What's going on Nation? And welcome to another episode of my VS
Series last time we compared the sumo deadlift versus the conventional deadlift and if you missed it
I'll put a link to that video down in the info section below so you guys can check it out and now after reading all
Of your comments next up is the barbell bench press
Versus the Dumbbell bench press [to] finally answer [the] question of which exercise builds more muscle
Now when it comes to building a massive full chest
I highly doubt any of you care what
Exercise you need to do or how much weight you need to lift just as long as it works
for men our
chest is the first thing we want to have go through the door when we enter a room in a massive chest displays power and
Confidence. Yes, genetics will play a role in the shape of your chest
But we can always work on enhancing the size of your pecs by training them properly
But before we begin let's talk about the pectoralis major in the pectoralis minor now the pectoralis major is the large
Fan-shaped muscle covering the anterior rib cage so right through here this muscle makes up the entire
Visible portion of your chest and is actually split into two parts the clavicular head and the sternal head now the clavicular
Head is the smaller upper portion of the Pec major. Which is right here, okay?
[and] it
originates on the anterior surface of the medial half of the
Clavicle so right through here [and] it inserts on the lateral lip of the bicipital groove
of the humerus an anterior lip of the deltoid tuberosity
Which is a really long way of saying
Right over here now the sternal head which is the larger lower portion of the Pec major which is right through here
originates on the Lateral aspects of the manubrium so through here and the body of the sternum [the] [upper] six
Costal cartilages and the aponeurosis of external abdominal oblique which is another fancy way of saying
Right through here the action of the pectoralis major as a whole so both heads working together is to adduct the arm
So to adduct the arm and to bring it medially across the chest, [so] think of a chest fly
across the chest as well as to medially rotate the arm
Which is this way and the clavicle ur head flexes [the] arm. Just coming up and the external head
extends it and the extension of the arm by the sternal head can only occur if the arm is
Flexed now the pectoralis minor is a small
triangular muscle which lies beneath the pectoralis major it originates from the anterior surface of the three to five ribs and
Inserts on the coracoid process of the Scapula which is where the short head of the bicep Brachii
Originates which we talked about in the dumbbell bicep curl versus dumbbell hammer curl video the function of the pectoralis minor
Is that the is the depression and downward rotation
Of the scapula which is another way to say roll your shoulders back and retract your scapula all
Bench-Press variations which includes the dumbbell bench press and the barbell bench press work the Pec major
This is because when you retract your [shoulder] blades the pectoralis
Major is stretched and as you move your arms closer together to the center the muscle shortens
And this is why time and time again. I always tell you guys when doing chest exercises
To retract your shoulder blades because you're working your muscle through the stretched position. Which is where you're going to get the most muscle, breakdown
Also, even though you may not feel them
Stabilizers in the area are working just as hard as the pectoralis major these stabilizers are your deltoids
rotator cuffs spinal Erectors and Transverse abdominus
And they are activated to help maintain body stability and bounds throughout the [movement] now that we have a better understanding
Of the pec major and pec minor let's talk about the barbell bench press and how to get properly set up for the exercise
So when performing this exercise what you want to do is position yourself
So your feet are flat on the ground and your knees
pushed out and then as you get underneath the bar what you're going to want to do is slide forward
Keep your shoulder blades retracted slide under the bar
Just like this
and then drop your hips so that your butt stays glued to the bench the entire time you have an arch in your back and
You're keeping your core tight
From here you're going to grab probably just outside of shoulder width apart of the bench
And then as you perform the movement you're going to bring the barbell down all the way to your sternum
Or the bottom of your chest
then as you press the bar up you're going to push through your arms and push through your feet while flexing your glutes and your
Core so it's more than [just] your arms going up and down push through your feet
Push through your arms and flex your core
Now with all of that being said why is there so much [setup] time for the barbell bench press it is because the sole focus
Of this movement is to lift as much weight as you can of course you will also stimulate your chest for muscle growth
but there are some limiting factors here that you need to be aware of
The first one is range of motion when pressing a barbell your hands are locked in a single position on the bar
Because they are locked in place
You're not able to move your arms throughout their full range of motion which will limit
How [far] you can extend your [arms] during the lift. So if you're holding the bottle like this and you go straight
You can't exactly bring them in close together
And you guys can see more muscle activation in my chest just from going from here to here
Next [is] maintaining muscular tension
Believe it or not hand placement plays a huge role in the development of your chest during a barbell bench press
If you grab the barbell too wide you will distribute
Muscular tension to other muscle groups outside the chest it should be very obvious that in order to maximize your results
You want to keep as much muscular tension on your pecs as possible during the movement
So of course I'm talking about a wide grip bench press
Grabbing out here and going like this you guys can see there's not really much of a shortening of the chest
stretch it out
But there's not really a shortening as opposed to going all the way in the last limiting fact that is a development of muscle imbalances
Because you are pressing a single bar
it is
possible for your
dominant side to take over the movement resulting in one side working harder than the other up next is the dumbbell bench press which has
The same form [setup] as the barbell bench press
Going to have your feet flat on the ground you're going to push your knees out and as you roll back
You're gonna retract your scapula keep your core tight and as your glutes hit the bench keep a slight arch in your back
So let's get to position
Once into position you're going to lower the dumbbells down as far as you can tucking your elbows in slightly and then from here
You're going to push through your arms while also pushing through your feet
For maximum [drive] to return the Dumbbells back the top portion of the movement
So what's the difference between these two exercises?
