CHEST

Flat Barbell Bench Press

 

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press

 

Incline Barbell Press

 

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Incline Dumbbell Press (Palms facing each other)

 

Incline dumbbell Fly  

 

Dumbbell Pullover

 

Chest Dips

 

Flat dumbbell Fly

Flat Barbell Bench Press

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Middle chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid, Triceps

NOTES: This exercise is often considered the foundation piece for building & developing the bulk of the chest muscles.

There are however many guy’s who complain that this particular exercise impinges and hurts their shoulders. This may be due to the individual mechanics of the lifter and also the fact that the barbell’s fixed bar hand placement may inhibit the natural range of motion of the lifter. The best advice is to see if it feels good for you; if it does, continue with it. If it does not feel good, there are plenty of other exercises that are just as effective at building powerful pecs!

 

EXERCISE POSITION AND FORM

1. With the barbell in the rack, lie back on the flat bench. Grip the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. When you get the bar to your chest your forearms should be approximately perpendicular to the floor.

 

2. Put your feet flat on the floor at the sides of the bench to help you with balance while lifting.

 

3. Pinch your shoulder blades together against the flat bench so that it causes your chest to rise. You can imagine pinching a ball between your shoulder blades. This will take the shoulders out of the chest movement, allowing the chest to be the primary area working during the exercise.

 

4. Unrack the bar and lower it in controlled fashion to within an inch of your chest. The bar should be over your sternum, not your collar bone or neck, so your elbows will not stick out quite perpendicular to your body.  If you are using heavy weights have a partner assist with unracking the bar to avoid shoulder injuries.

 

5. With the chest in its elevated posi­tion, the elbows out and wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor, tense up your chest muscles to get in Zone-Tone and prepare for the press.

 

6. With your attention fully on your chest muscles, press the barbell up toward the ceiling while counting to two (unless you are using a cadence other than the 2-Step Rep). Before pressing, squeeze the barbell with your hands and keep that tension there throughout the exercise.

 

7. As you reach the top of the exercise, be careful not to let the bar swing over your head. If it goes over your head, the weight transfers to the weaker anterior shoulder muscles and you risk serious injury. Likewise, don’t let the bar drift too far toward your pelvis where the weight again passes out of control of your chest muscles.                           

 

8. Hold the final contraction for a count of two and begin lowering the weight while holding your proper postural alignment throughout the exercise.

 

9. As the weight gets within an inch of your chest slowly begin to press the bar up again in a controlled, fluid motion, without using any momentum. Always stay focused and concentrated on the muscles being contracted.

 

Flat Barbell Bench - Tip From The Top

An Alpha Male Thought:

Don’t forget to always get into the “Zone-Tone”, and envision your pectorals, or chest muscles, working optimally. Picture the fibers being stimulated, as the chest muscles are pulling your arms up. (See Mindful Exercise chapter page X) Use The Screw technique to handle heavier loads. (See Mindful Exercise chapter page X)

Mindfulness

Having trouble with the last rep in your set? Imagine there’s an invisible person spotting you and they’re there to help you through those last grueling inches to the top. They can pull as hard as you need them to.

Flat Dumbbell Press

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Middle chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid, Triceps

NOTES: Although you won’t be able to press as much weight with dumbbells as you can a barbell, dumbbells allow for more stretch and isolation of the chest muscles. They also work each side of the chest independently, making strength imbalances less likely. With dumbbells, you’ll need to work your way up from light weight so you can get accustomed to the movements without risking injury.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. Begin by sitting on the end of the bench with the dumbbells on your thighs. Thrust one leg up, leveraging the respective dumbbell up to your chest. Immediately thrust the second dumb­bell upward with the other leg while simultaneously allowing momentum from the dumbbells to guide you back into the lying, supine position (flat, with your body facing the ceiling). Use your abdominal muscles to safely ease you into that position.

 

2. Put your feet flat on the floor at the sides of the bench to help you with balance while lifting.

 

3. Pinch your shoulder blades together against the flat bench so that it causes your chest to rise. You can imagine pinching a ball between your shoulder blades. This will take the shoulders out of the chest movement, allowing the chest to be the primary area working during the exercise.

