For the past two weeks I have been using dumbbells for bench and inclined bench because I don't have access to a gym where I am. I have made some gains and I am wondering if these will translate to my bench press.
Does using two dumbbells of half the weight, say 50 pounds per hand count as a 100lb bench press?
Will my bench go up as I have seen with the dumbbells?
Thanks for your responses.
Posted Aug 4, 2017, 2:40 AM UTC
Your barbell bench will improve but not at the same rate as your dumbbells because they are similar but different movements.
The barbell to dumbbell is not a 2:1 ratio, I'd play around with it a little bit.
No. They're two different movements. There will be some translation but not a 100%.
Thanks. I'll start low and work my way up when I get back to benching a barbell.
OHP will help your bb bench more than db bench
is this based off your own personal experience?
Yes, but I received this advice from someone else on this sub.
Only if your anterior delts are limiting your bench more severely than your pecs. Train your weaknesses.
I used to only do db bench. When I swapped to bb I started at about 80% of my combined db weights and was at 100% within 3 weeks.
Now it is around 120%, which I think is some sort of vague generalisation of normal, but really they are two different things. There is some correlation but it depends a lot on which you do more of.
You should be able to bench lots more than double your DB press. Give it a month to adjust to the exercise and form and you should be able to get at least a plate on bench (135). This is just me speaking, but it's closer to triple a DB, (50DB and 150Bench), just based on what I lift, but everyone is different and I don't do DB press as much.
What are you considering to be a 50 db press? Two 25lb dumbbells?
50lb dumbbells
I used to only dumbbell bench and when I switched to barbel I was actually weaker than I anticipated because my form was so shitty.
After getting used to the barbell motion you should be able to do a bit more than your dumbbell total because it doesn't require as much stability. Also, it tends to recruit your arms a bit more than DB, which in my experience really isolated the chest.
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