The bench press is often called the king of upper body exercises, but it’s not true. Yes, it’s a great compound movement that works most of your upper body muscles, but it doesn’t really get the job done. The barbell squat is called the king of lower body exercises and this is true while the leg press is also executed. because? For the same reason, the bench press takes a backseat to parallel bar dips.

What Makes Parallel Bar Dips Superior? First of all, parallel bar dips are a balance exercise with only your hands for support, just like barbell squats with only your feet for support.

Second, the entire upper body must work together to stabilize itself as the arms go from straight to full bend and back again, just like in the barbell squat, except that the barbell squat bar force your entire body to move, making you superior in that regard. .

Third, the extreme range of motion possible with parallel bar dips cannot be matched by the bench press, even the dumbbell version, which carries a higher risk of injury because you’re trying to control two heavy dumbbells when you start to swing. get tired and start to lose control of two independent weights. . Parallel dips mimic a barbell squat in its vertical trajectory, extreme extension results in the greatest degree of stretch possible and provides the greatest potential for full development through the full range of motion. This is a very important aspect when choosing any exercise, stretching being just as important as contraction.

Fourth, parallel bar dips are one of the few multi-joint exercises that retain tension in the muscles involved in the movement from extension to lockout, yes I said lockout. Like the barbell squats in the lockout, the upper and lower arm bones lock like the upper and lower leg bones, but unlike the knee joint in which you can lock and hold the weight, even resting for a few more reps, the triceps muscles cannot rest when the arms are locked when doing parallel bar dips like they are when bench pressing.

Because the body is suspended on the hands and the forward pull from this position, the triceps must fight to keep the elbows locked. Also, unlike the bench press, the pecs can never rest, even in the lockout, they contract hard to prevent you from falling forward. The front and lateral deltoid heads are working through the full range and lockout. The amount of muscle fiber stimulation, continuous tension, time under tension, total muscle groups involved, extreme range, and extreme stretch make parallel bar dips the king of upper body exercises. of the body, a worthy equivalent of the barbell squat.

To break down the mechanics of dips and compare them to barbell squats, triceps act as quadriceps, biceps act as hamstrings, forearms act as calves, pecs act as glutes, deltoids act as hips, trapezius act as the lower back, abdominals and spinal erectors act as stabilizers to keep the body still and maintain position and the latissimus dorsi acts as a solid base for driving the upper arms, working the triceps to move the arms into a straight arm position and help the triceps guide the body to the bottom position, acting like a spring that tightens.

The trapezius, latissimus dorsi and triceps work together to pull the body out of the hole and as the body rises the deltoids and pecs assume more important roles, the pecs and trapezius work in unison, the latissimus dorsi supports the deltoids and triceps as they move into Lockout. A truly powerful move.

The strength potential possible with parallel bar dips is considerable, I myself have used over a hundred extra pounds strapped to me for reps. My brother at the top end of the range has parallel bar dipped for five full range reps with front deltoids touching hands on bottom to lock out straight arm with two hundred and five pounds of additional weight strapped to him at a hundred bodyweight. ninety pounds, quite a sight to behold.

As with any exercise, good form is vital to avoiding injury and ensuring full development, especially with an exercise like parallel bar dips. Trust me, you can’t fake heavy dives, you’ll get your ass kicked and quickly shown who’s boss. This is a true power exercise and one that must be respected, you must have full focus the entire time, there is no room for daydreaming or sloppy form, dropping to the bottom position and if you are going to do partial reps, staying close to the bottom. top of the movement so that you can handle some big weights, you are wasting your time and have lost the whole point of doing this movement.

Let’s quickly go over the execution of the movement, starting with your arms locked, supporting your weight, with your hands gripping two bars about two feet apart and at a height where your bent knees do not make contact with the floor at the bottom of the movement, focus fully on staying still and lowering your arms down in a slow controlled manner, keeping them close to your sides, feeling the muscles contract like a spring until you come to a soft stop with your hands in contact with your front deltoids with your arms bent as far as they can bend, feeling the stretch in the pecs and then holding tight, begin to push yourself up, not bouncing off the bottom and keeping your body as still as possible until straight arm lockout.

Don’t let your elbows snap into lockout or come out of lockout on the downward part of the movement, if you’re doing this you’re using too much extra weight and you don’t have weight control.

You may also have heard that there are two ways to do parallel bar dips, leaning forward for the pecs and keeping your body as upright as possible for the triceps. It is best to do parallel bar dips in a natural neutral position that feels comfortable and is easy to maintain.

Doing parallel bar dips with excessive forward lean places negative stress on the elbows and front deltoids, as well as the rotator cuffs.

Doing parallel bar dips with a straight up and down position is hard to sustain as the reps get more difficult, as is the fact that the muscles have enough to contend with to balance on the hands while it is moving.

If you want to focus on the triceps more than the pecs, bench dips are a far superior option as they actually position your upper body in front of your arms, transfer more stress to your triceps, make it easy to hold position so you can focus your full attention on the action of the triceps while still reaping the benefits of extreme range of motion, superior stretching of the triceps and pectoralis, improved shoulder joint mobility even beyond dips regular parallel bar pulls and continuous tension, though it made the lockout easier to hold, so no need to linger on the lockout.

Parallel bar dips fit great into any part of a routine, if you use them early on you could do much worse than parallel bar dips and crossover dumbbell pullovers for increasing the size and power of your pecs, deltoids and triceps in a simple basic mass format.

Performed at the end of the chest portion of your workout, parallel bar dips can push the chest and deltoids hard when more isolated exercises are employed beforehand.

Performed at the end of the triceps portion of your workout, your chest, shoulders, lats, and traps can push your triceps to greater size and development.

If I could only do two upper body exercises, I would choose the shoulder width under chin grip and parallel bar dips, the upper body squat.