff still makes content he literally covered everything
I'd do the same
Think about it
If he make a drama bullshit would happen if not it's a big brain move he also admits that he isn't natural in hes old vods
Peter Paul Where does he say he’s not natural
@@jb8785 i was wrong
@@pauljr9151 Say sorry then bitch.
@@zoarmhirr2964 dang😂
He's like the strong version of Di'maria
you sir made me laugh at 7am in the morning
Yes, Di Maria is his cousin brother.
Omg I just realized Jeff looks like Di Maria 🤣
haha fideo!
roberto0612fcb s
This guys physique, is the product of his knowledge..
Rs Xnv lmfao
Knowledge of cycling. All that cycling worked wonders...
TeacherToolkitDemo hes not big though. And compared to actual non natty bodybuilder utubers he is not as strong.
Gebril Bastiaan So what? i know a lad that weighs 9.5st that takes steroids. Steroids don't make you 300lb. Large doses make you bigger. This guy would take 200-300mg a week.
+TeacherToolkitDemo Care to explain the basis of your claims?
I can finally feel the burn in my chest, just shows you don’t realise if you have bad form when you start out
3:07 disappearing dumbbell
Yeah, now we know the his dumbbells and weights are not real :]
@@DiskoKDiskoL Only the discs tho in some videos
And for his next trick he will make your gains disappear
Not really thoughh
Thanos of the BREAD thanks for clarifying
1:02 am I the only one who heard Jeff struggling to get back up 😂😂😂 "so uh-uh"
Flavio Luis lmao
Your ears are insane , but then again maybe you and headphones on
:)
LMMMAAOOOO
729mana actually I was just listening to it from my phone with no headphones
The variation of dumbbells is extremely useful for a small person like me th-cam.com/users/postUgkxP26Tir6n60vUkdtn4mbwhRO8cwuJQNy2 But the dumbbell size being large it's hard to do certain exercises like deadlift ( I have to have my hands and legs a bit wider to accommodate the size of the DB )Otherwise happy with the purchase. No excuse not to lift weight when it's snowing outside.
You're awesome Jeff, I was experimenting with different grips on chest press and couldnt figure out why I got a better burn. You the man.
Just did Chest today. Jeff is a fucking wizard
hala Madrid brother!
Daniel Rodríguez Sánchez me too lol that's what I did today the same exercise
Sam ethio that's y he it's the second best player in FIFA behind cr7?
Daniel Rodríguez Sánchez New Harry Potter series confirmed😱
Daniel Rodríguez Sánchez The gandalf if fitness
Fantastic insight. Have had an annoying pain in my left shoulder from pressing for months now. The leading with the pinky variation has helped drastically. Love the channel Jeff. Have seen far better gains since watching your vids.
Jeff you are so ripped and for your age that's just phenomenal
Headline Kid24 how old is he
ugotparred damn 😂
He's 41 😂
he's 40 trapped in a 20 year olds body
Dec Dominic Uy "Issa joke, brö"
I had a shoulder injury a few years ago I follow your videos and I can't express how thankful I am, thanks to all your lessons I've been able to work out again and get stronger every day I really like the change in your thumbnails they are more positive, thank you very much for all this effort you put in all of your videos.
I WAS LITERALLY JUST LOOKING UP WAYS TO SPICE UP MY CHEST DAY. JEFF HEARS MY MIND
you could always just sprinkle paprika around your asshole
see how much that helps
0047 paprika is too violent. I'm more of a fresh basil man.
- Kilo- same
- Kilo- Same
+- Kilo- same
Jeff:
*Trains for about 25 years, with highly focused methods and technique*
People who have trained for 2 years without changing their split:
...Must be TRT
I love how mechanical the explanation is. Very easy to understand for a non-pro lifter too. I came looking for proper form to do the bench press because I was having issues with shoulder pain. I not only got a good good form explaination but also a freaking alternative I can use to shift some of that strain to my triceps instead which is one of my strong muscles. This channel is amazing.
