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Yes, you can sub the dumbell press for barbells. I pretty much never use barbells anymore. However, USE LESS WEIGHT WHEN YOU'RE STARTING OUT. Until you have your shoulder stabilizing muscles built up, dumbell presses will feel like jelly. I almost hurt myself with 35 pounders by side to side wobble when I first started. After I built them up for a few weeks, 65-75 lbs no problem. This is especially important if you have no spotter.
I do (all with dumbells) incline press, incline fly, flat fly, and a few takes on the flat press (inclines tend to work the upper chest moreso than flat. Doesn't mean much to you, but it does for those of us trying to get rid of man boobs). In all honesty, this is probably all you will ever need to work your chest. Once you've done freeweights, you'll wonder why you ever used machines. It's not even close.
I used a notebook, but basically just tracked the weight progression, and used it to make sure I wasn't repeating exercises day to day by accident.
Also, try thinking of practical exercises, and incorporate them in for fun. I was doing a fair bit of indoor rock climbing, so I would do wide grip pullups with extra weight hanging off my waist. Don't be afraid to mix it up every now and again, it will help you over plateaus.
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Living in the United Socialist States of America.
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