Q. I was just curious to know if it is possible to achieve the same results from a pure dumbell workout as it is with barbells. For example, are dumbell flyes really equivalent to the bench press?

To be honest, you can actually get a BETTER workout with dumbells than you can with barbells. Of course, some exercises are better than others as far as muscle building goes.

Using your example, the barbell bench press is actually a better mass building exercise than dumbell flyes yet dumbell bench presses, I find, are better than barbell bench presses.

The reason is that the dumbells force you to stabilize the weight far more than barbells. This increases muscle activation, thus working more muscle mass therefore improving your results. This freedom of movement is the main advantage of the dumbell.

Barbells have the advantage of stability, however, increasing the amount of weight you can use compared to dumbell exercises with a similar movement, e.g. you can barbell bench more than you can dumbell bench.

A good program will take advantage of both barbells and dumbells, mixing them up to work all aspects of the muscle.

 

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