 

4. Position the dumbbells to the outside of your chest. Keep your elbows wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor throughout the exercise move­ment. Find a position that is wide enough to be comfortable and not so wide as to redirect the force to the shoulders. The wider you go beyond a com­fortable position, the more likely you are to redirect the force of the weight onto the shoulders rather than the pecs. Even worse, when you widen your arms excessively when pressing a heavy or even moderate weight, you are actually causing the outer pec­toral muscle to tear.

 

5. With the chest in its elevated posi­tion, the elbows out and wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor, tense up your chest muscles to get in Zone-Tone and prepare for the press.

 

6. With your attention fully on your chest muscles, press the dumbbells up toward the ceiling while counting to two (unless you are using a cadence other than the 2-Step Rep).

 

7. As you reach the top of the exercise, you can either touch the dumbbells together or press them straight up like a barbell press. You can play around with different positions at the top of the movement as you may get a better muscle contraction by varying the dumbbell positions. The most important thing is to get the most intense contraction possible. You can do this by simply touching the dumbbells together and squeezing, or you can turn the dumbbells slightly inward at the top of the movement, allowing for a more controlled and isolated contrac­tion.      

 

8. Hold the final contraction for a count of two, and begin lowering the weight while holding your proper postural alignment throughout the exercise.

 

9. As the weights get level with your chest, slowly begin to press the dumbbells up again in a controlled, fluid motion, without using any momentum. Always stay focused and concentrated on the muscles being contracted. If you don't have any type of shoulder injuries or muscle impingement, you may allow the dumbbells to lower to a comfortable stretch where the dumbbells are paral­lel with your chest. Always make sure that you stay in control of the dumb­bells and maintain this control throughout the exercise.

 

Flat Dumbbell Press sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

 

Don’t rush your reps. Perform each repetition properly, with good form on both the lifting phase (concentric) and on the lowering phase (eccentric) of the weight. Keeping perfect form and technique is much more important than just trying to do all of your intended repetitions for a set. If you find yourself becoming sloppy, using too much momentum and losing form, stop the exercise, lower the weight and begin again. Really engage your mind/muscle connection and feel and think about each rep to stimulate the intended muscles to their maximum potential.

                                                               Mindfulness         

Before you do your first set, close your eyes and mentally picture all of your chest muscles lighting up in red. Whenever you push the bar up off your chest, picture the chest muscle lighting up even more brightly. Keep that image going throughout your set, as it will greatly help you focus and engage the appropriate muscles to their maximum potential.

Incline Barbell Bench Press

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Upper chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid, Triceps

NOTES: The incline bench press targets the upper chest muscles and will give you that “big chest” look. Typically, you will not be able to use as much weight on the incline bench press as you would on the flat bench press because you are isolating a smaller section of the chest.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. With the barbell in the rack, lie back on the bench with the backrest set at a 45- to 60-degree angle. Grip the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width apart. When you get the bar to your chest your forearms should be approximately perpendicular to the floor.

 

2. Put your feet flat on the floor at the sides of the bench to help you with balance while lifting.

 

3. Pinch your shoulder blades together and downward against the flat bench so that it causes your chest to rise. You can imagine pinching a ball between your shoulder blades. This will take the shoulders out of the chest movement, allowing the chest to be the primary area working during the exercise.

 

4. Unrack the bar and lower it in controlled fashion to within an inch of your chest. The bar should be over your sternum, not your collar bone or neck, so your elbows will not stick out quite perpendicular to your body.  If you are using heavy weights have a partner assist with unracking the bar to avoid shoulder injuries.

 

5. With the chest in its elevated posi­tion, the elbows out and wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor, tense up your chest muscles to get in Zone-Tone and prepare for the press. Focus your attention and tensing on the upper pecs just below the collar bone.

 

6. Before pressing, squeeze the barbell with your hands and keep that tension there throughout the exercise.

 

7. As you reach the top of the exercise, be careful not to let the bar swing over your head. If it goes over your head, the weight transfers to the weaker deltoid muscles and you risk serious injury. Likewise, don’t let the bar drift too far toward your pelvis where the weight again passes out of control of your chest muscles.  

