Best exercise(s) to do other than bench and dips

[Immortal_k]

Coach Rip and Gallagher commented on this phenomena; beginners adore assistance exercises and lose focus. If they don't help with the main lifts then they aren't assisting you with anything, for them to help you have to reach a certain point of strength.

[GHOSTWOLF]

I don't adore assistance exercises. My main upper body lifts haven't increased, if you'd read the whole thread, while I have fine progress on the others. They can build strength on their own. As well as the main lifts? No way. Better than doing the main lifts absolutely wrong as I have done for six months? Absolutely. Would chin ups be better than curls for functional bicep strength? Absolutely. Would curls still work if you couldn't do chin ups due to injury? Yes, but not as well. Well, I can't do bench press in an effective way that gains strength. I don't know why, but I can't. So what exercisers can I do to mimic it in some way to at least get subpar results?

[hamburgerfan]

It takes more muscle mass to get good at the pressing lifts.

[Regin Smidur]

Maybe you need more volume.

[Oldster]

Maybe you need more volume.

My hero!

[GHOSTWOLF]

Good news everyone! I have renewed faith in my pressing abilities after today's good workout. Stop responding, I'll continue my presses as I should.

[Bart Hakvoort]

http://startingstrength.com/articles...n_rippetoe.pdf

[forgeforth]

Yes, but I don't think 3 pounds of fat gain are necessary. I eat basically whatever so I don't have much excess calories. This makes gaining muscle more difficult, but fat gains also more difficult. And 2 pounds is the MAXIMUM a trainee would gain in a month or so. I'm no genetic freak and my routine and diet aren't 100% so it's more likely 1.5lbs/month. Add to that glycogen and fat and let's call it 3 pounds per month or 18 pounds in 6 months. I'm still lacking, but that's all irrelevant, because my lower body lifts are going up quite nicely and my upper body lifts aren't. If this lack of progress was due to my diet, my lower body lifts would stall the same, which isn't happening. Those lifts aren't light according to my weight on the strength standards calculator.

It sounds like you would like to gain weight gradually to minimize fat gains. There is nothing wrong with this, if that is your goal. The vast majority of the training public will have to go on periods of dieting at some point in their lives, so don't get too hard on yourself if you put on some fat. I'd recommend that you continue to gain weight gradually, but know that this will limit or even stall your strength gains. If gaining fat is absolutely not an option for you, then I recommend a long term approach to diet and training. Gaining muscle without putting on fat is possible outside of the novice stage, but very difficult. It requires a lot of time and proper attention to nutrition. It also requires a lot of patience. The good news is, if you decide to gain weight (and strength) gradually over the course of a year, the amount of fat you put on would be minimal and can be dieted off rather quickly. I'm planning to gain 30 pounds in all of 2013. If around half of that is lean mass and the other half is fat, a 3 month diet following would be sufficient (before I gain weight again).

Aanyway, there is nothing wrong with wanting to minimize fat gains as much as possible if that is your goal, but you shouldn't be surprised if your lifts begin to stall sooner rather than later, especially the pressing exercises.