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Dumbbells and stablizer muscles
stumblinthrulife
Posts: 2,558 Member
Allow me to spew some uneducated guess work, and please do correct me as needed.
I was traveling this last week, and rather than workout the fiendishly complicated pulley machine the hotel fitness center had, I used the dumbbells. This got me thinking about free weights in general, and dumbbells vs. barbells in particular.
One of the reasons that free weights are better than machines is of course that they exercise stabilizer muscles. I'd say that in this area, dumbbells would seem superior to a barbell.
The overhead press with dumbbells in particular really showed up my weakness. Getting the weight up there wasn't a problem. Doing it in a manner that didn't make me look like I had Parkinson's was a whole other story. The main issue was lateral stability. I didn't have a barbell to do a direct comparison, but intuitively it seems a barbell would have been easier. Both arms could work in concert, connected by the inflexible bar.
So what am I getting at? I guess just that dumbbells would seem to be a great addition to any workout, if stability is a priority. Make sense? Or am I stretching entirely too far?
I was traveling this last week, and rather than workout the fiendishly complicated pulley machine the hotel fitness center had, I used the dumbbells. This got me thinking about free weights in general, and dumbbells vs. barbells in particular.
One of the reasons that free weights are better than machines is of course that they exercise stabilizer muscles. I'd say that in this area, dumbbells would seem superior to a barbell.
The overhead press with dumbbells in particular really showed up my weakness. Getting the weight up there wasn't a problem. Doing it in a manner that didn't make me look like I had Parkinson's was a whole other story. The main issue was lateral stability. I didn't have a barbell to do a direct comparison, but intuitively it seems a barbell would have been easier. Both arms could work in concert, connected by the inflexible bar.
So what am I getting at? I guess just that dumbbells would seem to be a great addition to any workout, if stability is a priority. Make sense? Or am I stretching entirely too far?
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My biggest problems with dumbbells were the lack of adjustability (I could add a total of 5 lbs on the barbell, but only 5 lbs per hand on the dumbbells) and greater risk of injury given a failure.0
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Dumbbells should definitely be part of weight training, imo.
My technique for 'gettin' em' up' is put them on my legs (by the) knees... sit on the edge of the seat if military press chair, take a deep breath, rock fwd then back using momentum to 'help' get the weights up (then shifting back into the seat). Once they're up, the real work begins.
Currently, I'm doing this when I'm lifting the 30lb dumbbells... that's heavy for "me" right now.0 -
My biggest problems with dumbbells were the lack of adjustability (I could add a total of 5 lbs on the barbell, but only 5 lbs per hand on the dumbbells) and greater risk of injury given a failure.
That's a good point, Jon, and one I'm also struggling with on machines (though thankfully catastrophic failure is not really an option on machines). I can only add 10 pounds at a time, and that's quite a jump, especially on smaller lifts like bicep curls and tricep pushdowns.0 -
I do recall seeing people using little magnets attached to dumbbells to incrementally increase their weight, which is interesting. Hauling 4 lbs worth of 1-lb magnets to the gym isn't exactly a dealbreaker. I'm not sure there's that much benefit to dumbbells, but I'd be interested in hearing what others had to say on the topic.0
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There is definitely a difference in the use of stabilizers in free weights vs. machines, but the difference is barbells vs. dumbbells would be minimal, if any.0
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One of the benefits of incorporating dumbbells is to help out with imbalances between the sides. If you're OHPing a barbell your strong side can pick up the slack for your weak side to a certain extent. With dumbbells you're going to be making that weaker side work for itself and it can help with the development of that side.0
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Tagging0
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Allow me to spew some uneducated guess work, and please do correct me as needed.
I was traveling this last week, and rather than workout the fiendishly complicated pulley machine the hotel fitness center had, I used the dumbbells. This got me thinking about free weights in general, and dumbbells vs. barbells in particular.
One of the reasons that free weights are better than machines is of course that they exercise stabilizer muscles. I'd say that in this area, dumbbells would seem superior to a barbell.
The overhead press with dumbbells in particular really showed up my weakness. Getting the weight up there wasn't a problem. Doing it in a manner that didn't make me look like I had Parkinson's was a whole other story. The main issue was lateral stability. I didn't have a barbell to do a direct comparison, but intuitively it seems a barbell would have been easier. Both arms could work in concert, connected by the inflexible bar.
So what am I getting at? I guess just that dumbbells would seem to be a great addition to any workout, if stability is a priority. Make sense? Or am I stretching entirely too far?
Others covered this for the most part but yet, adding in some DB work is a great idea for accessory lifts for reasons you're already mentioning.0 -
Locking so we can track active threads easier. If you wish to make further comments, please PM either myself or SideSteel, inkling a link to the thread and we will unlock.0
This discussion has been closed.