I have been making some nice progress (for me) on the dumbbell bench.
I have progressed to 72.5 pound dumbbells. I am doing 3 sets of 5 successfully, and have had no problem moving to starting position......using the knees and rolling up.
My problem is lowering the weights when I am done that set. I try to reverse the motion but I guess my stabilizer muscles are a little tired at that time and it is difficult to control. ...meaning not very safe.
Does anybody have a technique that works for them? Or is the answer that if you can't lower safe, then it's too much weight?
I guess I am fortunate. I work up to 85 and 90lbs with my dumbells but the way they are desinged they are huge. So when I am at the bottom of a press they are not too hard to just let down to the floor. I only do this once I am over 75's though. Up to that point I lock my feet under the bench and sit up.
I would say if you can not feel comfortable and safe lowering what you have you might have to choose not to do that weight or have a spotter assist you.
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We're not suppose to drop them at our (probably all) gym. But at the end with heaviest weights a controlled drop to the floor doesn't make any noise, and seems easy on the arm and equipment. Like Rookie's 'let them down'
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Thanks for the replies. You have answered my question.
I tried both Rookie's and Frank's answer with progressively heavier weights. I am sure length of arms and other body factors come into play, but Frank's situp, and then lower the weights worked very well for me. In the laying-flat position, I felt too much pulling on the shoulders to just lower the weight to the floor.
Thanks for the replies. You have answered my question.
I tried both Rookie's and Frank's answer with progressively heavier weights. I am sure length of arms and other body factors come into play, but Frank's situp, and then lower the weights worked very well for me. In the laying-flat position, I felt too much pulling on the shoulders to just lower the weight to the floor.
Yeah, thats what ive always felt when just lowering them down.
I pitch them down and yell "light weight!!!" Then I stand up and give a good kick and say "see ya next week biotches!"
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I use 85's and I'm able to just bring my knees up to about 90 degrees as I'm laying flat, then let the weight drop to my knees and rock forward. The momentum brings you up to a sitting position and then you can set them down easily.
Two Bears Dadda? Two Bears Benno, just two. ______________________________ ___________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
This is the closest I could find. You sort of use your legs to help throw yourself forward. Once you are then in the sitting position, you lower the weights to the ground (if you are uncomfortable trying to stand):
If they're over 100 pounds, throw them and yell, "EXPLODE!!!!"
"Fuliminate!!!" would be much more sophisticated, so I've been told.
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Two Bears Dadda? Two Bears Benno, just two. ______________________________ ___________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Blackjack
Pink dumbells for Mr. Mahler I see...
Mahler uses regular dumbells, but his grip is so strong it builds up intense heat in the DBs until they turn pink, then red, then white. After that, no one is sure what happens, because it is like looking into the sun, only brighter. Mahler calls this a warmup set.
I found a pretty good clip on youtube showing a nice example of how to get the db's in place and how to get them back to your knees after the set. Rotate them 90 degrees, bring your knees up and use the momentum to stand up in one smooth motion, like AceDeuce said.
Thanks for the clip, Paul. That was helpful. Anyone have ideas about how to do deal with this problem on an incline bench (i.e. getting the DBs in place)?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjb923
I found a pretty good clip on youtube showing a nice example of how to get the db's in place and how to get them back to your knees after the set. Rotate them 90 degrees, bring your knees up and use the momentum to stand up in one smooth motion, like AceDeuce said.
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I don't lower them with my arms out sideways, so my arms would form a T. I bring my elbows into my sides, with them bent at 90 so the dumbbells are above me. Then I lower and extend my elbows and the dumbbell reaches the floor.
I don't get how that's asking for injury. I don't feel any pulling, or any tightness at all.
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
I found a pretty good clip on youtube showing a nice example of how to get the db's in place and how to get them back to your knees after the set. Rotate them 90 degrees, bring your knees up and use the momentum to stand up in one smooth motion, like AceDeuce said.
Looks like his FF motor units were shot in the last rep.
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I don't lower them with my arms out sideways, so my arms would form a T. I bring my elbows into my sides, with them bent at 90 so the dumbbells are above me. Then I lower and extend my elbows and the dumbbell reaches the floor.
I don't get how that's asking for injury. I don't feel any pulling, or any tightness at all.
Laying on my back on a bench with 100lbs hanging from each arm, regardless of elbow position, does not make my shoulders happy. The lowering of the weight puts a ton of stress on your shoulders. Eric Cressey has written about the dangers of incline curls due to the position it puts your shoulder into. To me this causes a similar problem, but is made worse by increasing the weight and the angle at the same time.
And I don't know about you, but I can't lower that much weight at a controlled speed.
How to safely lower dumbbells?
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