If you’re interested in improving your chest, building it bigger and better, there are two main pec-building exercises you can use…barbell presses and dumbell presses. Each has it’s advantages and disadvantages.
I’m going to show you a way to get the best of BOTH worlds…and it’s crazy simple to set up and do and crazy effective.
You’re going to do what I call a Stability Drop Set. And what that means is that you’ll be using the SAME weight on both exercises, even though they target the same movement pattern (the press).
Because dumbell presses are more unstable (the weights move freely and shift around as you’re pressing), you won’t be able to do as much weight or as many reps as compared to a more stable exercise like the barbell press. So we start with dumbells then go directly to barbells, with the exact same weight.
You’ll find that you’ll be able to get a good amount of reps when you switch to barbell pressing even though you’re using the exact same weight that you just pushed to the limit with on dumbell pressing. This is directly due to the increased stability of the barbell version of the exercise.
Now, I don’t have one in my home gym, but if you also have access to a bench press machine, you can one level further and go from barbell press to machine press for maximum stability.
All you’ll need for this one is a bench (and a spotter, if it’s an open bench), dumbells, and a rack (I prefer to bench in the rack, most importantly because I train alone).
Start with a set of dumbell presses:
When you finish the set, put the dumbells down then immediately go right into the barbell press, using the same weight as the dumbells – I’m using 95 lb dumbells then 190 lbs on the barbell bench.
This is a great technique…very easy to set up and do an VERY intense! If you’re looking for a great shortcut for hitting your chest strongly, this is one you’ll want to work with.
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