This mainly works the back (lats) but also the shoulders and
biceps. The four muscles of the rotator cuff act as
stabilizers.
You place one hand on the bench and one knee. Your
back should be parallel to the floor. Hold
a dumbbell in the other hand, hanging straight down. Then
you pull up in a rowing motion with the elbow as close
to your body (brushing your side). During the entire
exercise, your forearms (both the one providing the support
and the one being worked) hang straight down.) Make sure your keep
your back straight.
You want to be in the proper position before you grasp the
dumbbell. As you bring the dumbbell back down, your
shoulder should not keep dropping. If it does, you
should use less weight. Again, the spine must be
kept in a neutral position without any twisting,
arching or rounding. Your shoulder blades should be
retracted or pulled back before you extend your shoulders.
(Alvin was one of the
workstudies at the Mueller. He was also on the
RPI
swim team.)
An alternative way is to bend over with just one hand on the bench (but
not the knee). This changes your position somewhat as the height
of the bench may not equal the length of your lower leg.
A bench press can also be done using the
Smith
Machine.
demonstrates how to use it: (photos coming)
[Starting position.]
[Intermediate position.]
[Ending position.]
And how NOT to do it. (Don't bring the bar down so that
your elbows are much below shoulder level.)
[The wrong way.]
Also, in a struggle to lift the weights, don't arch
your back way off the bench.
If you keep your elbows to your sides, you will
work the anterior (front) deltoids more. If you
use a very narrow grip, you work more of the
inner pectorals, while a wider grip works more
of the outer pecs. You want to keep your
feet flat on the floor for stability, but if
you have back problems or want to work more
of the middle and upper pecs, raise your feet
and bring your knees up over your stomach.
(is one of the workstudies at the Mueller.)
This is similar to the regular bench press, except that
you bring the dumbbells in an arc in towards each
other at the top of the movement. Hold them
in the same manner as if they were a barbell.
The dumbbell press allows for a full range
of shoulder adduction and completely innervates
the pectoralis major, while the bench press
puts more load on the triceps brachii. The
dumbbell press is an open-exercise and works
the pecs much more.
. . . demonstrates how to use it: (photos coming)
[Starting position.]
[Intermediate position.]
[Ending position.]
And how NOT to do it. (Don't bring the dumbbells down so that
your elbows are much below shoulder level.)
This might seem similar to the dumbbell bench press, except that
you keep your arms slightly bent and maintain that
angle as you bring the dumbbells up. Hold them
so they are parallel to your body, in other
words, 90 degrees to how you hold them if doing
a dumbbell press.
And how NOT to do it. (Don't bring the dumbbells down so that
your elbows are much below shoulder level. And keep the
same angle of your arms through the whole movement.)
If you have any ideas, suggestions, comments, etc. as to either what
is or should be on this website, or the Mueller Center in general,
please let us know.
To contact us:
Phone: 276-2874
Fax: 276-2817
Email: mugrap@rpi.edu