After years of struggling with chest exercises, i believe this advice is breaking me through to a new level. I put it into practice yesterday evening and wow, what a difference! Thank you, Jeff!!
How u look now
@@amongus-ci3pq I'd like to know too!
@@amongus-ci3pq Stopped lifting 5 years ago
@@SamCoreJ 💀💀
Yes let us know Nick!
THANK YOU JEFF!!!!
Just the video I have been needing to work around my sore shoulder that has been hindering my bench!
This made a huge difference for me over the course of two weeks. Thanks!
Cannot express enough how much your videos help me with my workout, man. Just wanted to say THANK YOU.
Of all the online trainers i've seen on youtube over the years, you sir, are the most knowledgeable. Great content, you cover so many points on your videos, as opposed to trainers who are all over the place and say the same things over and over. You're so concise and organized with your sharing of knowledge.
When I first found out about athlean x 6 years ago, I didn't realize it would change my life. Lol. Thanks Jeff. You didn't allow me to have any more excuses.
Hurt my shoulder bench pressing and by leading with the pinky and getting the triceps involved I'm putting up numbers I'm proud of. Thanks for spreading the knowledge!
Jeff, I don't understand why more people aren't following your channel. Yours, by far, is the most instructive and educational fitness channel on YT. I actually understand the whats, whys and hows of training. Mad props, sir! Mad props! Thank you and keep it up, please!
I love how you explain how the different exercises engage the muscles and alternate ways of doing them. This one dealing with the shoulder pain is useful to me as I tore my rotator cuff in my right shoulder years ago and it never did heal right--the result is a much weaker shoulder for me and it is sometimes painful during work outs or pain with numbness that radiates down the arm...maybe a video to help people like me with injuries that we still deal with years after the fact.
Great video man dropped the weight I was benching and switched to dumbells, already comfortably benching much more than I used to be able to with barbells.
It feels like Jeff knows what I am having trouble targeting and makes a video on it the same day.
I love your Videos. Trainning my englsih with descriptions below the video and practicing my ears while learning smthg about workout exercices.
So simply put, but yet so impactful. Thank you Jeff
Very helpful video Jeff. Inclined dumbbell press is my primary chest building movement, so this could make a big impact for me personally. I look forward to trying these techniques tomorrow!
3:05 he did those two off camera with his right arm to avoid muscle imbalance
Jeff you make it all make sense,(i have shoulder pains) and you have helped me alot in all your videos, thanks dude. From an over 40's
Thanks for the video dude !! I can't tell you how many times I'm doing bench presses and my triceps take over
Superb as always. Greetings from New Zealand 👍🏻
Why dumbbells are safer and superior to barbells for developing your best chest while bench pressing.
When your hands are fixed on a barbell while bench pressing there is a greater amount of shearing force on the shoulder joint as opposed to dumbbell bench pressing.
Another advantage to dumbbells while bench pressing is the additional range of motion. With dumbbells, you can bring your hands together increasing the pectoral contraction and range of motion.
Mike Cola Also you can't favor an arm when using dumbells🤘
Mike Cola Exactly. Bench press is just "trendy"
Charlie.S Umm no bench press has been around for more than a century. It's definitely not a trend.
Nima Sadeghi Ok wrong word then. I'm not saying the bench is trash even I do it but it is definitely overrated
Charlie.S Yeah it's definitely not required for someone to get a good physique
Thanks man! I was looking for new variations and isolation for my dumbbell press.
Everything I have ever taken from your videos has only improved my performance and results. Another great video Ty😎
Been following your videos and have made huge improvements in my form and muscle tone. Thank you for providing so much quality information!
This is the best channel on you tube for weight lifting exercises bar none!
lol, haven't you heard of Mark Rippetoe and Alan Thall.
Mark DP BAR none😏😏😏interesting choice of word😏😏😏🙂🙂🙂I like.
Mark DP before you workout you have to learn grammar
William Alder Where was the grammar mistake?
This was helpful and certainly gives me a new variety of presses to try out to activate new areas.
Thank You!