                        

8. Hold the final contraction for a count of two and begin lowering the weight while holding your proper postural alignment throughout the exercise.

 

9. Lower the weight to a level that is comfortable, making sure that the chest muscles hold the majority of the resistance.

 

10. Slowly begin to press the weight up again in a controlled, fluid motion, without using any momentum. Always stay focused and concentrated on the muscles being contracted.

 

Incline Barbell Bench Press sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

On the incline bench press, your focus must be more precise than just generally focusing on your chest muscle. You should specifically picture the upper pectoral muscles being activated. They are located along the top portion of your chest, just under the collar bone. During your exercise, consciously contract these muscles, as your arms are being pushed up.

Mindfulness

Another way to help you identify the muscles being used in an exercise is to trace your finger in a line from the muscle’s insertion point (where it connects on the bone furthest from the body) to its origin (where it connects to the bone closest to the body). This will give you a feel for the path along which the muscle will contract. The sensation from touching the muscle with your finger will linger while you pick up the weights and get started.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Upper chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid, Triceps

NOTES: The incline bench press targets the upper chest muscles and will give you that “big chest” look. Typically, you will not be able to use as much weight on the incline bench press as you would on the flat bench press because you are isolating a smaller section of the chest. The dumbbell version can be performed with two grips: with palms facing away or palms facing each other. For both grips, the movements are the same. As with the flat bench press, if you’re using dumbbells, work your way up from light weights so you can get accustomed to the movements without risking injury.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. Begin by sitting on the end of the bench with the dumbbells on your thighs. Thrust one leg up, leveraging the respective dumbbell up to your chest. Immediately thrust the second dumb­bell upward with the other leg while simultaneously allowing momentum from the dumbbells to guide you back into an inclined position against the backrest, which should be set at a 45- to 60-degree angle. Use your abdominal muscles to safely ease you into that position.

 

2. Put your feet flat on the floor at the sides of the bench to help you with balance while lifting.

 

3. Pinch your shoulder blades together and downward against the flat bench so that it causes your chest to rise. You can imagine pinching a ball between your shoulder blades. This will take the shoulders out of the chest movement, allowing the chest to be the primary area working during the exercise.

 

4. Position the dumbbells to the outside of your chest. Keep your elbows wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor throughout the exercise move­ment. Find a position that is wide enough to be comfortable and not so wide as to redirect the force to the shoulders. The wider you go beyond a com­fortable position, the more likely you are to redirect the force of the weight on to the shoulders rather than the pecs. Even worse, when you widen your arms excessively while pressing a heavy or even moderate weight, you are actually causing the outer pec­toral muscle to tear.

 

5. With the chest in its elevated posi­tion, the elbows out and wide and the forearms perpendicular to the floor, tense up your chest muscles to get in Zone-Tone and prepare for the press. Focus your attention and tensing on the upper pecs just below the collar bone.

 

6. With your attention fully on your upper chest muscles, press the barbell or dumbbells up toward the ceiling while counting to two (unless you are using a cadence other than the 2-Step Rep).

 

7. As you reach the top of the exercise, you can either touch the dumbbells together or press them straight up like a bench press. You can play around with different positions at the top of the movement as you may get a better muscle contraction by varying the dumbbell positions. The most important thing is to get the most intense contraction possible. You can do this by simply touching the dumbbells together and squeezing, or you can turn the dumbbells slightly inward at the top of the movement, allowing for a more controlled and isolated contrac­tion.      

                                                                                                            

8. Hold the final contraction for a count of two and begin lowering the weight while holding your proper postural alignment throughout the exercise.

 

9. Lower the weight to a level that is comfortable, making sure that the chest muscles hold the majority of the resistance. If you don't have any type of shoulder injuries or muscle impingement, you may allow the dumbbells to lower to a comfortable stretch where the dumbbells are paral­lel with your chest. Always make sure that you stay in control of the dumb­bells and maintain this control throughout the exercise.

 

10. Slowly begin to press the weight up again in a controlled, fluid motion, without using any momentum. Always stay focused and concentrated on the muscles being contracted.

