| Aloha and Welcome to Week 10 of Fitness-Tip Friday! |
| Tip of the Week: 4 Reasons Why Dumbbell Bench Press is BETTER Than Barbell Bench Press! 1.Dumbbells have much higher stability requirements through every phase of the bench press motion, giving you a better workout on all the stabilizing & synergistic muscles (clavicular and costal heads of pectoralis major [“upper” & “lower” chest], pectoralis minor, both biceps heads, anterior deltoid, and serratus anterior). 2.Dumbbells have much greater versatility, giving you the ability to alter the press type and angles of resistanceinstantly – even mid-rep – changing how the target muscles are worked without having to pause and re-adjust (i.e. wide press vs narrow press… pronated vs neutral vs supinated grip… etc.), and even facilitating variations that aren’t even possible with a barbell! (i.e. the rotating / twisting press, the squeeze press, etc) 3.Dumbbells provide freedom of rotation in the wrists and shoulders, making you much less susceptible to injury as a result of bench pressing. 4. Dumbbells give you the ability to perform the bench press unilaterally, which opens the door to dozens of benefits that only come from unilateral exercises. (Refer back to FTF Week 4 for more on unilateral training! If you subscribed after Week 4, just reply saying so and I’ll forward it to you ) Caveat: I’m NOT saying that you shoulder never do barbell bench press… as always, variety is key and the barbell press has its place. For example, it’s better at targeting the triceps than the dumbell press. What I AM saying is that if you had to choose between the two… the dumbell press is better!Related Dr. Gains YouTube Videos: 1) BEFORE YOU BENCH PRESS, Understand the Anatomy Behind it! (Incline, Decline, Close Grip, Wide, Form) 2) By popular demand – the free weight & bodyweight alternatives to the Inner Chest Squeeze Press! (shows the dumbbell “squeeze press” variation mentioned above) Relevant Research Articles: 1)Maximal Strength Performance and Muscle Activation for the Bench Press and Triceps Extension Exercises Adopting Dumbbell, Barbell, and Machine Modalities Over Multiple Sets 2)A comparison of muscle activity and 1-RM strength of three chest-press exercises with different stability requirements 3) Narrative review of injuries in powerlifting with special reference to their association to the squat, bench press and deadlift |
 NEW: Rate this week’s tip on a scale of 1-10! (By clicking on the number) |
| Quote of the Week: “We don’t rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” – Archilochus (Greek Philosopher) |
Dr. Gains 
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