The best chest exercises for MEN focus on growing chest muscle as quickly and efficiently as possible and at the same time, widening the chest to give you that unstoppable masculine look.
When it comes to burning chest fat and losing man boobs, while at the same time, growing muscle and sculpting an unstoppable manly chest, chest dips are perhaps the best I've ever known. They're far better than the bench press, pushups, cable crossovers, and dumbbell flys.
I was first convinced about using this exercise when I learned about a guy called Vince Gironda. Now let me tell you a little about Vince. Vince was a bodybuilding legend who was known as the ‘Iron Guru', and known for getting his clients big and ripped in record time.
For 50 years, he trained more champion physique competitors than anyone in the business. He trained some of the most famous bodybuilders, as well as some of the world's best actors and actresses. He was also known to get great results with regular Joes like you and me.
Vince was the “go-to” guy for absolutely anyone who wanted to get into shape. Now you could argue that there were and are plenty of other guys around who know a lot about training, but Vince was different.
Back in the day, Vince came up with a lot of weird and controversial ideas about exercise and nutrition, a lot of people thought he was crazy and avoided taking his advice, or even going to his gym. But what we're finding now, is that new scientific research is showing us that Vince was right all along!
One of Vince's most controversial ideas was that the bench press is a poor exercise for the chest. In fact, he threw out all the benches in his gym and replaced them with dipping stations.
Vince believed that when it comes to developing the chest, the chest dip is a far superior exercise to the bench press, and guess what? Electromyogram (EMG) studies today, reveal that he was right!
Why Chest Dips Are The Best Chest Exercise For Men
If you could do just one chest exercise to carve out a set of pecs that you see on the statue of a Greek god, the Hulk or a mythological beast, it would be chest dips. Not the bench press, not pushups, and certainly not dumbbell flys.
Chest dips work the entire upper body, and really give you that hormonal boost you need to grow muscle, tone your chest and lose those man boobs. They work your arms, your shoulders, your chest and your upper back.
Chest dips are a powerful exercise for building a muscular chest. They also work your entire upper body including your back, arms and shoulders.
When it comes to both performance and sculpting your body through muscle-growth and hormonal stimulation, bodyweight exercises always come on top.
This is largely because unlike weight-training, which tends to isolate one particular body-part, bodyweight exercises require you to stabilize your entire body as it moves through space.
When you use your core stabilizers and other muscles throughout your body, not only do you get a bigger testosterone boost from the workout…
…you also lose more fat, and gain a more even distribution of muscle throughout the body, which means better posture, less injuries and a better more attractive appearance.
The testosterone boost you get from activating so many muscle groups, is one reason why chest dips are the most powerful chest exercise for men in particular.
Since most guys rely almost completely on the bench press for building chest muscle, let's discuss…
Why Dips Are FAR Better Than The Bench Press For Building A Hurculean Chest
Disadvantages Of The Bench Press
1. A Poor Exercise For The Chest
Now don’t get me wrong, many bodybuilders DO use the bench press to build some huge muscles. But did you ever stop to think how many people fail with the bench press?
Almost every guy that goes to the gym spends time on the bench press – but how many of these guys end up getting a huge, wide, stone-slab-like chest that gets women weak at the knees?
See, the trouble with the bench press is that it is more an exercise for the front deltoids of your shoulders, than it is an exercise for the chest. EMG studies reveal that the front deltoids receive the same stimulation as the pectoralis major of the chest during the flat bench press.
The front deltoids are very small in comparison to the pectoralis major muscle of the chest.
Since the front deltoids in your shoulders are tiny compared to the huge pectoralis major muscle in your chest, during the bench press your shoulders will fatigue way before your chest even starts to get a proper workout.
So you will end your workout before fully involving your chest.
2. The Most Common Cause Of Shoulder Injuries In The Gym
Due to the rising popularity of the bench press, rotator cuff surgery is at an all time high.
The bench press places too much strain on the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulders, and very commonly leads to injury, damage and wear & tear of the rotator cuff over time.