Great advice as usual Jeff. It took me almost a year to learn how to do bench press with dumbbels properly. Nowadays I do isolation excersise first to pre exhaust the muscles then I switch to dumbbell presses with lighter weights, and it feels awesome and my chest is growing like hell.
After watching his videos I have started getting way better results from workouts
Thanks !
chest and triceps tmrw, can't wait to try this! doing dumbell chest presses last chest day I remember thinking I wasn't feeling it enough in my chest, looks like Jeff's got me covered! I don't know how he always posts videos addressing things right when I need to know them! best workout content on TH-cam, hands down! thank you Mr. Cavaliere!! you're the man, much love!
Another awesome period of instruction. Thank you Jeff!
this is my main resource for proper work out information, thanks much appreciated
All the thumbs down for this video are from competitors. Straight up
From Cape Town South Africa it's 5:51a.m here, and its gym time!😄😊
Hell yeah buddy get them big boy gains 💪💪😎
South Africans ftw
Thanks. This is helpful. Will try it on my next gym visit
Every video is something amazing learned, thank you jeff!
Jeff sir please make a video on osteoarthritis and mid back pain its for my mom
plz do a video on arm wrestling.
how to do it safely.
what muscles are used in the process and how to get stronger in it.
thanks for everything
thanks for the info! will give this a try, great vid as usual!
this is great. I struggle with shoulder pain on barbell bench from a previous injury years ago so I do a lot of dumbbell presses for chest. this technique to activate the chest more on this exercise is most definitely something I will try.
Hey Jeff, the cheat sheet video is not linked, great job btw.
Yo why are you scrolling watch the video! lmao
lmaooo
🤣🤣🧐
TheAllstar51 ok nigga damn 😂
Watch on your phone, you can scroll AND watch 🤯🤯
Mista Beck I was doing that but felt attacked when I read the comment 😂
That's really in-depth! Thank you!
Amazing! Thanks for another great workout video Jeff!
He has better body then 90% of steroid user and he is natural
Yep
Bruno Lima he is for sure natural, but i don’t think his physique is better than users
And he is 43
Loser .
Master Chief Probably on TRT
When you're about to head to the gym for a chest/tris workout but check Jeff's channel before you leave 👌👌
Did dumbbell chest today with Jeff's video. Awesome ideas.
Great information! I absolutely learned some good stuff watching this. I subscribed just out how much info I received. Looking forward to improving my body and health. Thanks!
Can u do a video on stretches and workouts to deal with knee pain
Craig Burns he has
Jeff I know this a lot to ask but could you possibly look into making a mainly strength-focused or power-focused program with that same athlean-x flair. I really want to increase all my lifts and I want to learn from the best. And I'm loving the results I'm getting from the other programs so I can only imagine how much stronger or more powerful this program could make many people. It'd be awesome if you'd consider this
Ryan curry yeah that'd be cool
Ryan curry Have you looked at the NXT programs? Anabolix, the first month of NXT sounds like what you are looking for.
adamx20 what's it like cause I know the tag line is like "whoever said we don't lift heavy in athlean x hasn't tried this" or whatever. It sounds pretty interesting. I'd have to work my way up to it though don't know if I'd be able to handle it quite yet
Ryan curry It's awesome. I've been repeating it with a 2:1 weeks strength:hypertrophy split for a couple months, and I plan on do that for a couple more.
Ryan curry Jeff made a program called inferno Max Size witch targets what you are looking for check out athleanx.com
Jeff, I love your vids! To me, there's no better fitness and sports channel out there. The vids where you go all academic while showing the exercises are just what works best for me. Great stuff!
Can you maybe post a video, how to best work with a gym ball at home, e.g. dumbell bench press done correctly etc., and what the biggest mistakes would be?
Thanks for being a great motivator and more importantly a great PT!
SUPER helpful tip on the thumb lead!
Coming in to watch any of his video, I prepare myself to lose that exercise from my routine, coz im sure he will say...you are doing it wrong !
