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A straight bar bothers some people, but dumbbells don’t. It bothers many people’s wrists and elbows (on the inner side), but dumbbells or an EZ curl bar feel fine.Īdditional details here: Straight Bar vs EZ Curl BarĪnd the same goes for various barbell pressing and rowing exercises.
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Switching to dumbbells or an EZ curl bar, both of which allow the wrists to be rotated inward, usually feels much better.Īdditional details here: How To Do Skull Crushers And Not Hurt Your Elbowsīiceps curls with a straight bar is the same kind of thing. This goes back to what I mentioned earlier about a barbell locking your hands into a fixed position, whereas dumbbells can be rotated to suit whatever is most comfortable for each person.Īnd that fixed straight-bar position is something that tends to bug a lot of people’s wrists, elbows, shoulders, and the various tendons along the way.įor example, doing triceps extensions (like skull crushers) with a straight bar is a common cause of elbow pain (on the outer side) for many people (myself included).
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Dumbbells Are More Joint/Tendon FriendlyĪ straight barbell, or really any straight handle or attachment on a machine, is a common cause of joint and tendon issues for a lot of people.
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Sure, you could ask someone to spot you or maybe just do a better job of knowing when you’re going to reach failure, but generally speaking, dumbbell exercises have an advantage in a no-spotter situation.
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But if you get stuck bench pressing with a barbell, you’re in trouble. So, in those cases, some people may be better off using dumbbells instead of a barbell.Īnd for the upper body, dumbbells tend to be a safer option for chest pressing exercises when a spotter isn’t available.įor example, if you get stuck bench pressing with dumbbells, you can just drop them to your sides without any real problem. This is especially the case with single-leg exercises like lunges, walking lunges, split squats, Bulgarian split squats, and step-ups, where balance is such a major component (especially as the set progresses and cardiovascular fatigue becomes a factor). When it comes to certain lower body exercises, it’s sometimes easier and safer to have dumbbells in your hands rather than a barbell on your back, particularly for a beginner or anyone in the early stages of learning how to preform certain exercises properly. Let me give you two examples of what I mean here. Dumbbells Can Sometimes Be Safer And Easier To Use Maybe there’s a similar situation where they’re better for you, too. It just makes it the better choice for me in this specific scenario. This doesn’t make incline dumbbell presses universally better than incline barbell presses, of course. Why is this? Because I’m able to make adjustments when pressing dumbbells that I am unable to make when pressing a barbell, such as rotating my wrists slightly inward. The incline dumbbell bench press, on the other hand, feels perfectly fine. The benefit of this is that it allows you to make whatever minor adjustments you want or may need to make to ensure the movement is as natural, comfortable, and safe for your body as possible… which is key for injury prevention.įor me, the incline barbell bench press has never felt “right,” and it’s an exercise that has always caused shoulder pain. With dumbbells, you can move each side individually of the other, which means your body isn’t forced into as fixed of a position as you are with a barbell. Dumbbells Can Allow For A More Natural Movement Now let’s compare the pros and cons of each and determine which one is best. For example:īarbell exercises would be the same sort of movements, just using a different piece of equipment. Just in case any clarification is needed here, dumbbell exercises would obviously refer to any type of weight training exercise performed using dumbbells. So, who’s right? Let’s figure that out right now. Some claim that dumbbell exercises are better and more effective for goals like building muscle and gaining strength, while others claim barbell exercises are the better and more effective choice for these types of goals. A topic of debate among people in the weight training world is dumbbells vs barbell.