For this reason, the bench press is widely reported as being the most common cause of shoulder injuries in the gym.
3. Kills Shoulder Flexibility, Leading To More Injuries
The bench press puts massive strain on your shoulders, which makes your rotator cuff muscles tighter and tighter over time.
The first sign of this is when you start to find it difficult to reach behind your back as if to do up a bra (not that I have ever tried one on, but you know what I mean ;) ).
Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t having big muscles that makes you inflexible, but rather, incorrect training. If you have read ‘Stretching Scientifically’ by Thomas Kurz, you’ll know that big muscles actually make you MORE flexible.
4. Torn Pecs (Pectoralis Major Rupture)
Yet another common injury with the bench press. Here’s a video of a guy tearing his left pec during a set of bench presses. Warning: this video is NOT for the faint hearted.
Watch as this guy tears his left pec with the bench press… Youuch!
With this injury, the tendon that attaches your pectoralis major muscle to your upper arm bone, is torn right off the bone. It can be extremely painful and in most cases requires surgical repair. It will take many months before you are lifting anything again.
Advantages Of Dips For Developing The Chest
1. Faster And Better Development Of The Chest
When doing dips, you are moving your arms in a downward motion. This downward motion ensures that you bypass the shoulders and isolate the chest muscles far better than any other compound exercise for the chest.
Although your shoulders are still involved to a large extent and get an excellent workout, they are not as engaged and overloaded as they are during the bench press.
Studies have shown that the deltoids are much less involved during the decline bench press, compared to the horizontal bench press.
Since chest dips are the bodyweight version of an extreme decline bench press, this means that dips put more focus on the chest than on the shoulders compared to the bench press.
2. Wider Chest Development
I’ve seen guys with 6-pack abs who look like scrawny wimps when they have a shirt on. The key to looking like an unstoppable alpha-male is to work on widening that upper body, namely your chest and upper back.
Chest dips performed with a wide grip and the elbows flared to the sides, target the outer chest better than pushups, bench presses, or any other exercise. In doing so, they give you that huge, wide chest that resembles a set of stone slabs set on your chest sideways.
Chest dips give you wider chest development than the bench press.
Developing a wide chest is yet another reason why chest dips are the best chest exercise for men.
3. Increased Shoulder Flexibility
At the bottom of the movement your shoulder muscles are both strengthened and stretched, giving you improved flexibility.
Do be careful however, since if you already have inflexible and/or weak shoulders, you can still suffer shoulder injuries while doing dips, especially with weighted dips.
The key is to only go as low as you feel comfortable. Over time, your shoulders will get stronger and you'll be able to descend write the way down, thereby fully stretching those pecs.
4. Dips Are Functional – They Give You Strength That You Can Use
Dips require you to lift and move your entire body through space. You need to keep your body tight so you maintain your posture, and as a result you not only involve your chest, upper back, shoulders and arms, but also your legs, abdomen and lower back.
It is a true whole-body workout that trains your body to function as a unit as opposed to targeting individual sections of the body.
By working your entire body in this way, dips will help you to lose weight, look better and build strength all round. They will help make you a better athlete, better able to handle yourself in a fight, better able to manage your body weight, and even help you bench more.
5. Hormonal Stimulation – Better For Weight Loss And Man Boob Reduction
Because dips engage your entire body, they result in a greater release of testosterone and growth hormone both during and after the workout. Increased levels of these hormones help to reduce man boobs, burn fat and pack on extra muscle.
How To Do Chest Dips The Right Way
Dips can be modified to focus on the triceps, upper back or chest. Here I will tell you how to do chest dips.
Place your hands on two parallel bars on either side of you.
If you don’t have access to parallel bars, you can also use two tables, or the back-rests of two chairs facing away from each other.
- Prop yourself up with your arms straight and your elbows locked out.
- Bend your knees so your feet are behind you. This helps to balance your weight as you lean forward. Leaning forward is necessary to target the chest.
- Bending at the elbows, lower your body in a slow and controlled fashion, without ever touching your feet or knees to the ground. Breath in while doing this.