 

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

When you’re resting between sets, work on developing your mind-muscle connection by isometrically contracting one muscle at a time throughout your body. Start with one foot and work your way up that side of the body, across the shoulders and down the other side of the body until you’ve contracted every muscle that you know about. The trick is to contract “flex” each muscle in isolation, which will take some practice. It will probably take you several rest periods to complete the pattern. Concentrate on one muscle at a time between each set OR keep the focus on the muscle which you are currently training.  

 

Mindfulness

Try counting your reps backward. Sometimes counting out the number of reps you have left makes it easier toward the end of the set because now your mind/muscle link is all about: “Only three more, I can handle it . . . only two more, I can do it . . . last one, this is easy!”

Flat Dumbbell Fly

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Middle chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid

NOTES: It might look as if this exercise is identical to the dumbbell bench press, but it is not. With the dumbbell press, you are straightening the elbow joint and utilizing horizontal adduction of the shoulder joints—the movement of bringing the arms together. The dumbbell fly must only incorporate the shoulder joints movement and not the elbow joints extension. The elbows must be locked into place for the exercise to be truly effective. IMPORTANT: Start with less weight that you would use in a dumbbell press because you will have fewer muscles assisting the pectorals.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. You'll want to align your body exactly as you did with the dumbbell press, with your chest arched upward and your shoulder blades pinched together. But now you will have the palms of your hands facing each other instead of facing the wall in front of you.

2. Begin by pressing the dumbbells to arms’ length above you. Then lower the weights with control outward and downward until they are at approximately chest level. Your palms should face each other throughout the exercise. Keep your elbows nearly straight throughout the exercise.

 

3. Inhale and focus on your chest muscles. As you get into the Zone-Tone, imagine your pecs contracting and drawing your arms together.  Exhale and squeeze the dumbbells together in an upward arc while keeping your elbows locked at the same angle as when you started the move.

 

4. As you follow arch the dumbbells upward, picture yourself hugging a tree. Imagine there is a tree between you and the dumbbells; you will be mimicking the exact motion of hugging it. This visualization technique will help keep you in the correct position to follow the arched movement. All of this will ensure that your chest muscles receive the most intense stimulation and contrac­tion possible.

 

5. As you reach the top of the move­ment, be sure to consciously contract the chest muscles as hard as you pos­sibly can for maximum muscle stimula­tion.

 

4. Begin lowering the weight while hold­ing the proper alignment, technique and form throughout the movement. As you reach the bottom of the movement, be sure not to let the back of the arms go too far below the level of your chest, as this could cause injury to the shoulders’ rotator cuff.

 

5. When you reach the bottom of the movement, slowly begin squeezing the dumbbells back upward in an arch again. Use a controlled, fluid motion, making sure you don’t use momentum

 

Flat Dumbbell Fly sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

Try doing this exercise just before doing flat barbell bench press. This exercise, which does a great job of isolating the pectoral (chest) muscles, will “pre-exhaust” those muscles. When you hit the bench press, which is a compound exercise that doesn’t isolate as well as the fly, the pectoral muscles will be fatigued, but the supporting muscles will be fresh and will force the pectorals to work harder. This will stimulate the pecs to their maximum potential, for growth.

Mindfulness

When repetitions begin to get difficult, imagine that those dumbbells are magnetic. As you press them upward, feel the magnetic energy pulling them up and together.

Safety Tip

The further a weight gets from your body the heavier its actual load on the muscles is. With the fly, the weight gets nearly a full arm’s length from the body which effectively triples the weight. If you try to use the same dumbbells you used on the bench press, you will quickly lose control on the descent and could seriously damage muscles, tendons & ligaments and even possibly bones—start light—really light, until you perfect the movement.

 

Incline Dumbbell Fly

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Upper chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Anterior Deltoid

NOTES: It might look as if this exercise is identical to the incline dumbbell bench press, but it is not. With the press, you are straightening the elbow joint and utilizing horizontal adduction of the shoulder joints—the movement of bringing the arms together. The fly must only incorporate the shoulder joints movement and not the elbow joints extension. The elbows must be locked into place for the exercise to be truly effective. IMPORTANT: Start with less weight than you would use in a dumbbell press because you will have fewer muscles assisting the pectorals.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. You'll want to align your body exactly as you did with the incline dumbbell press, with your chest arched upward and your shoulder blades pinched together and downward. But now you will have the palms of your hands facing each other instead of facing the wall in front of you.

