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I consider myself a pretty strong guy. I am 5 ft 9, 175-180 lbs. I can squat 305 lbs and deadlift 245 lbs. But my Barbell bench press is awfully bad only 185 lbs 6-8 reps.

When I do presses with dumbells however I can do 80 lbs on a flat bench and 75 on incline. When I am using a barbell however the arms (triceps, biceps and forearms) seem to tire very quickly. Believe me my triceps aren't that weak either. Anybody experienced the same problem?

Any help is greatly appreciated. I also have to ad that my shoulders are "bent" more than normal.

2006-08-10 10:15:14 · 9 answers · asked by Existentialist_Guru 5 in Health Diet & Fitness

I haven't tried my 1RM for quite sometime as I don't have a friend who can spot me.

I was curious to know from you guys what was the common ratio of Barbell to Dumbell presses. I mean if mine way out of the average figure, there must be something wrong with my form, correct.

Also people have asked me to bring elbows closer, but if I do that there too much pressure on the forearms

2006-08-10 10:42:33 · update #1

I do quite an intense back workout (pullups, pulldowns, rows, racked deads, goodmornings). I seem to have been born with bent shoulder bones so this really prevents a lot of shoulder work. If I do military presses, I strain my rotator cuff too much

2006-08-10 10:48:14 · update #2

9 answers

I'm a competitive power lifter with USA PL competing in all three of the major lifts.It sounds to me that you're doing too many warm up reps and sets to start thus increasing the amount of lactic acid in these muscles.
That's the burning sensation.Chances are you need to adjust your grip and go a little wider or narrower,most likely wider to shift the influence to the pecs and away from the triceps a little.It's also possible that you're sitting back into the bench differently with the dum bells.Try to be aware of the angle of your body next time you do both but do the dum bells first so that you can make adjustments to the barbell press.
Try doing pauses also by bringing a moderate weight to rest on your chest for 3 seconds and explode into the rep after that.That's how you must bench in competition and it may help develop the fast twitch muscle.Do sets of 3-7 for building bench and do SRM once a month only.I don't know where to find the site any more but check out Louis Simmons.He's got some cool tricks but don't use all of the juice that he does.

2006-08-10 10:56:05 · answer #1 · answered by joecseko 6 · 0 0

You can't put balance aside, because that's the very thing that separates the two. And your muscles definitely know the difference. The bench press is a free weight exercise, and any free weight exercise is more effective in building muscle for two reasons. One, because it incorporates stabilizer muscles to assist in the movement, meaning more muscles being worked. Two, because the human body responds better to movements it would do naturally. That last part basically means your body grows better when subjected to something heavy, rather than machines, which are merely hard. This isn't to say that you should give up the machine, and it certainly isn't for wusses. Machines force proper form, and isolate the muscle you are trying to work. Do the bench press first in your workout, and the machine press toward the end, when you're tired.

2016-03-27 07:11:04 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Yep, you do seem to be pretty strong. Remember with the barbell, you are lifting with your hands way open, and the lever is longer with the weights at a totally different angle. This is normal to be lifting different weight with this, because altho you're working the same muscle group, this is very different from using the dumbbells (who named them this anyway), so alas someone has called you normal! yeah!
If you're having a problem with your shoulders being bent forward? This is because you may be leaning forward, therefore making your back overstretched, and your chest tight. After you've finished working your chest, be sure to stretch it. Consider doing it this way: Laying on the bench with no weights, take both of your hands over your head, then slowly bring them down to your shoulder level, stretching your chest. I am assuming you are also doing back work? If you aren't you should. Shoulder work too? Practice standing and sitting straight all the time with your head lifted looking straight ahead, this will help you to not be hunched forward as you get older.

2006-08-10 10:40:38 · answer #3 · answered by trainer53 6 · 0 0

I'm 190 lbs and can bench 350, when I was 200 lbs I was benching 370 no bull sh!t.... I find that if you do sets of heavy weight, 6 reps, and ad 10-20 lbs to you last set and do as many as possible.. you'll gain that extra 10-20 lbs to you bench every week or two.. it's crazy.. I got up to repping 265.. sets of 6-8...

2006-08-10 10:26:01 · answer #4 · answered by T 2 · 0 0

The muscles that you use for bench presses are the pectorals, you do use your arms to a certain extent but they are the ones. Back that weight off to 165-170 and limit the reps to 10 per set for three sets, you'll notice yourself getting results. Experiment with increases in weight and reps as you go along.

2006-08-10 10:24:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

if you can bench your weight than that is perfectly fine. also not everyone is able to bench press that well. you said you can bench 185 6-8 reps, can you do more weight with fewer reps? thats the case with many body builders, they can do hundreds of pounds with very few reps but hardly and weight at high repetitions.

2006-08-10 10:24:51 · answer #6 · answered by failurbydsign427 2 · 0 0

try using a wide grip to really isolate the chest and reduce arm involvement - also, make sure you're getting a good stretch, try pinching your shoulders behind your back (not really but just to really expand you chest and isolate) - try doing 5 sets of 5 also - focus on power with the big muscles (chest, legs, back) and technique with the smaller muscles - good luck

2006-08-10 11:08:18 · answer #7 · answered by Big Buddy 6 · 0 0

It's because of they way your muscles have developed due to your genes. I bet your dad and your grandpa had the same problem.

2006-08-10 10:22:16 · answer #8 · answered by methodz1218 3 · 0 0

Stop taking estrogen.

2006-08-10 10:20:52 · answer #9 · answered by sal_menella 2 · 0 0

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