Dumbbell Bench Press Form!

[Primal]

Hey everyone! Hope you are all doing well, shoutouts to everyone with exams! Anyways, today was my chest day and I had a few questions regarding the dumbbell bench press. So, I've heard that a common mistake is that people often flare their arms out when pressing. Apparently you are supposed to have your elbows closer in to your body? I find that when I have my elbows closer in to my body that my weight significantly decreases (like 10 lbs or so) and my triceps fatigue way faster than my chest does. Actually, when I do it this way, most of the time I don't feel anything in my chest at all! Today I tried lowering the weight and flaring my arms out just a bit and it destroyed my chest. I felt it a little bit in my triceps but my chest got most of the brute force.

My question is, should I flare my arms out and lower the weight to get the feel better or should I continue having my arms closer in to my body and fatigue my triceps until they are strong enough to hold my regular weight? Anyone else have this problem?

Also, a little off topic but I just got my first 225 lbs flat bench up for 6 reps today! Last month I was struggling with 185 lbs... Your advice is really helping so thanks so much for your suggestions and such! It means a lot! :)

-Primal

[Praetorian]

Depends on if you are doing flat or incline. Flat will emulate the barbell bench press more and on the incline the dumbbells will be lowered to a higher point on the chest with more flare. What you dont want is the have them out 90 degrees and over stretching the shoulder joint.

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[Primal]

Do you mean 180 degrees? 90 degrees is straight vertical. I was doing incline today, but I still feel it better even on the flat bench with my shoulders flared out. So should I just not go down as far maybe? This will keep my shoulder intact right?

-Primal

[Sean Summers]

What does it matter what others say. If you feel it in your pecs with your arms flared out do it that way for chest.

[Praetorian]

I would suggest learning how to bench correctly on the flat barbell bench press then transitioning that to the dumbbell press is much easier. Benching with the arms out to the side 90 degrees will lead to shoulder injuries and eventually a possible torn rotator cuff. If you are benching with your arms out 90 degrees you have very little stress on the pecs and a tonne on the shoulder joint because in this position in order to bring the bar down to the chest you will need to stretch the shoulder dramatically. Most people have weak chests for a reason...they dont know how to bench and cannot put much stress on the pecs without causing serious strain on shoulder.

Did we not speak about how to bench correctly in another post?

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[Primal]

Thanks for the insight Sean, I just want to make sure to not injure myself as my numbers in all of the lifts are starting to increase. Hahaha, yes you did help me out with the barbell bench press on another thread Prae, I was just asking about the dumbbell this time. I know you want me to really focus on barbell bench press and I have been a lot, my numbers are increasing greatly. But I also want to not neglect dumbbells too. This is why I wanted to get the form down right. Thanks a lot!

-Primal

[Praetorian]

There is no reason you cannot include both exercises in fact you should. I always include both barbells and dumbbells in all client programs as well as my own. Its not about one or the other its about a program that utilizes all the tools in the correct format to achieve your goals. As you get better on technique which takes time you will be able to really pin point focus on the targeted muscle. Many misinterpret why beginners should start out building a base of strength and working on developing proper technique..but as you gain more experience and are able to lift more weight remaining injury free and with the ability to target specific muscles you will have a distinct advantage.

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[Primal]

Ok if you say so Prae, your the big guy here :P

-Primal