Dumbbell vs. Barbell

     For years there has been the argument or at least a controversy about what is better, using dumbbells or using a barbell.  Personally, I don’t believe one is better than the other, I think that depending on the lift or exercise, one might offer a better or safer workout, but the key is no matter which one you do, doing something is better than doing nothing.  Keeping that in mind utilizing both can offer a more intense workout. 

Chest/Pectorals- Barbell Bench Press is probably the best known exercise to gym rats mainly because of the EGO effect. It’s a great exercise for upper body strength and mass. With consistency it’s possible to go quite heavy with this exercise and develop good mass for the mid chest, and anterior deltoid.  The basic variations include incline and decline bench presses that change focus to the ‘upper’ and ‘lower’ chest fibers.  The incline also moves the focus more to the shoulders. Other variations include widening and narrowing grip. Dumbbell Chest Press offers a reduction of shoulder joint pressure because the hands are free to rotate slightly on the descent which allows opportunity for relief of shoulder impingement. This rotational ability also allows for fuller incorporation of pectoral fibers. Turning the palms in at the top of the movement is a great way to tweak the pecs that the bar can’t accomplish. Dumbbells often are more unstable but the benefit of this is the conditioning of stabilizing muscles or core even though the downside is losing control. Variations are similar to barbell presses such as incline and decline but also include alternate pressing, flyes and twisting motions.

Shoulders-Barbell and Dumbbell Military Presses are very similar in comparison to the chest presses. The barbell is good because you can lift a lot of weight in front of the neck putting a slightly different stress on the deltoids.  But again the main benefit of using dumbbells is the opportunity to rotate the hands, such as with the Arnold Press.  This incorporates several rotator cuff and supporting core muscles that slack off with the bar.  Dumbbells also offer some other great shoulder lifts like side raises, bent-over side raises, and different rotator prevention techniques. 

Biceps-Barbell curls are a great mass builder for the biceps belly, partially because bouncing the bar off the thigh for cheat curls is important for growth but lack of straightening the arm fully at the bottom takes away from full development.  The primary variation for bar curls is inner or outer grip.  Dumbbell curls have a lot more variation and allow the other muscles of the biceps to be effected. Alternate, seated, incline, rotating, and concentration are all variations of dumbbell curls that alter the stress on the muscles. One of my favorite is the rotating curls. Starting with palms facing your thighs then one at a time rotating (supinating) the palms up allows for more stress on the upper arm. Generally speaking barbell curls focus on mass building while the freedom of dumbbell curls allow for more shaping and sculpting.

Triceps-Barbell is a great triceps mass builder. The E-Z bar skull crushers offer a variety of grips that can prevent wrist pain but give tremendous emphasis on outer heads, and don’t forget one of the best mass builders is close grip presses.  Dumbbells offer ability to rotate but there are few exercises that do that.  The single arm aspect is good for isolation with kickbacks or overhead extensions.

Legs-Barbells have their strength with squats and heavy poundage’s, while dumbbells offer more for variation and safety.  Because of the position required for good muscle recruitment and the relative strength of the legs, it’s difficult to hold dumbbells that are heavy enough to give quality resistance without banging up your knees.  Dumbbell lunges are perfectly effective and efficient allowing variation. Because the lunge takes you away from your center of gravity a lighter dumbbell is just as effective as a large BB behind your head, also less strain on the neck and shoulders. In addition, your trunk remains neutral over the hips the arms can just hang at your side providing ample resistance.
                  

…For more information and tips, check my website, www.chadamartin.com. Thanks to Universe Gym for supplying equipment for this show.