CHEST EXERCISES

Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press

Why Is This Exercise So Effective?

This variation basically utilizes the same basic technique as the regular Dumbbell Bench Press, the only difference being that you do one arm at a time.

Pressing the weight with only one arm at a time increases neuromuscular activation in that arm compared to doing both arms at once. The practical upside of this is that you will be stronger.

How To Do It

Start with both arms locked out at the top position of a regular dumbbell press.

• Lower the left dumbbell down to the bottom position holding the right dumbbell in the top, locked out position.
  
  
• Press the left dumbbell back up to the top.
  
  
• Lower the right dumbbell down while holding the left one in the locked out position.
  
  
• The arm that is not lifting can be held at the bottom in the stretch position (regular) or at the top (reverse alternating).

Your foot position may change with each rep you do, depending on which side dumbbell you are lifting.

• When you are lifting the right-side dumbbell, slide your right foot back and out a little, essentially helping to brace the uneven stress on your body.
  
  
• Your left leg should straighten out a little bit to help counterbalance.
  
  
• Reverse this when you lift the left dumbbell.

The reason this exercise is effective is primarily due to neuromuscular activation.

• When you do the bench press with both arms at the same time, the neuromuscular drive must be split between the two sides of your body.
  
  
• When you do only one arm at a time, the entire force of that neuromuscular drive can be sent directly to that one side.
  
  
• This increases the drive to that one limb, which will in turn increase your strength.
  
  
• The practical upshot is you’ll be able to do more reps when you do one arm at a time.

Another reason this exercise is so effective is leverage.

• When you are focusing on only one dumbbell, you can make adjustments to your body position to maximize the force you’ll be able to apply to that one dumbbell.
  
  
• This could be a slight rotation of your body or a different foot placement.

Practically speaking, if you are interested in improving your sports performance, this exercise has two distinct advantages.

• More sports utilize unsynchronized arm movements than synchronized arm movements. By using one arm at a time, you develop more functional strength.
  
  
• The uneven torque on your abdominal area will greatly strengthen your abdominal area. Your stabilizing muscles must contract strongly to keep your body on the bench when you are lifting with only one arm at a time. Strengthening your core has a direct, positive impact on sports performance.

How to incorporate this exercise into your workouts:

Place this exercise near the beginning of your chest workouts to maximize it’s effectiveness.

• The reason for this is that it requires balance, skill and stability to execute properly.
  
  
• If you have already fatigued your chest and stabilizing muscles, you won’t be able to execute the movement as effectively.

Common Errors

1. Pressing the dumbbell straight up and down

You should continue to press the dumbbell up and around in an arc. If you press it straight up and down, you will increase tricep involvement reducing the impact on the chest.

2. Using excessive body movement

While a certain amount of body movement is permissible (especially towards the end of the set to help get a few more reps), excessive body movement can decrease the effectiveness of the exercise and possibly lead to injury.

Tricks

1. Using body movement

In order to squeeze out a few more reps towards the end of the set, you can add in a little body rotation to help move the weight.

• As you start pressing up the right dumbbell, rotate your upper body down to the left side, pushing your right shoulder up.
  
  
• This will add some force to the pressing movement.

2. The Swiss Ball

Doing the One Arm Dumbbell Press on the Swiss Ball poses an excellent challenge to the advanced trainer.

• Not only does it require you to balance yourself on the ball, it requires you to adjust your body position on the ball as you press one dumbbell up at a time by rolling from side to side in order to keep your center of balance over the ball. Be aware that the changing of your foot position as described above will be far more exaggerated when using the Swiss Ball as you are on a very unstable surface.

The Swiss Ball, when used properly, can also help you to spot yourself with this exercise.

• Going back to the body movement example above, utilize a more forceful rolling movement as you are about to press up.
  
  
• Initiate this with leg and abdominal power.
  
  
• This rolling can help build up strength and power especially in sports that utilize punching movements.

3. One Dumbbell Presses

You can even take this exercise to the next level by only holding onto one dumbbell at a time.

• This will give you the most exaggerated uneven torque on your body, requiring you to greatly adjust your body position and the force applied.
  
  
• You can even try this on the Swiss Ball if you are an advanced trainer and very experienced with working on the Swiss Ball.