subject: Chest Dips For Maximum Pectoral Development [print this page] Chest dips are one of those exercises that most people don't even consider when they sit down to plan out their chest workout. While chest dips are typically thought of as a triceps building exercise, the fact of the matter is that with a simple adjustment to your body position during the downward phase of this exercise, you can isolate you pecs and intensely work your pecs!
I think so highly of chest dips that I work them into each of my upper body workouts. It's a phenomenal movement that really doesn't get the credit (as a pectoral exercise) that it deserves. If you really want to pack on some real mass in your upper body then you need to learn how to do chest dips properly and make it a point to incorporate them into your pectoral program.
Even though chest dips in general have been typically considered a body weight exercise, you won't be able to get the biggest muscle building benefit from this movement until you start performing chest dips with weights. However, in order to get the level of muscular strength that you're going to need in order to perform chest dips with weights and decent form, it's a good idea to work your way through at least a couple of workouts of unweighted body weight dips in order to learn the proper form and build up a level of muscular strength so that you don't actually wind up injuring yourself once you increase the training weight.
In order to work weights into this movement you're going to need a weight lifting belt that allows you to hang some type of resistance below your body. The most typical piece of equipment that see in the gyms these days is a simple weight lifting belt with two round metal rings in the front that you can run a chain through them and, then hang the weight on the chain. These belts can be purchased ready to go, or you can retro fit one of your own weight belts.
In my opinion, the main benefit of chest dips lies in the fact that you can seriously stretch your pecs during the bottom portion of this movement in a very controlled way. This allows for more blood and nutrient flow through your pectoral muscles, while improving your range of motion and increasing your chest flexibility. But you do have to be careful to not overextend the range of this exercise, as you can injure your shoulders or tear your pectoral muscles if you're not careful.
In order to stimulate the most muscle growth chest dips and and really kick-start some amazing chest growth, you've absolutely got to learn how to perform dips with appropriate form. Practice this movement a few times before you even try to increase the weight. You may find that you need to build up a solid level of strength before you move on to weighted dips. If that's the case don't worry about it, just focus on completing your dips with proper form and your strength will improve.
Here's how to complete chest dips in order to stimulate some real pectoral growth:
1.) Place your hands on the parallel bars spaced out approximately shoulder width
2.) Lift your feet off of the stands by straightening your arms
3.) Tilt your body forward while slowly lowering yourself (this is what takes the emphasis off of your triceps and places the bulk of the load on to your pectoral muscles)
4.) Continue lowering your body until the bottom of your chest is even with your hands
5.) Extend your arms and push your body back to the starting position while focusing on leaning forward as much as possible.
If you want to build a bigger chest, then you've got to add weighted chest dips to your workouts. Not only will they help you improve the overall flexibility level of your upper body, but you will be able to stimulate your pecs to explode like never before!
