Dumbbells for Overhead Press?

bakerkate221

I did workout B for the first time today. I tried doing the overhead press with just the bar, and couldn't finish the last set. I think all of the bars are the same weight... I did see one other bar, but it looked like it was for curls or something. It was much shorter, and squiggly. (Clearly, I have no idea what I'm talking about.)

Should I be doing the OP with dumbbells until I can handle 45#? Or should I just do as much of the 5x5 as I can with the bar?

awkwardsoul

A lot of women will use fixed barbell or dumbells until you can work up to the 45lb bar. I started with 35lbs fixed barbell myself. Maybe your gym has a women's bar - those are thinner (great for small hands) and not as heavy (15kg/ 33lbs)

I would highly recommend you get fractional plates for OHP - so go up 2 or 2.5lbs (so a pair of 1lb or 1.25lb plates) as the 5lb jump is quite a bit for upper body. I know men who use 1.25lb plates for OHP!

bakerkate221

I didn't see any thinner bars. It's a very small gym in a very small town. (But I'm definitely fortunate to have it! It's less than a mile from my house.)

I did see little 2.5# plates. I was considering buying some if they didn't have any.

So yeah, I'll probably try using dumbbells a few times. Or maybe the first set or two with the bar, to focus on form with a barbell, and then the rest with lighter dumbbells.

canadianlbs

the squiggly bar is called an ez bar. i believe it was designed specifically so that bro's can do curls ;-)

i think i started with it myself on ohp. it's not ideal, i guess, because it does place your hands at a different angle from the regular bar. but i couldn't handle 45lbs either at first, so you're not alone there.

i don't think there's anything wrong with dumbbell pressing, in fact i always kind of felt like if i were really hard-core i'd be using them instead of the bar. they're definitely more challenging for me even at the same weight per hand, because of the extra mileage your stabilization muscles go through.

but i'm lazy. and/or an instant-gratification artist ;-)

bakerkate221

Thank you for explaining the squiggly bar!

Liftin4food

I use Dumbbells for OHP.

When I started out my right side was much stronger than the left - my trainer got me using dumbells to address the imbalance. Seems to have helped!

I now like it better than the bar - but it does make progressing much tougher. My gym has dumbells that increase by 2k - as that's each side it's much harder than adding small plates to the bar On the plus side - when I get to the next set I feel like a total badass!