In Old Man, Young Muscle and this newsletter I’ve explained why the dumbbell decline press is better than a barbell bench press for chest development…
To review, two of the biggest reasons are…
1) You more accurately line up the most pectoral fibers by pushing from a slight decline—It’s one reason trainees arch their backs and tend to lift their butts off the flat bench, both of which help achieve better chest leverage by simulating a decline.
2) Using a barbell has you driving your hands up but outward; whereas with dumbbells your hands, and therefore your arms, are driving more inward, the true function of the pectorals.
To better understand #2, imagine if the barbell were greased. Would your hands slide in or out as you push up? Out, of course, which involves the triceps more than the chest.
Another important detail is your upper-arm angle to your torso—and this applies whether you’re using a barbell or dumbbells…
Allow your upper arms to angle down toward your waist sightly, as Jonathan is doing above. If he were using dumbbells, as he should be (shame), at the top they would end in an upside-down V. Like: ^
You don’t want your upper arms too close to your body, however. If you pull your arms too far in, you’ll be working mostly front delts and triceps—like a close-grip bench press.
With your upper arms at about midway between perpendicular and next to your torso, you’ll get much better pec-fiber alignment and prevent shoulder impingement.
That’s one good thing about having a bum shoulder—it’s like an alarm. If I allow my arms to move out too far, my high-pitch scream has my dogs diving under the bed or peeing with fear.
Latest Release: Get the ideal exercise for each muscle, the best add-on moves for ultimate mass, complete 35-minute workouts, exercise start/finish photos and details on building muscle fast and efficiently in Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
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