Written by Sam Coleman | Co-founder
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
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The dip is often called the squat of the upper body. Depending on the variation (chest dip or tricep dip, which just involves altering your body positioning a bit), you can emphasize your pecs or triceps more - and with both, your front delts are also working. Compared to the push-up, you’re suspended for dips, and so the weight of your whole body is in play. In other words, there's more resistance so it hits the muscles harder. It's really one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do, and as with the pull up, it's a standard exercise for both weight training and calisthenic programs.
That said, the dip isn’t a good fit for every lifter. The dip puts the anterior shoulder in a comprising position because it is externally rotated and abducted from the torso. This can make the shoulder vulnerable to injury and pain. If you have a painful shoulder or a previous shoulder injury, you'll need to find some good alternatives to dips to work around it.
The dip alternatives in this post are not just for people who find dips hard on their shoulder, but also for those who simply don't have access to a parallel bar or dip machine AND for those who simply want to change things up in their routine.
Table of Contents:
- What makes for a good dip alternative?
- Why you may not want to replace the dip
- Benefits of training the chest and triceps as a unit
- 9 best dip alternative exercises
WHAT MAKES FOR A GREAT DIP ALTERNATIVE?
First, the dip alternative exercise needs to train similar muscles as a dip. And those are the triceps, chest, and shoulders. For the alternative option, two out of these three is good, three out of three is even better.
Second, the alternative exercise needs not bother the shoulder too much while still training it. Variations that involve close grip work well here.
When you’re performing dips, subtle changes in the way you angle your torso will change the focus of the exercise. A forward lean targets the chest and shoulders, and an upright posture will target your triceps more. So, effective alternatives consider the different types of dips (tricep-centric dip or chest-centric dip - we will provide alternatives for both).
When you cannot perform the dip exercise for whatever reason, it pays to program an alternative exercise that improves pressing ability and provides direct carryover to other powerlifting and weightlifting exercises.
Do you have a good reason for replacing the dip?
If you are replacing the dip because of shoulder issues or lack of strength, the 9 dip alternative exercises below are the way to go.
However, if you are looking for exercises to replace the dip because you exercise at home and don't have a dip station or you can never seem to get the dip station at the gym to yourself, you might want to reconsider.
- If you train at the gym and the dip station is always taken, just ask the person to work in or plan your workout at a quieter time...or get a dip station for your home.
- If you train at home, just know that a dip station doesn't have to break the bank or take up a lot of space.
A power tower is a great option for home gyms. Not only will you be able to do dips, but also pull ups, leg raises, and even other exercises depending on the type of power tower you get.
To keep things simple, our recommendation is the SportsRoyals Power Tower. It is heavy duty, supporting up to 400lbs, and it only costs $200 as of writing this. Well worth the price for all the functionality it provides. Plus, you won't have to replace the dip, which is a fantastic exercise for training your chest and triceps.
Comes with a 14-gauge heavy square steel frame constructed with scratch-resistant coat finish...
BENEFITS OF TRAINING THE CHEST AND TRICEPS AS A UNIT
Let’s face it, no one lifts to get smaller, and training the chest and triceps for size and strength is a worthwhile goal. But there are other important benefits of training these vanity muscles, such as:
- Improved Posture: The chest being one of the largest muscles in the upper body plays a major role in assisting good posture as its length and strength dictate your shoulder position. The chest in combination, with the upper back and shoulder muscles, stabilizes the shoulder joint.
- Better Sports Performance: Any sport that requires you to hit a ball, fed off an opponent or throw a ball hard and fast or tackle an opponent to the ground needs chest and triceps strength and endurance.
- Better Breathing: The strength and length of your chest muscles support deeper breathing through expansion and contraction of the ribcage. Because the chest muscle is attached to your ribcage and if they are tight or short, your breathing may be affected.
- Shoulder Health: The chest and triceps muscles that attach to your scapula and shoulder joint assist with the strength, movement, stability, and health of your shoulders. If they are tight, short, or weak this will affect your shoulder movement and heath.
- Better Lockout Strength: Most pressing exercise variations like shoulder rely on the triceps to extend and lockout the arm. There comes a point with pressing exercises where it is less shoulders and chest and more triceps. And if your triceps are weak, it will affect your gains.
9 GREAT DIP EXERCISE ALTERNATIVES
Below are 9 of the best alternatives to dips. Like dips, these are very effective, strength and muscle building exercises. The best part is they should be good for mostly everyone as they can easily be progressed by adding greater load.
1. Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press
The close grip bench press has you lift with your hands shoulder-width apart. This hand position shifts the load more to your triceps and a bit less to your chest. This will affect the amount of weight you lift, but it will still be effective due to the shift in the muscle emphasis. On top of that, this grip position should cause less stress on your shoulder joint.