1:02 - that echo "so..o..wha.. wha.." lol
really interesting! I'm going to give it a try. Keep it up with the amazing videos. I like them all
Amazing amazing.......And the small detail u told about the clients who have shoulder injury or pain..is owss...loved that....
Perfect timing cuz I got push day tomorrow!!!! Let's gooooo
Brandon Wasabi same here!
Brandon Wasabi how’d it go
@@ewok4951 still waiting one year later...
@@icantmemorize7703 I was just tryna see how the progress was
This guy knows what he's talking about.. genius.. and the fact that he has a better physique at 50 years of age than many men in the 20's is ever more remarkable.
he was 42-43 at the time of this video
I like ur vids never to long and boring bang on advice put across well.props to u mate
@1:18 He actually shows the form he is trying to teach. Everything else he demonstrates is what he wants you to avoid. I hope this notation helps others as much as it helps me while im lifting.
Jesus yes thank you
1:03 what noise was that?
Any type of PRESS motion I do, I usually feel it in my front delts. I've tried tucking in at the back when I do a bench press etc, But when ever I do chest day, it feels as if I'm just not activating the right muscles. Sure I get the sore muscles in the chest area the next morning or so, But my shoulders usually also feel sore from those exercises, if not more than the rest. Why would this be? IS it because all the muscles in that chest and shoulder area is connected? I feel as if I'm stuck at 165lb... As if my shoulders are holding me back in getting that new muscle activation.
Probably working chest & shoulder. I a newbie & if your shoulders are sore I guess that's a good thing. Measure your chest or if your getting stronger I wouldn't worry.
Hey Jeff, thanks for the additional explanation in the description of the video. That helped me better understand what you meant by "neutral grip."
Always great information. Keep up the good work!
does it matter if you set the bench to an incline or keep it flat?
it matters a little bit since you can actually use the bench press type of position mainly in the flat setting with your back and legs forming a solid base for lifting and therefore lift heavier weights. Incline on the other hand allows you a wider variety of positions from which to lift the dumbbell/barbell and therefore you can more effectively target the upper chest for example which is not really possible on a flat bench.
95% of us doing this for our chest
The other 5%: 😐😑
Always insightful Jeff... keep up the good work
Thanks man, instantly noticed a difference!
To reduce front deltoid activation, I find implementing a wider grip while retracting the shoulders is great. With a caveat being not to extend the humerus below the plane of the thorax. There will be tricep activation, but if you protract the chest out while packing the scapulae in, that will be limited. I disagree with any mechanical manipulation of the wrist while training with dumbbells. This will lead to biomechanical instability and potential injury. Best, and safest adduction exercise for the chest is cable crossovers. Be safe.
I can't do a single pullup, do you guys know any weight lifting exercises to strengthen the main muscles to preform the pullup?
Lat pull downs..heavy
I actually don't have access to a pull machine, just started to lift 3 weeks ago at home with my 2 pairs of dumbells and benchpress setup, till that weight gets light then i'm gonna get a gym membership. Thanks man but do you know of any with the barbell or dumbells?
Go get a resistance band and loop it around your pull up spot and do the pull up while standing on the resistance band, this way you have a little help and further use of this will help you do a pull up. I've done this with chin ups before and now I can do 10 chin ups in a row, use to be only 3 lol
Last Emperor4Life I'll swear by negative pullups. I've always had trouble with pullups no matter what I tried, but those worked for me.
get a buddy to push you up towards the bar but still make you work in the motion of the pull up, they should give as little assistance as possible for each rep to make sure you are really working and doesn't into a shoulder press for them.
Such an eye-opening explanation! Thanks
Thanks for another solid video Jeff. Whenever I DB Bench press my front delts are always doing most of the work, and I'm trying to build my triceps, so the second variation is one I'm excited to try.
Can someone tell me how I'm suppose to feel if I'm doing this right
your wrists start to shatter
@@justinmorris9412 ah thanks
To all those in the comments saying u can hurt yourself with the wrist thing use lighter weights get used too it and then add more weights
Then u will see the diff of result simple ..
