Alternatives for bench press?

Eternal_water · Jun 19, 2014

My gym is only a very small one and it only has 1 bench press machine.................and its out of action.

What alternatives can I do to build chest muscle? Is dumbell pressing very effective?

Will doing many sets of push ups be a good idea for building pectoral mass?

ArcBound · Jun 19, 2014

Eternal_water said:
My gym is only a very small one and it only has 1 bench press machine.................and its out of action.

What alternatives can I do to build chest muscle? Is dumbell pressing very effective?

Will doing many sets of push ups be a good idea for building pectoral mass?

For pushups you'd have to do a lot of sets with low rest in between. It can work but you'd have to change your workout to be a high volume low rest workout and that usually isn't compatible with lifting weights.

I would do dumbell pressing, and yes it is very effective. It is slightly harder to stabilize and get up the heavier dumbells off the floor and into benching position though. Really depends how high up your gym goes for dumbells.

[S]alvatore · Jun 20, 2014

- Dumbbell floor presses (Laying on the ground, and pressing)

- Dips on parallel bars (elbows flared out, leaning forward with chest)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i3o0bFZT_s

Eternal_water · Jun 22, 2014

Thanks for the replies guys and the list Bradd80.

Every time I do dumbell presses its my arm that gets tired and the chest feels totally normal like it hasn't been worked at all. Does anyone else get that?

Who Dares Win · Jun 22, 2014

Push-ups done explosively could do as well, if you push hard and fast enough to lift yourself from the ground and clap your hands, also dont foget that you can elevate your feet from the ground thus leaving more weights in your upperbody.

I challegen anyone here who does a heavy bench press to do 10 push ups and clap their hands.

AttackFormation · Jun 22, 2014

Maybe it's individual or maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I've never found bench pressing to be a very good exercise for me. This because:

1) You want a spotter, not just so you don't have to drop the weight but so you can squeeze the last you've got instead of needing to "finish early"
2) It hurts your wrists (at least mine hurt, and I've tried fixing the grip)
3) I feel like it's easier to focus on my chest with the cable machine
4) Good luck doing decline presses on your own

I don't do dumbbell presses either for reasons 3 & 4, but if it was between that and bench pressing I'd definitely do dumbbell presses instead. I do all my chest exercises with the cable machine (normal, decline, incline and some experimentation for the inner chest) and as far as I can feel it's as good as or better than bench pressing while being more executable.

I realise that "the cable crossover is a machine, OMG" is likely to win out over giving it a fair assessment, but I made myself heard

speed dawg · Jun 24, 2014

Dips: The Upper-Body Squat.

TheStig · Jun 24, 2014

Rack press:
put a bench in a power rack, set the safety bars to any height you wish (a sticking point, or at the point which your elbows are at 90 degrees), and press from there. Good for supra-maximal loading, if you're into all that strength stuff.

Bible_Belt · Jun 24, 2014

I bought a pair of push-up bars today. They're simple little u-shaped handles that raise you up about six inches. It makes it easy to hang out in the muscle failure area right above the ground.

TheStig · Jun 25, 2014

^^
I've got some, you can definitely get a much fuller range of motion.

Bible_Belt · Jun 25, 2014

I know this is ghetto, but I've found that if you have a patio furniture chair with arms and you set it where it won't slide, you can do incline pushups with the same increased range of motion as the pushup bars. There's less weight on your torso, because that half is uphill, but do enough of them slowly, and it is a great upper chest workout. And even if you push until total muscle failure, the worst that's going to happen is falling six inches forward into a padded chair.

Bible_Belt · Jun 30, 2014

Here's a useful chart about ways to use the push-up bars: http://www.trainbodyandmind.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Push-Ups-scheme-3.jpg

MattTheW · Jul 6, 2014

if you can get the balance right, chuck a plate on your shoulder blades and do weighted press-ups, or like said before, raise your legs to put more weight onto your arms/chest.

get the cadence right as well

Bible_Belt · Jul 6, 2014

I've started doing 3 three minute rounds on the heavy bag. Using 16-ounce training gloves and proper form, which is keeping your hands up by your eyebrows whenever not punching, it is one hell of an arm and shoulder workout. 30 seconds in, you feel like you can go forever, and then about another thirty seconds later it will feel like you have been going forever.

The 16-oz gloves are key. It's not the same workout with lighter gloves. And it's important to not let your hands drop as you get tired, which is what they will want to do. That's how boxing/mma matches tend to end - fatigue degrades form.

compleks · Jul 6, 2014

Ditch the bench press and start dipping.
Go through a full range of motion and add weight if necessary (via a belt) to keep within your desired rep range.
Supplement with db bench press if you like.

Jay kay · Jul 21, 2014

you can still train your chest with a pair of dumbbells. There are several alternatives without the use of a bench press machine.

Weighted pushups
Cable Flys/Crossovers
dumbell Flys
Dumbell/barbell Pullovers
Dips
Chest Machine Press

marmel75 · Aug 4, 2014

In this order:

Decline Bench
Dips(Weighted preferably)
Pushups(weighted/elevated)

No other movement for chest is a compound movement and as such will be much less effective for building mass than those ones listed.

Eternal_water · Aug 5, 2014

Thanks guys, the bench press is finally working again so I can take use of that again.

Unfortunately dumbell exercises just don't work for me due to a couple of reasons, one of which being that dumbells hurt my left hand (Im right handed) and that pain becomes unbearable long before the target muscles feel any burn. This is not an issue I experience in the slightest with barbells. Also I can't seem to work the target muscle with them. I have a hard enough time time keeping them where they are supposed to be (again not an issue with barbell). Between that and left hand pain I can't work my target muscle at all with dumbells when that target muscle is the pecs.

I like dips, I think its time to start adding some weight to them as I'm going over 12 pretty easily now.

I have never done weighted or elevated push ups, just regular. My personal record for consecutive good form standard push ups is 75 and I'd like to beat it as well as building muscle.

marmel75 · Aug 5, 2014

Start sticking 45 lb plates on your back and do them elevated and watch your strength soar...got up to 135 lbs with 3 plates on my back

Alternatives for bench press?

Eternal_water

Master Don Juan

ArcBound

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[S]alvatore

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Eternal_water

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Who Dares Win

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AttackFormation

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speed dawg

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TheStig

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Bible_Belt

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TheStig

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Bible_Belt

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Bible_Belt

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MattTheW

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Bible_Belt

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compleks

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Jay kay

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marmel75

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Eternal_water

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