2. Begin by pressing the dumbbells to arms’ length above you. Then lower the weights with control outward and downward until they are at approximately chest level. Your palms should face each other throughout the exercise.

 

3. Inhale and focus on your chest muscles. As you get into the Zone-Tone, imagine your pecs contracting and drawing your arms together.  Exhale and squeeze the dumbbells together in an upward arc while keeping your elbows locked at the same angle as when you started the move.

 

4. As you follow arch the dumbbells upward, picture yourself hugging a tree. Make believe there is a tree between you and the dumbbells; you will be mimicking the exact motion of hugging it. This visualization technique will help keep you in the correct position to follow the arched movement. All of this will ensure that your chest muscles receive the most intense stimulation and contrac­tion possible.

 

5. As you reach the top of the move­ment, be sure to consciously contract the chest muscles as hard as you pos­sibly can for maximum muscle stimula­tion.

 

4. Begin lowering the weight while hold­ing the proper alignment, technique and form throughout the movement. As you reach the bottom of the movement, be sure not to let the back of the arms go too far below the level of your chest, as this could cause injury to the shoulders’ rotator cuff.

 

5. When you reach the bottom of the movement, slowly begin squeezing the dumbbells back upward in an arch again. Use a controlled, fluid motion, making sure you don’t use momentum.

 

Incline Dumbbell Fly sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

As your arms spread, in the lowering phase (eccentric), really concentrate on the stretch and picture the muscle fibers resisting the weight as you go.  When your arms are on the way up, concentrate on the contraction and picture the individual muscle fibers being stimulates. Bodybuilder champion Arnold Schwarzenegger calls this “Putting your mind in the muscle.”

Mindfulness

When repetitions begin to get difficult, imagine that those dumbbells are magnetic. As you press them upward, feel the magnetic energy pull them up and together.

Safety Tip

The further a weight gets from your body the heavier its actual load on the muscles is. With the fly, the weight gets nearly a full arm’s length from the body which effectively triples the weight. If you try to use the same dumbbells you used on the incline press, you could quickly lose control on the descent and seriously damage muscles, tendons & ligaments and even possibly bones—start light—really light, until you perfect the movement.

 

Dumbbell Pullover

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Pectorals

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Triceps, serratus anterior

NOTES: Although this exercise looks a little strange, it's great for the upper body. It does a great job of thickening the pectorals.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

1. Lie with your upper body across a flat bench, with a dumbbell in your hands.

 

2. Ensure that your neck and your upper back are the only body parts resting on the bench.

 

3. Stand a dumbbell on your chest and with two hands palm up press it over your chest at arm’s length. (Please ensure that the dumbbells you are using have their weights prop­erly secured).

 

4. Bring your focus and attention to your chest muscles and flex them as you get into Zone-Tone. Imagine that your arms are a steel tower and your pecs are the cables that are keeping that tower vertical.

 

5. Keep your arms straight as you slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head in an arc. Now your pectoral cables are slowly lengthening and allowing the weight to gradually pull down the steel tower of your arms—but remember, those arms are steel and straight!

 

6. Ensure that your hips are not being raised as you lower the weight.

 

7. When you reach the fully stretched position, hold the stretch for two seconds. Now start reeling in that pectoral cable and raise the weight back up in an arc until you reach the starting position once again.

 

Dumbbell Pullover sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

When doing this particular exercise, think about the vertical pull and how the motion of this exercise stimulates the chest muscles. The direction of this exercise is a little different here than the other chest exercises, so your thoughts about how the muscles become engaged will be a bit different…Remember, perfect practice makes perfect!

Mindfulness

When the going gets tough, have a training partner lightly tap your forearms in an upward direction. Don’t let him actually help lift the weight; the light tapping helps your mind and muscles think about the direction they need to go and can get you up the last few inches. They can also put their index fingers on each side of your chest, while telling you to push their fingers to the roof. This method helps to connect your mind to the said muscle and allows you to fully feel the contraction and recruit maximum muscle fibers.