- Stop when your shoulders are level with your elbows, then while breathing out, slowly raise yourself back up to the starting position.
- Repeat steps 3-4, always making sure to maintain good posture and a forward-leaning position.
In case that ain't clear enough, check out the following video:
Incorporating Dips Into Your Training
Changing The Resistance
The only real problem with bodyweight exercises is unlike with weights it isn't easy to change the level of resistance. But not being easy doesn't mean it's impossible. All you need is a little creativity and you can change the resistance all you like.
If you're not accustomed to training, or you are a little on the heavy side, you may find it difficult to perform even one repetition of dips. If this is the case with you, then all is not lost since there are many things you can do to work around the problem.
This includes getting someone to help you, letting your feet touch the ground and aiding the lift with your legs, doing static holds at the top position or doing partial reps and negative reps to condition yourself until you are strong enough to do full reps.
If you find dips to be too easy, you can do weighted dips by wearing a backpack and throwing some weight plates into it, or using a weight belt with weights hanging off it, holding a weight plate between your knees, or getting your buddy to jump on your back.
Combining Dips With Other Exercises
If you just did dips and nothing else, your chest and upper body would look phenomenal. You will however get better results if you combine dips with other exercises that target different portions of your chest – like incline and decline pushups and, in the gym, cable crossovers and the pec dec.
If you are working on your chest, it's also important to work on your upper back for good posture, symmetry and that wider look.
In order to get that truly wide, masculine and unstoppable upper body physique, it's important also to do upper back exercises like bent-over rows, pullups and lat pulldowns.
If you only worked out your chest, your shoulders would be pulled forward in a hunched position. If on the other hand you work out your chest and upper back equally, your shoulders will be in a neutral position in the middle and to the sides, giving you a wider appearance.
It is also important to throw some whole-body training and leg training into the mix, to help get rid of those overlying layers of fat.
Dips may be a good exercise for building muscle and burning fat, but it is well known that nothing gets rid of excess fat than whole-body training and a good diet.
“Won't Dips Make Your Man Boobs Stick Out?”
I'm yet to see this happen. It is theoretically possible that in a minority of guys, dips will stimulate more of the lower chest than the upper chest.
However, EMG studies have shown that, surprisingly enough, the decline bench press stimulates the upper portion of the pectoralis major muscle, better than it does the lower.
I'm willing to bet that dips (again, dips being like an extreme decline bench press) stimulate the upper chest just as well as the lower, since all of my clients who only do dips, end up getting perfectly even chest development.
But hey, EMG studies also show that the incline bench press does isolate the upper chest more, so if you are for whatever reason, afraid that your lower chest will get bigger and your man boobs will stick out if you do dips, then you can always do both dips and incline presses to even things out.
How To Use Dips To Get Rid Of Man Boobs
Dips can help you build a powerful chest, but when it comes to losing man boobs, dips are just one piece of the puzzle.
Man boobs are caused by a hormonal imbalance–too much of the female hormone estrogen and too little of the male hormone testosterone.
Though dips help do boost testosterone levels, you'll see far better results if you combine dips with other powerful exercises as part of a whole body training system.
The following link will take you to a free video where I reveal some unusual methods you can use to get rid of your man boobs:
Click Here To Watch A Free Video On How To Lose Man Boobs Naturally
Stop Making These 3 Big Man Boob Mistakes…
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I found this really useful. But I was wondering how many and how long the chest dips should be done for
Hi Mark
It depends what your goal is. Are you looking to build strength? Hypertrophy? Or a bit of both?
If you’re looking to improve your appearance in the quickest time possible with the least amount of effort, I suggest following a hypertrophy protocol, where you do around 3-4 sets of 10 reps. Do them no more than 3-4 days per week.
You can check out my program, the Chest Sculpting Blueprint, for further details.
Hi Gary,
I’ve had man boobs for as long as I can remember, even before puberty. I’m 21 now and I think I have hardened lumps under my nipples. Does this mean that even if i follow the exercise/ diet regimens you suggest, I will see No reduction in chest fat? And that I’ll still be stuck with puffy nipples?