Overall, this is a great exercise to pack on muscle to the back of your arm and hit your inner chest and anterior delt. This will directly carry over to the lockout strength of your regular bench press too.
How to Do the Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press:
- Set yourself up like a flat bench press, but with your hands set inside shoulder-width and your elbows tucked in.
- Pull the bar out of the rack and stabilize it over your chest.
- Then pull the elbows inwards as you lower the bat down.
- Once you have reached your desired depth press through the palms, feel the triceps engage, and press back up.
- Reset and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
This can be trained for strength but it’s better to train this exercise as an accessory movement to your strength exercises. Training anywhere from 2-4 sets of 8-15 reps works well.
2. Floor Press
This is a popular bench press variation when there are no benches available and for lifters wanting to improve their lockout strength. When you’re pressing a barbell from the floor, you’re limiting your range of motion which takes pressure off the shoulder joint. You’ll be limiting shoulder external rotation where shoulder pain can happen.
How to Do the Floor Press:
- Lay down in front of a power rack and extend your arms. Take note of where they are and adjust the hooks so that the barbell sits where your hands reach.
- Get back under the now-loaded barbell and plant your feet firmly on the floor with your eyes underneath the bar.
- Grip with your preferred bench press grip and lift the bar out of the rack
- Then lower the barbell to your sternum, keeping your elbows tucked in at 45 degrees.
- Press up until lockout and reset and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
The floor press can be trained for absolute strength, but it’s better done as an accessory exercise much like the dip to build pressing and lockout strength. 3-5 sets of between 8-15 reps is advisable.
Related: Best Chest Exercises Without A Bench
3. JM Press
When JM Blakey was training at Westside Barbell and was crushing all the bench press records, his training buddies noticed he was doing this unusual accessory lift. It was a combination of a close grip bench press and a skull crusher. This was the birth of the JM Press. Because the chest is also trained, you’ll use more weight than a skull crusher. And with the close grip, it’s a real triceps builder. Here's how it's done...
How to Do the JM Press:
- Set up like the close grip bench press except making sure the barbell is directly above the upper chest.
- Set up with a narrow grip of 16 inches apart using your preferred grip false or regular grip.
- Keep the elbows at 45 degrees from the body as you’re bringing barbell towards you.
- Make sure to cock the wrist to hold the bar in place.
- Lower the bar down until the forearm touches your bicep.
- Let the bar roll back about one inch to keep the elbows pointed forward and up.
- Then press up and reset and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
Like the close grip bench press, the JM Press is better trained as an accessory exercise for hypertrophy and for strengthening lockout. Performing 2-4 sets of between 6-12 reps works well. But this exercise is tough on the elbow so do this in four to six weeks and then move on to something else.
Related: Best Barbell Triceps Exercises
4. Unilateral Landmine Press
Not everybody can train the triceps, chest, and shoulders pain-free. This is when the unilateral landmine press is your best friend. The combination of unilateral, pressing and gripping the fat end of the barbell increases scapular stability and control. Because of the neutral grip and elbow being close to the body, you’ll train the chest, triceps, and shoulders while keeping the shoulder happy.
How to Do the Unilateral Landmine Press:
- Get into a half-kneeling position with your stance about hip-width. Lift up and hold the end of the barbell in front of your anterior shoulder.
- Then brace your core and hole the end of the barbell tight.
- Press to lockout by extending the elbow. Reach the barbell forward once you reach lockout.
- Slowly lower back down and reset and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
This is a great replacement exercise for dips and overhead presses which is better trained for muscle rather than strength. Perform after your big strength movement for the day for 2-4 sets for 6-12 reps.
Related: Best Landmine Exercises
5. Diamond Push Up
Similar to the close-grip bench press, the diamond push-up's close hand placement creates more tension on the triceps (and actually the lateral head of your delts too). EMG studies show it actually has similar activation for the chest as a regular push up as well. Having a narrower base of support means increasing core stability while training the chest, shoulders, and triceps. You will not be able to do as many reps as your regular push-ups, but your triceps will thank you.
How to Do the Diamond Push Up:
- Forming the diamond shape with your hands isn’t essential but the idea is to keep your hands close.
- Adjust your hand position to train pain-free.
- Perform the push-up as usual while keeping your core and glutes tight to keep your spine neutral.
- Keep your elbows tucked near the ribcage without flaring during the entire exercise.
Programming Suggestions:
This can either be regressed by doing it in an incline or progressed by performing it on a decline. Perform after your big strength movement for the day for anywhere between 2-3 sets of 10-25 reps.
