Lift more with BB than DB!

[luk_88]

Well done a workout today and found that I can lift more with a BB for the chest press than I can with a DB but when it came to Bi curls I could not lift nearly as much as I would with DBs even including the bar I think its less.

How comes, does using a DB use more muscle to support weight than a BB?
Or the other way around?

[daffy]

Quote

How comes, does using a DB use more muscle to support weight than a BB?

The barbell provides stability, i.e. it is easier to balance between your muscles, whereas dumbbells are trickier to handle, hence you can't lift as much with them.

[Luffers]

If you've been using DB's for some time you get use to them. When you switch to BB's it can take a few workouts to get the feel for it but when you do you should lift more than with the DB's.