Please Help!!
Hi Joshua
You can most certainly still reduce chest fat using my methods, but if you have large hardened lumps beneath your nipples, then there’s no guarantee the puffy nipples will go away. A good surgeon will tell you you need surgery when your glands are 4cm or more in diameter.
Many of my clients who have hardened glands beneath their nipples, still manage to get a perfectly flat chest and do away with puffy nipples, but admittedly, there are those who do end up needing surgery.
Whatever the case though, your best course of action is always to reduce the size of your man boobs as much as possible using natural methods first, before you even consider having surgery. This will take away the need for extensive liposuction, and skin and chest wall reconstruction after surgery. It will also reduce the cost of surgery, reduce the chances of serious complications (scarring and permanent chest wall deformity) and failure of surgery, and reduce the chances of recurrence after surgery.
Hi Garry,
I have been through a variety of exercises to try and reduce my man boobs. I even tried doing some chest dips but my exercise schedules are intermittent (I will exercise for a few weeks, when there is no apparent change I end up giving up). I have also tried checking on my diet. This had worked since I have reduced from 68 kgs to 59 in a period of two years. (I’m 19 turning 20 this month). Chest dips might seem like a good recommendation but upon reading the conversation thread above, I can’t help but be alarmed. when I feel my chest, I think I have lumps on my nipples (not an even hard mass, but scattered small hard lumps). Taken that I have been through a series of exercises, my chest is quite well formed ( since I can sense the muscle beneath the fat). My problem however is, is losing more fat advisable (taken that i am 59 currently) and will regular chest dips flatten out my chest completely(taken that I have small lumps). To add, when it is cold the protrusion on the nipples diminishes completely, but when it is hot they regain their normal appearance. (Is this a sign that if I reduce chest fat, the nipples will regain a normal appearance). will the nipples flatten out completely irregardless of the small lumps. Confused.
Hi Kevin
The main role of chest dips is to form the muscle underneath the fat. This in itself can take you a long way toward improving your appearance. If your main problem is excess chest fat and breast glands, then just chest exercises, like chest dips, alone may not be enough.
You need to take a whole-body approach with weight-training, preferably combine this with some high intensity interval training, and also adopt a diet & lifestyle regimen that’s geared toward reducing the effects of estrogen and enhancing the effects of testosterone on your body.
For a comprehensive explanation and guide, I suggest you check out my program, How To Lose Man Boobs Naturally:
https://chestsculpting.com/how-to-lose-man-boobs-naturally-free-video/
I tore my pec minor about 8-9 yrs ago. I never got it repaired, and have manage to do push ups, dips, and some bench press With this injury. I can do dips with no problems, but I wonder should I. I will try doing dips for the next couple of weeks and let you know how it goes.
Thanks
JCoates
Hi Jeremy
When it comes to serious injuries like a torn muscle, I’m afraid I can’t assist you in this manner. You need to work closely with a personal trainer and see advise from a medical professional.
My thought would be that the pec minor plays a relatively minor role (no pun intended:p) in doing dips, so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. But this totally depends on the severity of the injury, and the extent of healing (if any), considering that you didn’t get it repaired.
Hiiii Garry..
i am 18 years old. i am 167cm tall and i weigh 82kilos.. thats way too much. i wanna get rid of my man boobs and build a great body. i am willing to buy your book. but i am confused. which one should i buy? the chest sculpting blueprint OR how to lose your man boobs naturally. i want to know the correct diet plans, exercises and tips to get rid of these man boobs fast. so please help me out. thanking you in advance
Hi Siddharth
How To Lose Man Boobs Naturally is on reducing man boobs using diet, exercise, estrogen reduction tactics etc, while the Chest Sculpting Blueprint is more based on exercise and growing chest muscle to sculpt a chiseled set of pecs and overall masculine physique.
I generally recommend How To Lose Man Boobs Naturally to skinny guys with man boobs, while I recommend the Chest Sculpting Blueprint to overweight guys with man boobs.
