Dips instead of bench press? (Partner woes...)

[jerji]

hey all,

The subject says it all, really. My partner misses a lot of workouts and it makes it really hard to progress on the bench having no spotter. I've been able to ask another person there to spot me once but there's usually no one else there so I end up just doing higher rep / lower weight sets.

I'm wondering if it would be a good idea to just do dips on these days instead, or even do dips instead of bench all the time. From reading SS, it sounded like Rip was down on dips mostly because they are difficult to judge and thus cannot be used as a competitive lift.

What does the community thing about this substitution?

thanks in advance!

[simonsky]

there's no power rack in your gym?

yes you could switch it with dips. dips will increase your bench and also the press

[burnsco]

I havn't had to use a spotter once since I've started SS. And if I did fail a rep I would just let the weights slide off because I don't put a collar on.

[Jason B]

Dips are a fine substitute. If one of your big goals is bench press strength or you are a powerlifter then obviously find a way to stick with the bench though. I primarily compete in strongman and I use dips over the bench most of the year because I feel it does more for overhead pressing, the only time I train the bench is if I'm prepping for a PL meet.

[Gary Gibson]

Dips are a fine substitute. If one of your big goals is bench press strength or you are a powerlifter then obviously find a way to stick with the bench though. I primarily compete in strongman and I use dips over the bench most of the year because I feel it does more for overhead pressing, the only time I train the bench is if I'm prepping for a PL meet.

Interesting.

This was hashed out in the "Squat of the Upper Body" thread. Weighted dips are awesome. I have to admit that if I didn't have to contest the bench press, I'd probably train dips a lot more than bench. I wouldn't test a 1RM on weighted dips, however. But if you train up to near bodyweight added for reps, you are going to be very strong and will have a very large, muscular upper body.

A word of advice, OP: record yourself or have someone call your depth. I thought I was going really deep on dips, but turns out I'm just barely breaking upper arms parallel. Feels like my elbows are a foot higher than my shoulders at the bottom, but this is not the case!

[LimieJosh]

Remember that going to failure isnt what pushes the improvements when following the SS program. So if you find yourself routinely needing a spotter to dig yourself out of a hole then you're likely using too much weight.

I have a preference for dumb bells over BB bench, in large part because I prefer to train alone and so encounter the same issue you describe. However, due to the way I fluctuate my training/goals throughout the year there are phases where I eek out small periods of linear progression on some of my lifts and when I do this for bench I always use the barbell because of the better ability to microload my increases from week to week. I have added about 40lbs to my bench on the last 2 months and not one set was performed with a spotter as I know before I start a rep if I'm going to fail and if I do I simply do not attempt it, as that failed attempt does nothing for the improvements I make during this phase of my training.

[Dastardly]

Do you use a public gym? Surely you can find another spot?

Failing this you could try the no collars method, where you slide the plates off the side if you get stuck. I admit this would be dangerous if you are moving big weights.

From my experiences with dips vs bench press, I always felt dips were missing something, like they were the easy option. Bench pressing relies a lot on good technique/maintaining thoracic extension/stabilising muscles. Dips however seem very "self-regulating" and not work a lot of the supporting muscles like benching does.

Perhaps throw in some dumb bell bench pressing in addition to dips?

[LimieJosh]

From my experiences with dips vs bench press, I always felt dips were missing something, like they were the easy option. Bench pressing relies a lot on good technique/maintaining thoracic extension/stabilising muscles. Dips however seem very "self-regulating" and not work a lot of the supporting muscles like benching does.

Try doing dips with weights hanging from your waist with a pulled hamstring and then tell me how little stabilization is required to do them.

[Jason B]

This was hashed out in the "Squat of the Upper Body" thread. Weighted dips are awesome. I have to admit that if I didn't have to contest the bench press, I'd probably train dips a lot more than bench. I wouldn't test a 1RM on weighted dips, however. But if you train up to near bodyweight added for reps, you are going to be very strong and will have a very large, muscular upper body.

I agree, I train for reps first on dips, I wouldn't ever try anything less than 8 reps, that way if I accidentally go too heavy I can still get like 5 and quit, but I wouldn't go anywhere near an actual 1RM.

[Mark E. Hurling]

My vote is for dips. I haven't bench pressed in over 10 years since I don't compete in powerlifting. Get a dip belt, or develop some strong adductors in the legs and hold a dumbell between your knees to add weight. I don't want to start a big controversy here, but unless you have kevlar deltoids and teflon A/C joints, I'd be careful about going to a point below where the upper arms are parallel to the floor. Going too deep has caused shoulder problems for a lot of people besides just me.