In the previous newsletter, we were discussing commercial-gym alternatives to the “standard” ideal exercises, which are dumbbell decline presses and cable chest presses…
Those are excellent because they check the top-five ideal-exercise factors on page 15 in Old Man, Young Muscle.
I mentioned that some chest-press machines are okay, but they may have bad strength curves—like too much resistance at the top contracted position…
But what about machine dips for chest?
Looks very similar to a decline press motion if your torso is angled correctly and you flare your elbows slightly…
The resistance curve is good too, with excellent stretch loading and contracted-position unloading as you press out.
The missing element is independent movement of your hands—they are locked in position as on a barbell.
One other problem is that it’s easy to lose the proper torso position, which can throw more stress on your front-delt heads and also cause rotator cuff damage…
That’s especially true with regular parallel-bar dips.
You do NOT want to be pushing straight down, as the low point can torque your shoulder joint. Remember, you’re trying to simulate a decline press.
Again, if you’re hell-bent on using machine dips, put it AFTER a couple of sets of your true ideal exercise as an add-on.
Also, the 1 1/4 method works well on machine dips as well as machine chest presses—do a quarter rep at stretch prior to each full rep.
If you get bored with the “real” ideal exercises, there’s another way to get change to gain without using a different exercise. More on that in an upcoming training newsletter. Stay tuned.
Your Efficient Mass-Building Handbook: For more mass-building tips like the above plus complete workouts that include the ideal exercise for each muscle and the best stretch and contracted add-on moves, get your copy of Old Man, Young Muscle.
And you still get The Muscle-On, Belly-Gone “Diet” ebook FREE for a limited time when you add Old Man, Young Muscle to your mass-building library. Go HERE.
Till next time, train hard—and smart—for BIG results.
—Steve Holman
Former Editor in Chief, Iron Man Magazine
www.X-Rep.com
Recommended
Transform Your Physique Faster than Ever
With proper intermittent fasting, you can transform your physique faster than ever…
Brad Pilon’s book Eat Stop Eat is THE book on Intermittent Fasting. Besides the nuts and bolts of what to do and when to burn fat and build muscle simultaneously, Brad covers all the research on IF-related topics…
From how fasting affects blood glucose/insulin/leptin/testosterone to how it jacks the muscle-building process. You’ll see all the latest science.
Grab your copy now because Eat Stop Eat is only $10 till the end of this month (it’s a $49 value!). Check it out here…
> Get THE Book on Intermittent Fasting (only $10 for a few more days)