No, I don’t change the dumbbell magically half way through the movement. Just took pictures of the bell in different hands. 

Time for a Story Kids:

Long Ago in the Way Way Back Time Lil Roy went to his (probably 2nd) Strength and Conditioning seminar evvveeeerrrr.

It was the 1st Annual Mid Atlantic Sports Symposium, or at least I THINK that’s what the name was.

Any who, it at George Mason a year after they made the Final Four and it was Hosted by Todd Hamer.

*I’ve been to LOTS of these things through the years and could totally be wrong about the following facts, it coulda been a different seminar, but the essence of the story is the same. This isn’t a nuclear peace summit, it’s where I learned a freaking exercise. So lets not get all nitty picky here kids.

It was cool and I learned a Neat-O- Torpedo exercise.

Today, you to shall learn said exercise.

Ethan Reeve

Ethan Reeve is an OG of Strength Coaches.

You don’t hear his name as much as you used to, probably because everyone associates winning and losing with the strength coach now.

Just think about that.

We associate winning and losing football games with the guy leading work outs.

Total Paraphrase:

“If the best athletes didn’t win games, Temple would just go hire the Strength Coach at USC and become national champions. “- Buddy Morris

Wait But What?

Yes, the weight room helps.

It can help a LOT. <—-especially injury prevention

But the best athletes are the best athletes and ATHLETES win games.

Best way I’ve had this explained:

There is a 10% variance.

If you’re within 10% of physical variables the “hard work”, tactics  and such can make up the difference.

Outside of that, you’ll get out-athlete(ed).

Case in point:

Rudy worked really hard and didn’t play.

Cause it was Notre Dame and he was the smallest, slowest, physically weakest guy.

Working really hard can’t undo that. Not even Hollywood

Back to Reeve:

I saw, what was basically, an entire presentation on the,

Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press:

Here’s the long and short.

You Gotta BRACE Like HELL to Create Force On These.

And I mean BRACE, SOLID, TIGHT, LOCKED INTO THE BENCH AND FLOOR.

All that Anti- Rotation work we walk about?

This is the “functional epitome” of that.

To actually move a “heavy” bell you MUST be locked in.

“A little less ubiquitous is the notion that 1-armed (offset) exercises are a fantastic way to hammer the core as well, as you really have to fire the contralateral side so as not to fall off the bench.” – Tony Gentilcore

Ya can’t fake this.

Imbalanced No More:

Just like single leg work, single arm work gives you the opportunity to balance out those left/ right discrepancies.

Checklist:

• LOCKED down.
  • Feet flat and GRIPPING the floor
  • Quads, glutes, hams active
• Belly full of air and abs on
• Shoulders “packed” (pinched together and pulled into the back pockets)
• Shoulders dug into the bench
• Off Arm: Make a fist and SQUEEZE, create tension through the arm and DRIVE that shoulder down.

The RULE:

NO ROTATION. 

If you rotate through the shoulders, ribcage, hips…

If the feet leave the floor or you lose ANY contact with the bench:

YOU SCREWED UP THE EXERCISE. 

Rotation = Useless

And eventually hurt.

The idea is to STOP the rotation.

Yes, maybe you can rotate and lift 5 more lbs (right now) but then you didn’t do a Single Arm Dumbbell Bench Press, you did something else. <—-Plus, it shows that you don’t know how to get tight and you’re actually weaker than you could be if you truly got locked in and stayed locked in. 

Bro Tips:

• Press yourself THROUGH the bench, not the bell away from you.
• CRUSH the bell. <–gripping the weight makes you tighter
• Do the “strong” arm 2nd.
• Keep records based off of the “weak” arm. <—-this will keep you from making the left/ right discrepancy worse. 
• If you don’t feel the opposite obliques LOCK down, your position is wrong. Start over, find that tension.
• Sometimes it helps to think about pushing the back side of the bottom rib, what’s against the bench, down slightly to help fight the rotation.
• Start light, it’s harder than you think.

What’s a Good Weight?

I’ve heard that a “good standard” to shoot for is 5 reps at 50% of your body weight.

That means, for a  200lbs guy, 5 reps at 100lbs, per arm.

BTW: I wouldn’t recommend anything less than 5 reps in these and certainly DO NOT do singles.