Weighted Dips as Primary Chest Exercise?

I read a lot of Poliquin and he loves them. He calls them a great mass builder for chest and triceps . Jim Wendler also loves them and says they’re one of the best upper body exercises you can do.
To begin with I did have a bit of shoulder pain but that went away as I do a lot of Eric Cressey type shoulder balance work. I usually do them as the last exercise and work in the 10-12 rep range.

I actually injured my medial elbow by going too heavy so that’s why i do them last and not low rep.

i have tried this, and all i can say was its ‘ok’ but my personal experience was that i didnt get the full chest stimulation i was after. after a couple of weeks of dip volume, once efficiency in the movement inproved it felt like quite an isolated exersize.

For a standalone chest exersize i very much prefer another gironda favourite the guillotine press, great stimulation of huge RoM. Again its another one some people say they have shoulder issues with, but its not something i have ever noticed, and did notice on the dips actually. just my 2 cents :slight_smile:

[quote]spar4tee wrote:

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
As a main chest movement, I wouldn’t do it. It really is tough on the shoulders. Not only on the shoulders but around the scapulae area as well. If it feels fine for you now, wear and tear will add up in the future and it may not be fine for your some months down the road. I would focus on using it as an accessory movement for 6+ reps, and I would personally do it only one time a week. As a main chest movement, I would do something with the barbell that not only stimulates your chest, but that you can go heavier weight/less reps on.[/quote]
This is the same with every lift. [/quote]
Sure, but it seems especially true for dips. They do stretch the shoulders way more than bench variations and it seems like a lot of guys on this site have had to stop doing dips.

[quote]JFG wrote:

OP has limited equipment to work with.

That statement is both stupid and ignorant.

He will be fine with that exercise.

And I’ll take the teaching of Vince Gironda over you.[/quote]

giving a blunt response>sugar coating it.

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]jwesus wrote:
enjoy looking like you have bitch tits.

kids remember you can’t overdevelop your upper chest but you can over develop your lower chest.[/quote]

so if your primary chest exercise isnt an incline variation you’re going to “look like you have bitch tits”?

thanks for the helpful response.

OP,

I love dips and do them every chest day. I use them as an accessory movement with a little forward lean/no lock out to hit the chest more and it works great for me.

What would you be doing for accessory chest work?[/quote]

most people,yes. It’s a good accessory movement but as a main chest builder? I’d stick to more conventional ways of building a good chest.

being blunt>sugar coating advice, I don’t want my words twisted.

[quote]JFG wrote:

[quote]jwesus wrote:
enjoy looking like you have bitch tits.

kids remember you can’t overdevelop your upper chest but you can over develop your lower chest.[/quote]

OP has limited equipment to work with.

That statement is both stupid and ignorant.

He will be fine with that exercise.

And I’ll take the teaching of Vince Gironda over you.[/quote]

I think his statement has some merit.

Not that anyone would confuse an overdeveloped sternal head of the pec for gyno. But unless the person’s clavicular head of the pec is a genetic strong point, not training it will lead to a ‘saggy’ look.

[quote]HeavyTriple wrote:

[quote]thefederalist wrote:
thanks again to everyone who responded. even if i don’t reply, i’m reading.

greg, i currently do dips as an accessory movement but a) my gym only has dumbbells to 100 and b) flat barbell bench sux (inb4 dave tate video). so i thought i’d give dips a try as a primary over incline barbell just to see how strong i could get on them. the carry-over back to bench strength might be cool too.

you guys think i should just keep incline barbell as primary or does none of this matter until i try it out for myself and stop asking for spoon feeding?[/quote]

Just about every training video I’ve seen from a pro starts with incline, ftr.[/quote]

Yep. And for a good reason.

[quote]jwesus wrote:

[quote]gregron wrote:

[quote]jwesus wrote:
enjoy looking like you have bitch tits.

kids remember you can’t overdevelop your upper chest but you can over develop your lower chest.[/quote]

so if your primary chest exercise isnt an incline variation you’re going to “look like you have bitch tits”?

thanks for the helpful response.

OP,

I love dips and do them every chest day. I use them as an accessory movement with a little forward lean/no lock out to hit the chest more and it works great for me.

What would you be doing for accessory chest work?[/quote]

most people,yes. It’s a good accessory movement but as a main chest builder? I’d stick to more conventional ways of building a good chest.

being blunt>sugar coating advice, I don’t want my words twisted.
[/quote]

I wasnt twisting your words… Just re read what you wrote. you were insinuating that if you’re main lift isnt intended to build the upper chest you would look like you have bitch tits (which isnt true)

[quote]jwesus wrote:

[quote]JFG wrote:

OP has limited equipment to work with.

That statement is both stupid and ignorant.

He will be fine with that exercise.

And I’ll take the teaching of Vince Gironda over you.[/quote]

giving a blunt response>sugar coating it.

[/quote]

You didn’t give a blunt response, you gave a stupid and ignorant response.

Is the dip THE exercise for chest? No
Will the dip replace bench press at powerlifting meets? No
Can he use the dip to build a chest? Yes

But like every other exercise, I’m hope to god that is not the only exercise he will use. Only doing presses will have the same effect. Something laggin or something being overdone.

Doing heavy dips, incline flies and pec decks will not be detrimental to his chest.

Larry Scott did ring flies to help develop his chest. What a noob hey. Good thing the internet was not there back then.

[quote]JFG wrote:

[quote]jwesus wrote:

[quote]JFG wrote:

OP has limited equipment to work with.

That statement is both stupid and ignorant.

He will be fine with that exercise.

And I’ll take the teaching of Vince Gironda over you.[/quote]

giving a blunt response>sugar coating it.

[/quote]

You didn’t give a blunt response, you gave a stupid and ignorant response.

Is the dip THE exercise for chest? No
Will the dip replace bench press at powerlifting meets? No
Can he use the dip to build a chest? Yes

[/quote]

But how do the answers to that list square up with the OP asking if dips are good as the PRIMARY chest exercise?

There really IS a good reason why the men with the biggest pecs do not use dips as their primary pec movement.

The bitch tits thing was hyperbolic, yes. Definitely. But the point of the hyperbole it isnt ignorant.

I know what you are saying.

The OP will NOT get the most bang for his buck on the dip. I’ve stated that.

If all he does is dip for the rest of his life, well, not good.

If he thinks he is going to get an Arnold Chest with dips (like the Picture), again, not good.

BUT, it will not be detrimental for the short term (guess I should have said that before…).

The point of the hyperbole was not ignorant, the delivery was. (damn the internet and lacking nuance when you type…)

But, I’m done. Guess I’m just a simple guy that believes in the old way of BB. I grew up with Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves, Larry Scott, Vince Gironda, etc (old Ironman magazines) Things where simpler then and we just did. We never debated the small stuff.

Cheers

I would not use them as the primary chest exercise either. I personally prefer to use them at the end of chest day.