Which do you think is best for chest development: weighted dips or bench press?
They are both fine. Weighted dips will hit your lower chest more. Benching gives you the ability to pile on more weight and is more of an overall power movement. I'd choose bench press, but that's just personal preference. Whether it is "better" depends on your goals and where you are in your training. Hope this helps. :-)
I appreciate your response. I do both, but I am a firm believer in weighted dips. If I don't go too deep and lean forward as far as I can, I feel like I'm developing power. I find with bench, I need a spotter which limits me. When my bench press goes up, I find my weighted dips don't necessarily improve. But when my weighted dips improve, my bench goes up both in weight and reps.
I'd agree with both. It's always good to have a few different exercises that you alternate from time to time for muscle development. So you don't ever plateau, muscle confusion is a key to overall fitness. But that's just my educated opinion. To each their own.
Yes, I really believe in muscle confusion to prevent plateau. I go to the gym twice a week but do the weighted dips at home. It's nice to have that option.
Though I screwed up my shoulder horribly with weighted dips.
I think it is a little harder to hurt yourself with a bench press, especially so with a spotter.
I know what you mean. If you go too deep, you can really hurt yourself. I'm careful to only go to a 90 degree bend in my arms. But you're right...technique is really impotant with dips.
I've always preferred weighted dips for chest and tricep development and I prefer Flat dumbbell presses over bench press. They have done EMG studies on bench press and Flat dumbbell press(Electromyography)-studies that show it hits more muscle fibers than the bench press, more upper chest, and less strain on your rotator cuffs.When you do weighted dips just make sure to watch using too much weight and going too far below parallel.
I am 100% in agreement. Thanks for your comment. I also prefer dumbells and weighted dips over bench press.
Flat dumbbell press is my favourite for my powerlifting training, flat bench I use too quite often. I personally don't dip too much because my shoulders are worked enough with the other movements and I tend to get strains and my total seems to lower when I add in dips.
It seems everyone has a personal favorite, depending on lifestyle and perhaps fitness goals. Thanks for dropping by and commenting, Adamowen.
For sure! I have had a shoulder injury in the past so that limits me with certain ranges of motion.
Yeah, I injured my shoulder by not using proper form on the bench press. It takes a long time to come back from it.
Interesting thread. I've been doing floor dumbbell presses. Seem to be useful given one of my shoulders is a bit dodgy. Any thoughts?
I've never been a fan of floor dumbbell presses because it limits range of motion, but for your shoulder that's probably about the only thing you can do until it heals. I try to watch my form and keep my shoulders back and down, shoulder blades as close together as possible and as low as possible. It locks the shoulders in a position that prevents injury. But of course, we've all had injuries at one time or another! Hang in there and lighten up on the weight until it feels better.
Towel stretches have helped me stretch out my shoulders. Roll up a towel diagonally, corner to corner, so it's as long as possible. Holding an end in each hand and keeping your arms straight, lift the towel over your head and all the way back to your glutes. You can only do it with a wide grip, but it's a great stretch for the shoulders if you do it carefully. After each two reps, bring hands closer together on the towel so the stretch becomes more intense. Repeat the stretch 3 times a week, no more than 10 reps a time. Thanks for commenting!
Hiya
Thanks for the tips - will try the towel stretching. I was using a band to do that exercise but didn't think to use a towel (which would keep the distance fixed!).
You're right - floor db presses does limit the range of motion but it keeps my arms above that point where it feels like my arm is being torn off. I think the reason I injured my shoulder was exactly as you described - I didn't keep my shoulders locked down.
Floor presses are excellent to stabilise the stabilizer muscles and to increase your ability to lockout at the top (which fully contracts the triceps)... they shouldn't be used as a staple exercise but are relevant to increase a 1RM
Thanks, Adam. Yeah, I realise they tend to focus on the triceps more. Certainly, it's something I've noticed. Once my shoulders are better I'll get back on the bench!
I hope the towel stretches work out for you!
by David 470 13 years ago
I am training for size/strength. (size first) I been really discouraged about my benching. For some reason, I feel "Significantly" stronger my first set than 2nd,3rd, and 4th.I know most big weight lifters would tell me (15 reps) is to much, however, it seems like I have to do a weight...
by David 470 14 years ago
How much could MR.T bench press in his prime and the present day now?
by ii3rittles 10 years ago
Can tensing up in the neck and shoulder muscles cause odd head pressure?I noticed, anytime I am nervous or anxious I get this head pressure as if I was upside down. My hearing is slightly deaf-end and I usually get a headache before, during or after this. It is a freaky feeling. I feel like I may...
by seicheprey 11 years ago
Does anyone else get numbness in their shoulders when they type?And if you do, do you know what is causing it and what can be done to stop it?
by Marissa 12 years ago
What are the best exercises for toning upper arms?
by Robert T Gasperson 7 years ago
How do I strengthen my shoulders without doing pull ups?I am trying to find exercises I can do at home to build my deltoids. I do not have room or the strength to do pull ups at home. I want an exercise or two that will build my shoulders gradually to the point where I can do pull ups.
Copyright © 2024 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2024 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |