Dumbbell vs. Barbell Bench Press: Choose the Right Upper-Body Builder

The great debate:Dumbbell vs. Barbell Bench Press. Ahh, the mythical bench press. It holds a special place in many lifters’ hearts. The draw of a muscular chest, rounded shoulders, and bulging triceps is what makes many fall in love with benching, either with a barbell or a pair of dumbbells.

Whether you’re an athlete or just want to look good, bench pressing is the go-to pressing exercise to slap on upper body size and strength.  

The barbell bench press is an integral member of the powerlifting big three, along with the back squat and deadlift. The classic bench is even associated with its own day the week. Who hasn’t wanted to do the barbell bench press on a Monday only to find a dozen other gym members with the same idea?

Fortunately, it’s half-brother — the dumbbell bench press — is a similar movement, but it’s even more forgiving on the joints and you need to work harder overall to stabilize the weights. Here we’ll dive deep into both exercises so you can choose when to perform each according to your goals. Let’s get ready to bench press, one way or the other.

Dumbbell and Barbell Bench Press Differences

The key differences to the naked eye seem apparent — it’s the equipment, either one barbell or two dumbbells are used. But the press setup and other slight differences should also be noticed between these two fantastic pressing variations.

Muscle Recruitment

Both exercises recruit the pectorals (chest), deltoids (shoulder), and triceps to varying degrees depending on the variation used. The barbell locks your joints into a specific range of motion every time. Because it’s one connected unit, the barbell’s stability allows you to press more weight than dumbbells, which require each arm to work independently.

The pressing path with the dumbbells often varies slightly with each rep and requires more upper-body stabilizers because the range of motion (ROM) isn’t fixed — the weights tend to sway in all directions more than a barbell. This means your rotator cuff and shoulder stabilizers are turned on more to protect your shoulder joint.

Setup

Unless you have specialized equipment, there is no way to unrack and re-rack dumbbells like with the barbell bench press. Getting the dumbbells in position for the press requires effort and sound technique to avoid injury, and the same when you have finished your press. Getting the dumbbells into the starting position can become even more challenging as your working weights get heavier.

With a barbell, it’s a relatively simple matter of unracking the bar from the bench supports and replacing it at the end of the set. The process is identical regardless of the weight on the bar.

Grip

A barbell allows you to press using either a standard overhand grip, a false (thumbless) grip, or even an underhand grip. Each of these have their own benefits — the underhand grip recruits more of your shoulders and biceps for added stability, while the false grip can help to reduce shoulder joint strain.

However, the barbell doesn’t offer any freedom of movement at your wrists during the movement. Once you grip the bar, you’re locked into that position until the set ends.

Dumbbells allow much more variety of wrist movement, which can reduce strain on your elbows and shoulder joints. One key difference is that dumbbells allow you to press with a neutral (palms facing) grip. Not only does that put your shoulders and arms in the strongest leverage position, but it stresses the shoulder joint less because it is neither internally nor externally rotated.

Dumbbell and Barbell Bench Press Similarities

Both flat bench press variations are horizontal presses, where you lie on your back, press the weight up, and lower it down. In that vein, there are several similarities despite the equipment and setup differences. Here’s how you know the exercises are different branches of the same tree.

Training The Same Muscles

Because they’re both horizontal pressing movements, with your body in the same position relative to the weight, both the dumbbell press and and barbell bench press engage the chest as the primary working body part.

Both exercises are completed with assistance from your triceps and shoulders (particularly the anterior, or front, head of the muscle), while your upper back, core, and even your legs contribute to total-body stability.

Upper Body Pressing Power and Strength

The barbell bench press is the pressing variation where you’ll be able to use more overall weight, which lends itself to building serious upper pressing power and strength. It’s not uncommon for an experienced lifter to barbell bench press 300 or more pounds.

While the dumbbell bench press doesn’t allow for as much total load — using a pair of 100-pound dumbbells, or 200 total pounds, would be an achievement for gym veterans— the exercise still creates a tremendous strength-building stimulus. Both exercises involve horizontal adduction (bringing your arms together toward your centerline), and both can build muscle, strength, and power in the chest and triceps.