3 Reasons We Should Get Proficient With DB Alternating Bench Press Before Attempting Heavy Traditional Barbell Bench Press

1. DB Alternating Bench Press requires more upper body and core stability due to the movement needing one side to work at a time. This stability training is great for balancing the right and left shoulder girdles, pec, and abdominals. If you’ve ever noticed that your dominant side tries to outwork your other side during Traditional Barbell Bench Press, this is why. This is a perfect movement for getting both sides used to firing at equal rates, consequently giving us more power and strength capacity in the Traditional Bench Press

2. DB Alternating Bench Press is less taxing on the central nervous system and easier to recover from. When beginning an offseason program or a new training plan, this fact is important for optimal recovery and performance. The more work we can do and the quicker we can recovery from it, the larger our work capacity becomes over the course of an offseason and/or training plan.

3. DB Alternating Bench Press is arguably much more applicable to sports and life than traditional bench press while also putting less stress on the shoulder joints. Due to the fact that when performed at a high intensity (heavy), it requires more core stability and higher neuromuscular coordination than the traditional bench press, the DB Alternating Bench Press can be trained at any training age and give more benefit to the athletes performing them

A great goal for anyone working on this movement is to work toward accomplishing 3 sets of 5 reps per side (10 total) with 50% of body weight in each hand.