The importance of HBP 4 The bench dip

This sometimes overlooked/underrated exercise is a realy great exercise especially for shoulder mobility. They will help a lot for later HBP exercises later in the series's. Slightly modified they also help for later Manna exercises. I keep these in my warm up on HBP days.

To get the most out of the bench dip.

Keep the chest up. No hunching!

Try to keep the elbows in.

When you have mastered it below 90 degrees, try to move the hands a little bit closer to each other and feel the difference.

Lastly try turning your hands so that the fingers are pointing backwards. Feel a new sensation in your upper back, shoulders and a nice stretch in your biceps.

Reminders and tips of previously mastered skills are something i need, thank you sir!!

I noticed my lack of ROM on the Koreans and Russian dips.

How does one save these tips to come back to later once I get this movement? Or others that are posted for that matter, thanks....

I hadn't considered that for future manna work or Korean dips.

I always considered bench dips a joke since I jumped from pushups directly into straight dips.

Maybe I'll reconsider

sean said:

How does one save these tips to come back to later once I get this movement? Or others that are posted for that matter, thanks....

Notebook.

I have 3 full notebooks with a page dedicated to each and every single strength and mobility elements

If one went to a seminar would this be one of those things that went into the notes?

This is exactly why I think it may sometimes be worthwhile to do a microcycle of an excercise even though you tested out of it immediately. Sometimes you discover that there is more to be gained before moving on.

Completely agree, Kasper.  With the exception of HBP PE1 and the revised SL PE1, I've done a full month of every exercise.  I think it's helped, especially with work capacity.  With HBP PE3, you have the Xiaopengs as the iM.  These aren't easy, but done with a nice controlled tempo, five on each side, gives you about 30sec rest or so.  With HBP PE4, you have arm circles, which take less than 10sec, and you don't have an excuse of picking up and setting down a weight to 'buy' that extra rest time.  As such, during the final cycle, you are almost doing 40 to 50 consecutive dips with just the briefest pauses in between.  Doing that for a full month will prepare not only for the next progression but for all progressions, just in increased work capacity alone.

Alan Tseng said:

Notebook.

I have 3 full notebooks with a page dedicated to each and every single strength and mobility elements

I think JP and I are on the same wave length? Maybe after I'm healed up and further along I might feel differently, but I have been humbled and healed more than once with seemingly "simple" foundation steps along the way. I don't see a point in (or more accurately should say can't) test out, due to the mobility requirements that need to be mastered for me, as my joints need the help.

But in the podcasts Coach mentions that the exercises are in the order that they are to not only build strength, but more importantly, to expose us (meaning me the average stiff adult) to the required gradual mobility work that needs be done in order to prepare joints for tougher PE's. So the arguement is made that if you have the strength to perform the PE correctly with the coupled mobility flawlessly that you have earned it....but have I, is my question?

Mats statement of "underrated/overlooked exercises" got me thinking...maaaaaybe too much so. If joint prep takes longer than strength development, and strength in itself is not an indicator of joint health (as I've heard Coach say) or predictor of handling harder PE's, then how is testing out of a PE because you can do the required sets/reps and iM once times five an accurate indicator of joint strength to move on? To me it seems if you don't put your time in working the cycle to practice the iM, at the least, it seems you could be heading into trouble down the road with tougher PE's due to lack of adequate time in joint prep? Perhaps waaayyyy off base and maybe missing the obvious here.... and I think I smell toast

sean said:

To me it seems if you don't put your time in working the cycle to practice the iM, at the least, it seems you could be heading into trouble down the road with tougher PE's due to lack of adequate time in joint prep?

YES, my feeling about that

I think spending some extra time on an exercise is beneficial as it allows you to really understand an exercise. It also can help rest the muscles and allow the connective tissue to catch up so you keep progressing with later elements. I have been doing this with the revised SL progressions rather than rushing through them.