The best option for everyone though, would be to get How To Lose Man Boobs Naturally first, for a good grounding in the fundamentals of male breast reduction, and then to get the Chest Sculpting Blueprint, to take your physique to the next level – beyond just losing man boobs, and sculpting a truly masculine physique.
In your case, if you were to choose one book, from what you have told me RE your weight and height, I think maybe the Chest Sculpting Blueprint would be a good choice.
I hope that answered your question :)
Just read your article, i’m 270lbs and i’m going to start the dips and upper body routine Mon.Aug 24 2013 will write back in a few weeks with results. Thanks Anthony Mc.
Great info, learnt something new today, thank you.
Hi Garry,
Thanks a lot for this incredibly helpful article! I have been thinking a lot about this before finding your expertise. This summer I was doing dips at home with a stool and a table (same height) on those days when I couldn’t hit the exercise gym.
To my astonishment, I was noticing that my pecs looked much better after my dipping days than my machine workouts of bench, incline bench, curls, flys, and more. I thought it must be my imagination. But truly I thought that while I know I will benefit from this gym, the dips were really working to create a much better shape, ESPECIALLY at the top where that little point occurs at the top of the pec just kitty-corner down from the shoulder.
Now everything you’ve said makes sense and validates my personal observations! I am going to go back to my dips with a smile!
The one thing I would like to add, however, is that my right wrist started to get sore after a few weeks. To the point where I gave it a rest for awhile. So I bought two “push up handles” at a store the other day so that I can keep my hands at a more appropriate angle when doing the dips. For $15 it seemed worth it. I’ll update!
Thanks again, Garry!
Hey Scott, nice to know dips are working out for you. I’ve seen so many trainees fail with all the variations of the bench press, yet succeed with dips. Dips really do isolate the chest muscles well. People mistake it for primarily a lower chest workout, but it really hits the upper pecs hard as well.
If you are using two flat surfaces, then pushup handles are an excellent idea. Let me know how it works out for you.
Hi Garry ,
What a fantastic article about dips , I am now 46 years old and I can no longer do bench press , it causes to much pain in my shoulders , dips have been my saviour , I do a set with my bodyweight to warm up then I do weighted dips . I would recommend dips to anyone to build their chest .
Many Thanks Joe
Canberra , Australia .
Hi Joe, nice one!
Your shoulders are in a MUCH stronger position when doing dips, than when doing the bench press. This may not seem true when you first start doing dips, but that’s only because you usually lift a much heavier weight when doing dips than when doing the bench press. With dips being a bodyweight exercise, you can’t lift anything less than your full bodyweight.
I whole heartedly agree that dips are a great chest workout. I’ve been trying to incorporate more body weight exercises in my workouts; single leg squats, pull ups, dips, to name a few. One thing this article didn’t mention is using rings. If you can get your hands on a set of gymnastics rings you will incorporate more of your muscle stabilizers and get a wicked burn. There are several other uses for them by adjusting the length of your straps you can do body weight tricep or bicep curls. Do leg lifts to work your core meanwhile also working your chest just to hold yourself up. That is one piece of equipment I would never want to be without after having used them.
Thanks for that one Brian. Rings are awesome! Bodyweight exercises are generally seen as being limited, partly because it’s difficult to target every muscle group. But rings change all of that! All you need is a little creativity, and by adjusting the angle at which your body faces gravity, you can target absolutely anything!
I don’t have a set of rings myself, but I improvise by hanging my jiu jitsu belts off my pullup bar. Currently working on doing bodyweight rows for the mid and upper back – those are tough!
Hi,
I completely agree with you regarding chest dips. My wife bought a dip station from Ultimate Body Press but she stopped using it so I started using it last year. The only regular workout I do now is the dips and Perfect Push Ups. I have natural wide shoulders; these workouts have made my whole upper body sculpted beyond my imagination.
I get compliments very often so I just take them gracefully but modesty aside I am very proud. I am 64 years old, by the way. I am 5’11” and weigh 170 pounds. It is so motivating to see the results. People tell me I don’t look my age but this is not the reason for my working out. I just want to be in good shape; looking younger is just a bonus.
