Flat
Bench Press - Dumbbell
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1: Front view
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2: Side view
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3: Limited
range of motion to protect the shoulder
CORRECT
FORM
1) Have someone
hand the two dumbbells to you while you are lying down. You can also
start by sitting with the dumbbells on each knee. You would then lean
back with the dumbbells close to your chest and land on your back
in the bench-press position. Have someone spot you while you do this.
2) Push the
dumbbells upward to the point where your elbows are straight, but
not locked completely.
3) Lower the
dumbbells to the level of your chest.
The elbows should
be at 90 degrees midway through the movement.
 4)
At the bottom of the press, your arms should not fall more than
15-25 degrees beyond the level of the bench.
Going beyond
this range puts undue stress on the anterior capsule of the shoulder.
5) Inhale as
you lower. Exhale as you raise the weight.
6) Touching
the dumbbells together at the top of the movement only allows the
pectoralis muscles to rest some, UNLESS you actively contract the
muscles when you touch the dumbbells together. This will increase
the amount of muscle recruitment at the inner portion of the pecs.
Do this by squeezing/contracting the pecs and tightening the muscle
at the top of the motion. Doing this turns this into somewhat of
a dumbbell pec fly exercise.
MUSCLES
USED
SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
Watch your lower
back. Do not attempt to lift heavy weights off of the ground. Have
someone hand the dumbbells to you if you are using a large amount
of weight. If you have shoulder pain with the movement, try limiting
the amount of motion during the lift to avoid excessive strain
on the front of the shoulder, which is very common during a bench
press of any kind.
EFFECTIVENESS
This is an excellent
exercise for development of the upper, middle and lower pectoralis
muscles. It is superior to a barbell
bench press in one way because you now have to control each arm
separately. This means that the pectoral muscles not only have to
lift the weight (strength), but also have the added work of balancing
the movement (balance and control). This adds up to more work to the
pectoral muscles. If you do a lot of barbell bench presses, this is
a nice exercise to break up the monotony.
HELPFUL
WITH TRAINING FOR
Football, Basketball,
Baseball, Tennis, Raquetball, Bodybuilding, Power lifting, Martial
arts, Boxing. |
