Bench press alternate accessory movement

There is no question you need to mix up your movements to avoid repetitive movement injury.  The problem is finding the right accessory movements that will have carryover to your bench press that will lead to making strength gains in your chest press.

I was experimenting with dips in my last workout sessions, and I was noticing definite progress and increase in my bench press strength.

The way I would do dips is I would get on the dip machine at the gym and go all the way down with elbows bent at a severely sharp angle with my forearms hinging at the elbow and not stopping until I hit the the bicep with my forearms and then I would push myself up.

The use of the above machine allows you to acquire that severe acute angle in your elbow joint which is necessary to mock the angle joint your elbows take on while bench pressing.  That's the movement that needs to be accomplished if you expect strength gain carryover to the bench press.

If you want to add more resistance to the exercise once you master a severe bent angle elbow position dips with both hands, switch to a one handed dip.  You can accomplish this because the knee pad on the machine will support your weight.

After you master the one arm dip, experiment with added resistance provided by a weight belt.







If you don't have access to a dip machine, then recruit somebody to hold your ankles and tell them to raise you while you're pushing up.