Yes, but I believe the stabilizer muscles (rotator cuff) can't continue to support the forces placed on them at a high enough weight. Generally, people "max out" stabilizers before muscles like pecs. So you plateau with dumbbells before barbells.
According to "starting strength", at some point you can't hold the dumbbells due to limitations in grip strength.
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I would also add that there are plenty of compound dumbbell exercises. A compound lift is simply one that uses more than one joint.
Totally. You can do a clean and jerk with two dumbbells, for instance.
Yes, but I believe the stabilizer muscles (rotator cuff) can't continue to support the forces placed on them at a high enough weight. Generally, people "max out" stabilizers before muscles like pecs. So you plateau with dumbbells before barbells.
According to "starting strength", at some point you can't hold the dumbbells due to limitations in grip strength.