Related: Increase Push Up Difficulty with Bands
6. Decline Bench Press
The decline bench press is often neglected in favor of the flat or incline version which is a shame. The decline variation emphasizes the lower chest because the angle changes the pressing path. Plus, it trains the anterior deltoid and triceps from a different angle. The decline bench press has less shoulder stress than the flat and decline version, making it a great dip alternative.
How to Do the Barbell Decline Bench Press:
- Start by securing your feet into a decline bench.
- Then lie down and secure the upper back and hips to the bench with your eyes underneath the bar
- Unrack and pull the barbell down toward the sternum while keeping the shoulder blades pulled together.
- Then press through the barbell to lock out the elbows making sure not to allow the elbows to flare excessively.
Programming Suggestion:
This is a great movement to train for strength and muscle building. For strength do 3-5 sets and between 3-6 reps and for hypertrophy, 3-6 sets of 6-12 reps work well.
7. Dumbbell Neutral Grip Bench Press
The dumbbell bench press doesn’t allow you to go as heavy but what they do is allow you to change your grip to focus on your triceps more. Gripping the dumbbells in a neutral grip a little wider than shoulder-width is easier on the wrist, elbow, and shoulder while hammering the chest and triceps. If you have a weaker side, then the dumbbell's unilateral nature allows one side to catch up to the other.
How to Do the Dumbbell Bench Press:
- Sit upright on a flat bench and then hinge forward to pick up each dumbbell.
- Place each dumbbell on a knee and lean back and then drive the dumbbells back towards you)with your knees.
- Press the dumbbells over your chest with your palms facing each other. This is the starting position.
- Then lower the dumbbells keeping your elbows tucked in until your elbows break 90 degrees.
- Drive the dumbbells back up till lockout and reset and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
The dumbbell bench press is better suited to hypertrophy than absolute strength. Program as an accessory exercise after your big strength movement for the day for 3-4 sets of 6-15 reps.
Related: Best Dumbbell Chest Exercises
8. Svend Press
Ironically, the wimpiest-looking move on this list will have you feeling the burn in a good way. To avoid dropping two plates on your feet, you squeeze the weights together as hard as you can. This creates an intense contraction in your chest. Then, you’ll press your arms out and squeeze the chest together even more. Great for the chest and shoulders but the triceps get left a little bit with this variation. This is low impact compared to the other exercise on this list, but the intensity remains high.
You can also do the Svend press with a dumbbell as seen below...
How to Do the Svend Press:
- Start with two smaller weight plates either five or 10 pounds and press them together between your hands in front of your sternum.
- Press the plates out until lockout.
- While actively pinching the plate together and not letting them slip apart pull the plates towards your sternum.
- Keep your shoulders down and chest up during this exercise.
- Once you bring the plates to the sternum area, flex the chest, and press the weights back outwards.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
Programming Suggestions:
This is not a move for strength but for hypertrophy. Keeping the intensity high making sure you keep the plates together do for higher reps (12-20) for 2-3 sets at the end of your training works well.
9. Chaos Push Up
Resistance bands are a great tool to build the chest, triceps, and shoulders when dips are not an option. One great alternative is the Chaos push-up. This is performed by looping a heavy resistance band around a squat rack and doing a push up with your hands on the band. The unstable resistance band fires up all your pressing muscles and the increased time under tension does wonder for building your chest and triceps. Plus, this instability is great for additional rotator cuff recruitment.
How to Do the Chaos Push Up:
- Loop a heavy-duty band around two squat rack attachments. The higher up the band, the easier, and lower the band, the harder it is.
- Place your hands on the band in a shoulder-width grip.
- Bring your legs behind you, engage your glutes, and core to put your spine in neutral.
- Slowly lower yourself down into a push-up.
- Push up and reset and repeat.
See pic below...
Programming suggestions:
This is a great move to do for higher reps as it is still a bodyweight exercise. Perform for 2-4 sets of 10-20 reps.
How to choose which dip alternative to do:
You, of course, don't need to add all of these exercises to your program at once. Implement a few over the course of your training plan and continue to try the others over time to see which you feel hits the muscles the best. Also, it should be noted that some of these are synergistic with each other, meaning that it wouldn't be redundant to hit both each week. For example, you could have close grip bench and decline bench in the same plan as they work the muscles differently (close grip = more triceps / decline bench = lower chest) - this would be like having both chest dips and triceps dips being done at some point throughout the week.
FINAL NOTE ON DIP ALTERNATIVES:
Remember, if you are replacing the dip simply because you don't have access to a dip station, consider the cost-to-reward ratio. The dip, along with the pull up, is a fantastic exercise that is hard to replicate. For a couple hundred dollars, you can have a power tower that allows you to do dips, pull ups, and other exercises any time you want. It's a great bang for the buck.
Comes with a 14-gauge heavy square steel frame constructed with scratch-resistant coat finish...
Sam Coleman
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