Mark Collins said:

I think spending some extra time on an exercise is beneficial as it allows you to really understand an exercise. It also can help rest the muscles and allow the connective tissue to catch up so you keep progressing with later elements. I have been doing this with the revised SL progressions rather than rushing through them.

completely agree...I have been forced to take a step back in some PEs in hopes it will build me back stronger. I'm so tired of dealing with injuries that if I have to spend more time back on HBP 1 for example to rest and progress then so be it. I have done this with other issues I had and it has worked thru foundations. I can't afford stupid mistakes anymore, my body certainly doesn't suffer them well. So I have to stay patient, keep ego in check, and put my time in wisely. 

Alexander Egebak said:

If one went to a seminar would this be one of those things that went into the notes?

The best thing you can do is to go to a seminar, especially after having done F1 for a while.

This one came from self experience

Just an excuse to add pictures to this thread 
First video is using a natural hand placement - exercise feels so-so. Second video is using a narrower hand placement - feels much more compact and stronger.

Hey guys, thanks for all the great info. 

I really enjoy the exercise and have a question about how to warm up for the extreme bend arm shoulder extension that occurs during Bench Dips. 

I worked up to 4x10r of Bench dips for about 2 months now and often find that I struggle to warm up sufficiently for that exercise. I find that the Bench Dip stretches my triceps in the bottom position much more than elevated or floor push ups, which is why in my experience elevated push ups fail to warm up my triceps sufficiently for high rep Bench Dip work. I figured that I need to incorporate some kind of shoulder extension work before bench dips, but was wondering if there are any easy bend arm shoulder extension drills (rather than straight arm ones) to warm up my shoulders and triceps for that extreme bend during the Bench Dip.

The reason I am asking is that I started feeling a very slight pinching in my right arms tricep, quite close to the elbow since my last Bench Dip workout. I think it is due to overstretching my not properly warmed up tricep under load in that very bottom position of the bench dip. 

While looking for a solution I could not find any actual tricep stretch in the Thoracic Stretch series, nor have I found one in the Foundation 1 mobility elements. 

I was wondering if you guys know a good tricep stretch that I can use during my stretch series, as well as a good way to warm the triceps up for that extreme bend position at the bottom of the dip. 

Thank you in advance!

Best,

Felix

Table work from the F1 FL im's are staples in my warmup for this reason (I love high rep Korean dips)

Felix, it's worth to post a form check. It could be that you're not stabilizing sufficiently at your shoulders and that's causing a stress at the distal end of your triceps or that you need more time to adapt to the deeper ROM strength that's required. 

2 hours ago, Eva Pelegrin said:

Felix, it's worth to post a form check. It could be that you're not stabilizing sufficiently at your shoulders and that's causing a stress at the distal end of your triceps or that you need more time to adapt to the deeper ROM strength that's required. 

Agree totally with these points - you are meant to only very gradually increase the depth of the dip and back off if too much. I warm up for PE4 with a 15r PE4 set that starts high and goes slightly deeper with each rep.

Are these a better warm up for Koreans than PB dips (more shoulder extension perhaps)?

5 minutes ago, Petri Widsten said:

Are these a better warm up for Koreans than PB dips (more shoulder extension perhaps)?

I'm thinking that depending on which lines are tighest, you would benefit from focusing on undergrip or overgrip hand placement and the width of the hands also come into play. i feel it more in the delt and creeping up my upper back if I'm in overgrip. not as tight a line as my biceps / left pec for example in undergrip.

Hmm...maybe it's quite individual and is then a matter of experimenting with different dips, grips and stretches to find out what works for one.

8 minutes ago, Petri Widsten said:

Hmm...maybe it's quite individual and is then a matter of experimenting with different dips, grips and stretches to find out what works for one.

if it's to unlock mobility and stabilize this new ROM, I'd go with experiment with Bench Dip in place of other variations. it's easier to come out of the bench dip if you go too deep with a particular form, this can be difficult in a Dip where we are sustaining our entire bodyweight. if you film yourself you'll see how easy it is to cheat the thoracic extension in even a regular dip, let alone a Korean or Russian Dip. so, grips will play a role in how to expose which line. after it stabilizes, integrating it into the progression you are in is priority (and how the course should be viewed, actually. one thing leads to another).