You are a great teacher.
That is one of the best tips for chest! Thanks Jeff!!
should pull ups lock out elbows on down motion?
Jonh wikcer I have the same question.
My question is slightly off topic but the Athlean X community is quite knowledgeable and always thristy for more!
yes
Jonh wikcer Yes, that is more range of motion and will yield better gains.
Jonh wikcer yes pull from dead hang is harder
Jeff Cavalier: Bill Nye of Gains
Another great video. Would love to see a whole series like this...
Killer video! just fixed one of my biggest chest training problems keep up the awesome work jefd
hey Jeff, I'm trying to find workouts that Target or help burn some of that arm fat by the armpit bicep area. I've looked at a lot of your bicep workouts and I'm going to try using the tips you've posted but I was just curious to see if there was a way to speed up the process around that area of the arm.
there's no such thing as targetting fat loss for specific body parts. Doing bicep curls will help build the muscle, sure, but won't speed up or focus on fat loss in that area. If you want to speed up fat loss, do his intensive cardio workouts. He's got plenty of them on youtube :)
John Nahle thanks man. I'll start looking those up them. I've been following his tips on a lot of workouts and I've noticed the difference than before I did them. so I'm gonna dig for the videos of cardio he has.
Jason Garcia
you can't target fat loss in an area... This such a common idea it is called spot training, so don't feel bad. Look up pictures of fat cells and pictures of muscle cells they aren't the same, nor can you convert one to the other. Believe it or not training legs will help lose the weight there, because the legs are the biggest muscles and will consume the most in repair. But also important you cant out train a bad diet or meal plan.
Jason Garcia Lol you can not burn fat where ever you want hahahaha Bicep workouts are never ever going to burn fat in the arm area lol
Hshsjqvs You don't need to be a jerk about it.. :/
Not first
The Game Chasers I feel you, but I mean not literally, I don't like touching men, wait I take that back cause I touch myself.
Trollis Great delete your comment
EdgEOf_DaRkNeSS but why😢
Trollis Great 😢 don't make me cry as well
EdgEOf_DaRkNeSS I'm crying bro cry with me 🙏🙏😢😢
Thank you Jeff !! I'm a beginner and did the incline bench, I only felt it in the shoulders and I did the neutral grip mistake, now I know that my elbows have to be away from my body.
I learn so much from your videos. Mainly why i bought a subscription. Thanks so much!
quite risky to injure your wrist though...just my thoughts
I was thinking "Damn, how am i gonna do it with heavy set??"
maybe if you do the exercise like this you don't need to go that heavy. Not bitch weight but not super heavy either
Kryss Estrada it's common sense here. He means this in terms of using lighter weight and higher reps. Feeling the contraction of the muscle.
yeah, i got a little hurt in my wrist using normal hand position, i think it's gonna be hard for my wrist to apply these techniques
I've had quite a few minor injuries from past workouts but a wrist injury wasn't one of them, you'll be fine.
So ironic this video came on one of the 3 best fitness/muscle channels bc o just watched a video today from the channel named V shred telling how the bench press is actually the worst exercise for building a bigger chest. ....I just really couldn't pay much attention to the info the guy was giving. I trust Jeff much more!
Lori Gardner yea vshred (Vincent) is a dumbass I hate him lol
Ian Smith Smith Yeah he acts like a know-it-all jackass who's preoccupied with his own self
V Shred is right. The traditional bench press with a barbell is the worst for building a big chest. Incline dumbbell press like Jeff is showing or standard dumbbell press are way better.
Mr XTC Each have their purposes. Barbell is great for packing on weight and for easily controlling that heavy eccentric eccentric, not that great for peak contraction. Dumbells is better for peak contraction and working those stability muscles, not that great for going heavy. Worst and best depend on your goal.
I'm no so sure. Since stopping doing bench press over a year ago and only doing incline, flat and flies with dumbbells only my chest has just blown up.
thanks for the knowledge 😀
This was the ONE video I’ve been looking for proper positioning.