Parallel Bar Dip

by John Pike
(Toronto)

How good are parallel bar dips? No question, the dip exercise is BEST for building your chest - especially for deep and thick sweeping lower pecs!

Anatomically, the pectorals attach in two places at the shoulder, and to achieve a completely finished and well-developed looking pec, you must do lots of incline work too. How important is this? My incline bench press work is as heavy as my prone, THAT'S how important it is to me...

Aggressively developed upper pecs give the bodybuilder incredible depth as he stands side ways.

Parallel bar dips are an advanced chest movement because you will need to have achieved some physical strength to perform them. Because of the closeness of the grip configuration, the triceps get hit hard too. A dipping tip? Keeping the body more upright as you dip, hits the triceps hard; while leaning your head, shoulders and chest forward, stresses the chest muscles. All in all, this is a VERY strict and disciplined technique, not for the faint of heart!

Important: never associate the dip exercise with the decline bench press, that exercise needs to be tossed...