Chest Dips

PRIMARY TARGET MUSCLES: Lower chest

SECONDARY TARGET MUSCLES: Triceps, serratus muscles

NOTES: This exercise uses a parallel dip station. If you cannot do a dip, you can try a weight assistant machine such as the Gravitron, which counter balances a portion of your body weight.

 

EXECUTION AND FORM

With this exercise, you'll want to bend at the knees, lock your feet and bend forward as you lower yourself. You must stay bent over to keep the focus of resistance in the chest muscles. These three steps will help transfer most of the resistance to the chest muscles and avoid recruiting the triceps. To do this, you will need a dip station or machine. If you are working out in your home, I suggest you purchase an inexpensive dip unit from one of the sports-related retail chains or a wholesale fitness supply store. In a wholesale store, you can usually negotiate a lower price and the quality of the apparatus is usually much better. Look in your local yellow pages for the store nearest you.

1. Place your hands on the parallel bars as you position yourself for pos­tural alignment.

 

2. The best way to align yourself is to raise yourself up onto the dip bars by locking out your arms. You will then align your body, starting with your head and moving down to your feet.

 

3. While suspended in the top position of the exercise, your head will at first be level and looking straight ahead. You may find that bending your head slightly forward as you lower yourself will help you lean forward for increased muscle stimulation in the chest. You must constantly focus all of your atten­tion on the chest muscles during this exercise as this will help increase the involvement of the chest muscles and keep you in the proper alignment.

 

4. Bend your legs at the knees and hook your feet over one another. This will help keep your back arched for­ward for the ultimate involvement of the chest muscles.

 

5. As you lower yourself from the lock­out position immediately begin to lean forward. The farther you lean forward, the more your chest muscles will work. Keep the elbows and arms away from your body, helping to better isolate the chest muscles and avoid recruiting the triceps. Lower yourself slowly while resisting your bodyweight all the way to the bot­tom position.

 

6. Lower yourself until the backs of your arms are parallel or slightly beyond parallel with the floor. Remember, you should never go so low that you feel any chest or shoulder pain or you could seriously injure yourself. Go to a point where you are comfort­able and increase a little more the next session if needed.

 

7. When you reach the bottom position, do not rest! Slowly, with a smooth transition, begin to press your body upward without using any momentum. Make sure that you maintain your pos­tural alignment.

 

8. As you begin pressing upward, make sure that all of your focus is once again directed to your chest muscles. This alone will help stimulate the triceps through increased muscle control. As you near the top of the motion, your goal is not to lock out the joint but to contract and squeeze the chest muscles as hard as you possibly can for a 2-sec­ond count. It is important for the chest muscles to hold you in this position rather than lock out with the triceps or the elbow joints.

 

9. Remember that there should be no rest at the top of the exercise after the contraction period. From that lock out position, once again slowly lower your­self as you resist the weight of your body back to the bottom position. If you get to a point where your body weight is too light for the exercise, you may use a dip belt to hook some additional weight to your body, thus increasing the resis­tance. Please make sure that if you do use additional weight, you do so in small, incremental stages.

 

Chest Dips sidebar

Mind Over Muscle Thoughts:

Think about where you are feeling the muscle contractions. If it’s in the triceps, you need to lean forward more over the handles to bring the chest into play more. You may also need to spread your elbows out wider. Remember to stay focused on the muscle contraction of the chest, no matter how exhausted you are, or how heavy the weight seems.

Mindfulness

If you’re having trouble making it to the top of the press, imagine there is an angel hovering above you and at the last second he grabs you and lifts you skyward. This visualization should make your muscles think your body has suddenly become lighter and give you the bit of assistance you need to get to the top.

 

Safety Tip

Never over-stress your muscles, tendons & ligaments. If chest dips are too difficult to do the required number of reps, you can put a chair behind you and put your toes on it so you can get a little help from your legs. You can also use the assisted pull-up machine, AKA “Gravitron”. This should only be done if you cannot push yourself up or after you’ve done as many strict dips as you could do…Just don’t help yourself more than you really need to.