Let's take a look at the range of motion first because there's no barbell keeping your hands fixed in one position
You will not only be able to extend your arms [more] at the top of the movement
But you will be able to lower the dumbbells a bit more as well
This is [because] normally at the bottom of the movement for the barbell bench press the barbell would stop when it touches your chest
with dumbbells you are limited only by your
Flexibility and because you are increasing your range of motion [you] are allowing more muscle fiber activation
Thus increasing the muscular benefit from the movement when it comes to muscular tension
since the dumbbell press allows for a greater range of motion you [have] more control over the motion of [your] arms and can keep your
movement more in front of your body as mentioned before a wide grip on the barbell bench press takes tension off the pecs and
Applies it to the surrounding outside muscles
But because you have more control with the dumbbells this will allow you to keep more
concentrated tension on your chest for [a] longer period of time and what I mean by that is obviously we talked about grabbing wide and
Getting not enough stretch and not enough shortening of the muscle with dumbbells you can tuck your elbows in get that full range of motion
And get that nice tight stretch
and then go right through the motion and keep the dumbbells over your chest and
shorten it to
Activate as much muscle fiber as possible we also
Talked about muscle imbalances with [the] barbell bench press because it's possible for your dominant side to take over during the movement
however with the dumbbell press each arm moves
[independently] to lift the weight and this allows each side to do equal work and develop equally as well now to
Finally answer the question as to which exercise builds more muscle, and my choice would be the dumbbell bench press
When compared to the barbell bench press is very clear that you able to train in a greater range of motion and keep
constant tension on your chest muscles
I would also like to note [that] there is no room for cheating with the dumbbell press
When using a barbell you can easily bounce the bar off your chest at the bottom of the movement
Which might give you a few more reps
but in terms of building muscle is
Useless as you're bouncing the weight to create the movement not engaging your chest to create the movement
There are a few other benefits that dumbbell press as well for example
The only reason why the set up process is so complicated for the barbell bench press and by this I mean
I'm talking about arching your back and driving through your feet is because you're positioning your body to be able to lift as much
Weight as [possible]
but if the goal is
Purely muscle growth these steps don't matter and you can actually lift your feet off the ground to enhance muscle fiber recruitment
during the dumbbell press
This is because the slight change produces a joint stress transfer in a positive way
And what that means is [that] because you have removed all [the] stability that comes from keeping your feet [planted] on the [ground]
You're transferring more of the workload to your chest in the surrounding
Stabilizers now what this also means is that you might have to use lighter weights to perform the movement
but if you've been paying attention
You [would] know that the weight doesn't matter when building muscle the biggest thing aside from muscle stimulation
That you [need] [to] take away from this video is [that] if you are bodybuilding
You are trying to train the muscle and not the movement what I mean by this is that you are not
Powerlifting so the goal isn't to contort your body to find the best position to lift the most amount of weight
possible your goal is to approach the exercise with the mindset of
How can I stimulate as much of my chest muscles as possible on every single repetition
This is about size gains not hitting one rep PRs
so if you're watching this video
And you truly care about building a muscular physique
once you're able to kick your ego to the curb the question of how much you lift will become irrelevant as
Everyone will be too busy admiring your bulging chesticles
to remember to ask
so when you hit your next chest workout try four to five sets of ten to twelve reps of the dumbbell bench press as your
first
exercise and
Only take a 30, 60 second rest period Between sets and maybe even try a few sets with your feet up in the air
Then come back here and let me know if you felt more muscle engagement now before you guys go I have two tips
I want to share with you for the dumbbell bench press to help you maximize your results
And it's the self spot and the self lift off. We're going to talk about the self lift off first
This is actually a technique that I've been teaching since [my] first chest video on YouTube back in 2009
What this technique allows you to do is to have more energy to put into all your repetitions
Before you even start your set and what I mean by that is most people when they do a dumbbell bench press
They roll back and the dumbbells are right here
and they have to fidget a lot to get themselves in the right position to
Retract your Scapula and then press the dumbbells up get into position again
And then start the movement if you do this trick
And you practice it properly you have [a] much easier time getting into position with heavier weight
And you have more energy to do more reps, but I will warn you this trick
I'm going to make it look super easy, but I want you to try it with light weight first
So I'm going [to] grab these
120 pound Dumbbells real quick just [to] show you guys how easy it is to do it even with heavy weights
So what you're going to do is you're going to rest the dumbbells
pretty much on your knees, so [on] the top of your thigh
And then what you're going to do is you're going to lean forward
And you're going to throw yourself backwards while pushing off your toes and extending your arms
So the weights go in the air, and you're going to follow the weights until they go on top of your body
I'll show you what I mean, so let's get started
Just like that and now once I'm in this position. [all] I have to do to retract my shoulder blades is slide backwards
Just like that and now I'm in position to start doing repetitions
And then as soon as you're done doing your set you keep the drop the dumbbells down by your side
Or you can get down the same way you got up and go like this which I think looks cool
Now the other tip is pretty self-explanatory, and that's the self spot now when we're lifting in the gym
Obviously if we don't have a spotter doing the barbell bench press [it] can get pretty scary
When you're getting [to] that last [repetition] where you think there might be a 50/50 chance that you'll be able to actually do it
Well when you're doing a dumbbell bench press [if] you get to that last repetition
And nobody's around to spot you and you really want to go for it you can and if you get stuck [all] you have to
Do is drop the Dumbbells down by your side and you're safe
I hope you all learned a lot today and remember to check out the other videos in my Vs. Series
I'll put a link down the info section below to those
Also if you're looking for a full muscle and strength building program check out my 12-week transformation challenge
I'll put a link to that below as well, and remember guys as always more good stuff coming soon. See, ya