Best type Dip

[big_nate]

Have you seen better results weighted dipping for lower chest or for dipping for triceps. I've been doing lower chest but I think I will keep myself straight up and down from now on...

[cheezefacta]

Eh, I do an in-between version. I kinda lean forward but I also keep my head up. Either way you do it, your going to get a chest and tri workout though...

[Rokk]

I like them better for triceps. I have never really felt them in the pecs, though many swear by them.

[_Lifter4Life_]

Eh, I do an in-between version. I kinda lean forward but I also keep my head up. Either way you do it, your going to get a chest and tri workout though...

Its funny seeing people thinking they can take triceps out of a dip

Back on topic, there really is no best way (concerding you use good form), you got to find out what works best for you.

Lifter.

[$AJ]

one is not going to be superior to another - the changes in stress shift arn't insanely major.

[khocha]

AJ, are u saying that the upright and l-f motion arent very different?
cuz I feel a hell of a difference, for ex. I feel upright dips a lot harder on the triceps. but when i do dips for chest, I stand reversed on the dip stand and do l-f dips and barely feel it in the triceps.

[$AJ]

it's different yes, but it's not like all of a sudden chest or triceps are taken out of it like people claim

[khocha]

ofcourse, its a compound movement.
its kinda like doing a bench variation of close-grip and wide-grip. you're working triceps and chest in both instances but the difference in grip placement places the stress differently.

[Need 2Whey more]

now here's another question which are better overall. Chest dips or tricep dips? Hmmmm

[Ian Charles]

I don't know if this is helpful, but I am a long/skinny type guy, and no matter what I do with dips, they don't seem to help my chest.

[aqua-beowulf]

Eh, I do an in-between version. I kinda lean forward but I also keep my head up. Either way you do it, your going to get a chest and tri workout though...

Yep! I think people complicate things too much sometimes. Just jump up there, and dip!

[$AJ]

Yep! I think people complicate things too much sometimes. Just jump up there, and dip!

haha, yea

[Thin Build]

theres alot of mass building exercises for chest, moreso then there are for triceps so i do weighted dips for triceps, straight up an down. If i were to do dips for chest i wouldnt have a really good power mass exercise for my tri's. Right now i do 4 sets of weighted tri dips and 4 sets of skullcrushers. By the end i cant even do 1 set of pushdowns or any other tri exercise for that matter.

[Dominik]

Yep! I think people complicate things too much sometimes. Just jump up there, and dip!

Absolutely. I don't know about you guys but I feel them hard in my chest and my tris every time I do them, and actually feel more of a pump in my chest doing dips than every other chest exercise and regardless of whether that means growth or not, I like it. I also do them twice a week, in both chest and triceps workouts, for a total of around 10-12 sets a week.

[Powerbuilt]

This may help some if you have the correct dipping station. Some dipping stations have the handles in a " \ / " position. If you face into the V it tends to hit chest. If you go the opposite way it will change your grip and change the concentration to triceps.

I may be full of crap, I found this by experimenting. Facing away from the station will feel weird, but the handles facing a different direction makes a big difference to me.

[Powerbuilt]

Absolutely. I don't know about you guys but I feel them hard in my chest and my tris every time I do them, and actually feel more of a pump in my chest doing dips than every other chest exercise and regardless of whether that means growth or not, I like it. I also do them twice a week, in both chest and triceps workouts, for a total of around 10-12 sets a week.

I use them the exact same way. I'll only hit 8-10 sets though.

[Dominik]

This may help some if you have the correct dipping station. Some dipping stations have the handles in a " \ / " position. If you face into the V it tends to hit chest. If you go the opposite way it will change your grip and change the concentration to triceps.

I may be full of crap, I found this by experimenting. Facing away from the station will feel weird, but the handles facing a different direction makes a big difference to me.

Powerbuilt, it makes perfect sense to me. Facing the opposite way on bars like that would help keep the elbows in focusing on the triceps more, and elbows out a little more would hit the chest harder, just like on bench.

On the one I use it's parallel but flares out into a V like so: =<. I grip the parallel part when I'm dipping for triceps and a little wider at the start of the V when I want to hit the chest more.

[W8isGR8]

This thread got me thinking, because as much as everyone says dips are a great triceps builder, they haven't done a thing for me. I did some research on Ex-rx.net and found this

The biarticulate long head of the triceps brachii [1 ] enters active insufficiency through the completion of elbow extension when the shoulders are more extended and adducted (other heads of the triceps becomes more active) or through the completion of shoulder extension and adduction when the elbows are more extended.

