"Hey buddy, how much do you bench?" If you have been in the gym regularly even just for a few weeks, I am sure you wouldn't be unfamiliar with this saying. The bench press has such an importance in the gym goers' minds that there is a National Bench Press Day created for it. The bench press is no doubt a great upper body strength indicator and everyone would agree that it is a chest exercise, but is it really THE BEST chest builder out there?
Most guys bust out sets after sets of bench presses for bigger pecs, is that really the right thing to do? Today I am going to introduce you a the dips as the ultimate chest builder, include it in your training routine, and get better pecs, period.
Do not get me wrong, I love the bench press, I even participate in bench press competitions, but it is simply not the best exercise out there if your main focus is to get thicker and wider pecs.
Anterior Deltoid Stimulation = Pectoralis Majors Stimulation
In the bench press, your anterior deltoids (front shoulder) actually receive the same stimulation as your pectoralis majors (chest) do. In other words, the bench press is as much of a front shoulder movement as a chest movement. And unless you have a very special anatomy, your pectoralis majors are going to be far bigger (and stronger) than your anterior deltoids, which means your anterior deltoids are going to give up on you before your pectoralis majors do. Thus, we cannot train our pectoralis majors to their full potential in the bench press as our anterior deltoids would limit us doing so.
Rotator Cuff Health
Another thing about the bench press is that is it not exactly the best exercise for our shoulder health as it actually decreases shoulder flexibility. Excessive bench pressing work without sufficient overhead pressing work to balance it out would ultimately lead to shoulder injuries in the long run. Shoulder injuries is a pain in the ass as all compound movements for the upper body require shoulders to participate. Having injuries means that you would have to take a step back in your training and thus sacrifice continuous progressions.
And how does the dips do a better job in building our chest? Read on!
Anterior Deltoid < Pectoralis Majors Stimulation
Unlike the bench press, the downward pushing motion of the dips takes a big part of our shoulders out of the equation. In the dips, we can really target our chest and work them to the max. I don't usually feel my chest especially tired comparing to other muscle groups after multiple sets of heavy bench presses, but the fatigue in my chest would stick with me after only a couple sets of heavy weighted dips.
Load
An important factor of stimulating muscle growth is the load we are using. Most people can potentially lift more weight in the dips than in the bench press. The dips actually has a very similar movement pattern as the decline bench press, and most people can lift more weight in the decline bench press than the flat bench press. My 1RM flat bench press right now would be somewhere around 115kg (255lbs) but I can do 3 sets of 5 weighted dips with 75kg (165lbs) on a belt which results in 310lbs total weight given my bodyweight is 145lbs at the moment! A larger load means more stimulation for the muscles, and thus more muscle growth!
Functionality
The functionality of the dips is a lot higher than that of the bench press. In the bench press, we are stabilised on the bench which take a lot of the stabilisation work off our core; in the dips though, as our bodies are hanging mid-air, we have to engage our core and stabilise the body throughout the movement. Also, in contrary to the bench press which reduces our shoulder flexibility, the dips can increase our shoulder flexibility if done right, this can benefit our training in the long-term by preventing injuries.
Start Doing The Dips
When first starting to incorporate dips into your training routine, it is a good idea not to rush onto the weighted dips as most people who are not used to doing the dips lack the shoulder flexibility of performing the dips properly. For the purpose to increasing muscle mass and strength, I recommend doing 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 12 reps bodyweight dips to start with, work on increasing your shoulder flexibility by tracking your range of motion and progress to performing full range of motion dips (armpit close to hand). Once you are able to perform full range of motion dips, you can start adding weight to your dips. One thing to note though, is that I recommend only reaching parallel (or just below that) once you start doing weighted dips in order to avoid excess stress on the shoulders in case the weight you are progressing to in the future will be massive. Add weight to your belt slowly for say 2.5lbs to 5lbs a week initially and stay in the low rep range (5-12) for maximal muscle growth!
From now on, instead of asking how much people bench, maybe we should start concerning about how much do they dip!
Most guys bust out sets after sets of bench presses for bigger pecs, is that really the right thing to do? Today I am going to introduce you a the dips as the ultimate chest builder, include it in your training routine, and get better pecs, period.
Do not get me wrong, I love the bench press, I even participate in bench press competitions, but it is simply not the best exercise out there if your main focus is to get thicker and wider pecs.
Anterior Deltoid Stimulation = Pectoralis Majors Stimulation
In the bench press, your anterior deltoids (front shoulder) actually receive the same stimulation as your pectoralis majors (chest) do. In other words, the bench press is as much of a front shoulder movement as a chest movement. And unless you have a very special anatomy, your pectoralis majors are going to be far bigger (and stronger) than your anterior deltoids, which means your anterior deltoids are going to give up on you before your pectoralis majors do. Thus, we cannot train our pectoralis majors to their full potential in the bench press as our anterior deltoids would limit us doing so.
Rotator Cuff Health
Another thing about the bench press is that is it not exactly the best exercise for our shoulder health as it actually decreases shoulder flexibility. Excessive bench pressing work without sufficient overhead pressing work to balance it out would ultimately lead to shoulder injuries in the long run. Shoulder injuries is a pain in the ass as all compound movements for the upper body require shoulders to participate. Having injuries means that you would have to take a step back in your training and thus sacrifice continuous progressions.
And how does the dips do a better job in building our chest? Read on!
Anterior Deltoid < Pectoralis Majors Stimulation
Unlike the bench press, the downward pushing motion of the dips takes a big part of our shoulders out of the equation. In the dips, we can really target our chest and work them to the max. I don't usually feel my chest especially tired comparing to other muscle groups after multiple sets of heavy bench presses, but the fatigue in my chest would stick with me after only a couple sets of heavy weighted dips.
Load
An important factor of stimulating muscle growth is the load we are using. Most people can potentially lift more weight in the dips than in the bench press. The dips actually has a very similar movement pattern as the decline bench press, and most people can lift more weight in the decline bench press than the flat bench press. My 1RM flat bench press right now would be somewhere around 115kg (255lbs) but I can do 3 sets of 5 weighted dips with 75kg (165lbs) on a belt which results in 310lbs total weight given my bodyweight is 145lbs at the moment! A larger load means more stimulation for the muscles, and thus more muscle growth!
Functionality
The functionality of the dips is a lot higher than that of the bench press. In the bench press, we are stabilised on the bench which take a lot of the stabilisation work off our core; in the dips though, as our bodies are hanging mid-air, we have to engage our core and stabilise the body throughout the movement. Also, in contrary to the bench press which reduces our shoulder flexibility, the dips can increase our shoulder flexibility if done right, this can benefit our training in the long-term by preventing injuries.
Start Doing The Dips
When first starting to incorporate dips into your training routine, it is a good idea not to rush onto the weighted dips as most people who are not used to doing the dips lack the shoulder flexibility of performing the dips properly. For the purpose to increasing muscle mass and strength, I recommend doing 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 12 reps bodyweight dips to start with, work on increasing your shoulder flexibility by tracking your range of motion and progress to performing full range of motion dips (armpit close to hand). Once you are able to perform full range of motion dips, you can start adding weight to your dips. One thing to note though, is that I recommend only reaching parallel (or just below that) once you start doing weighted dips in order to avoid excess stress on the shoulders in case the weight you are progressing to in the future will be massive. Add weight to your belt slowly for say 2.5lbs to 5lbs a week initially and stay in the low rep range (5-12) for maximal muscle growth!
From now on, instead of asking how much people bench, maybe we should start concerning about how much do they dip!
164lbs weighted dips x 5 @ 145lbs bodyweight
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