Basically it just says that when your arms are down by your sides, or behind you like in dips or pressdowns, the lateral and medial heads do most of the work. Now if the long head is the biggest and makes up most of the triceps mass, why would this be a good exercises. I've found that any overhead extension is much better for developing the long head.

Could just be me.

[Dominik]

Could just be me.

As always, interesting post. What I heard was according to EMG research, the tris maximally contract at a 90 degree angle of flexion which is where dips and CGBP come into the picture. I also heard that the triceps is in the greatest position of strength when the elbows are below the shoulder which makes dips and CGBP the best strength builders for the triceps.

For maximally stretching the long head, some kind of exercise where the barbell or dumbbell is extended behind the head is like overhead (two-arm) DB extensions. I believe CGBP is effective too in stressing the long head. It also responds best to lower reps (heavy weight).

So weighted dips, CGBP, and overhead DB extensions is my favorite recipe

[Dominik]

This thread got me thinking, because as much as everyone says dips are a great triceps builder, they haven't done a thing for me.

W8, I forgot to ask, just curious, do you go heavy on dips? I do most of mine around 5-8 reps with a slow negative and explosive positive. I warm up with around 12-15, no added weight and then pile it on.

[aqua-beowulf]

W8, I forgot to ask, just curious, do you go heavy on dips? I do most of mine around 5-8 reps with a slow negative and explosive positive. I warm up with around 12-15, no added weight and then pile it on.

That's the way I do 'em too. But I do reverse grip, close grip and dips for tris. Need to work overhead dumbell extensions back in.

[Powerbuilt]

Powerbuilt, it makes perfect sense to me. Facing the opposite way on bars like that would help keep the elbows in focusing on the triceps more, and elbows out a little more would hit the chest harder, just like on bench.

On the one I use it's parallel but flares out into a V like so: =<. I grip the parallel part when I'm dipping for triceps and a little wider at the start of the V when I want to hit the chest more.

To be honest, I found it messing around one day. I have no idea if it was meant to be that way but it works very well.

[Dominik]

That's the way I do 'em too. But I do reverse grip, close grip and dips for tris. Need to work overhead dumbell extensions back in.

Aqua, you won't regret working those overhead DB extensions into your workout. I dropped pushdowns and skullcrushers, and just do those 3 exercises now. I can't think of a better long head exercise than that one, and considering the long head is often called the "lazy" head throwing in that one is a good idea.

To be honest, I found it messing around one day. I have no idea if it was meant to be that way but it works very well.

I know quite a few guys have said the elbows should never flare (probably the same guys who keep their elbows at their sides on bench), and in a triceps workout I keep them as close as possible using the parallel bars, however when it comes to emphasizing the chest a little more on dips, I like to go a slightly wider, nothing extreme, so I grab the start of the < handles. After all, it is similar to decline bench where your elbows don't have to be tucked in.

So it would have a similar effect to what you're talking about I think with \ / handles, facing away from the dipping station for the tris, facing it for more chest involvement.

[W8isGR8]

As always, interesting post. What I heard was according to EMG research, the tris maximally contract at a 90 degree angle of flexion which is where dips and CGBP come into the picture. I also heard that the triceps is in the greatest position of strength when the elbows are below the shoulder which makes dips and CGBP the best strength builders for the triceps.

For maximally stretching the long head, some kind of exercise where the barbell or dumbbell is extended behind the head is like overhead (two-arm) DB extensions. I believe CGBP is effective too in stressing the long head. It also responds best to lower reps (heavy weight).

So weighted dips, CGBP, and overhead DB extensions is my favorite recipe

I never said they weren't good for strength. I know I feel weak as sh*t with a DB behind my head I'm just saying that anything that builds up the long head would essentially be a better "mass builder". I do the dips the same way as I try to do most of my lifts, slow neg. fast pos. I do a few bodyweight warm-ups, and add some weight, but since I train Tri's with chest I'm not as strong.

[Dominik]

I never said they weren't good for strength. I know I feel weak as sh*t with a DB behind my head I'm just saying that anything that builds up the long head would essentially be a better "mass builder". I do the dips the same way as I try to do most of my lifts, slow neg. fast pos. I do a few bodyweight warm-ups, and add some weight, but since I train Tri's with chest I'm not as strong.

Well, while I agree the long head is definitely one you want to zone in on, dips do hit everything to some degree, and allow for the use of a lot of weight (if you've got a good dip belt) and that constitutes a "mass builder" in my book.