Medardo
Good going Medardo, it’s great to hear another success story :p. It helps to have naturally wide shoulders, but I’ll bet your body will be better still if you add in a regular back exercise. I would suggest the wide-grip pullup, lat pulldown, or the bent over barbell row (the pendlay variation).
Hey, thanks my friend
I like your article now I will do more dip (earlier which I left in gym), and make my chest more stronger and attractive.
Thanks bro
Great article. I just started working more consistently in the past year, and I did flat bench a lot and noticed my shoulders were hurting a little bit afterwards lately. I was thinking that maybe flat bench worked more your shoulders, and this article just confirmed it, thanks!
So I am about 6’1″ and 160 lbs and can do dips pretty easily. I have not done dips that consistently really before, so I will be starting out with three sets of ten. Since it is always good to change things up when you work out, what would be some different variations that one could do after the three sets of ten for a while, and how long until things should be switched up a bit?
I am looking to build up muscle since I am not a very big guy and get a good muscular tone look. I always hear and see things a lot about loosing weight and fat, but since I am in the opposite boat I do not hear or see many things for guys like who want to build up their body. Thank you for any comments!
i m very glad that i found your site.. i ve already suscribed to your mail list. Please i need your help ,how do i do the dip exercise with chairs or tables..
Hi Chibundu, here’s a nice video that shows you how to do chest dips at home using chairs:
https://chestsculpting.com/doing-chest-dips-at-home/
I would personally advice using the backrest of two chairs as a last resort. It’s better to use a stable surface like two tables.
Dips is easily the best.
I heard that Vince lost his gym because of alot of competition. A lack of benches could be a problem too(yyour article said he dumped them out of his gym)
When ever I go to my family gym. I(ecto/mesomorph) ussally have one of the best developed chest for a guy who only trained for 2-3 months steady with strong nutrition. I see skinny dudes doing 200 bench press and they only weigh like 150 pounds… dudes super strong ROM is good but chest less. Same deal with bigger guys but they have a lot of chest fat.
When ever i go to the gym the Dip/pull up machine is always free. I just used body weight and extra weights to do pull ups, dips and leg rasies. to develop strong forearm grips, chest, back, lower abs and hip flexors.
you should write abotu HIP Flexors. one of the most underrated leg muscles!
im only 180 pounds. 5’8
and I dip body weight plus 45 pounds.
but im looking for a good upperchest workout!
Hi Robert. Here’s one good upper chest workout, and here’s another :p.
Hey Robert
Yeh, well spotted with the hip flexors. They are not worked by squats, deadlifts, lunges, or any other pushing-style compound leg exercises. I actually write about training the hip flexors using weights in my new book on high intensity interval training. The hip flexors really come in handy for running and swimming.
You can work the hip flexors using lying or hanging leg raises. If you want to get extreme, you can also do the upside-down squat, where you use foot-straps to hang upside down from a pullup bar or squat rack, and pull yourself up with your legs in an upside-down squatting motion.
hi, great article.
My “problem” is that I am very strong on this exercise.I can do 50 reps of even controlled dips no problem. Id hate to think how much weight I’d have to load on to a belt hanger to just do 10 reps per set. Would doing this manty reps still work but creating lean muscle rather than bulk?
Cheers
Hi Barry. Don’t be afraid to add on more weight. At 50 reps, you are not building any new muscle. It’s pure endurance, so you are simply improving the blood flow to your muscles.
Hi Garry, great article. I’m 53 & started working out at a gym 2 years ago. 6 months later I bought my own weights & power rack with dip bar attachments. I’ve always loved dips. A few months ago I sold all my weight training equipment & went bodyweight only with rings. I mainly focus on ring dips, ring pullups & lunges. I supplement that with inverted ring rows, ring pushups, calf raises & handstands (hoping to get to handstand pushups one day). I feel so much better for it & since quitting lifting weights my tendonitis I kept getting in my elbows has completely gone & stayed away. I found that now I’m older bodyweight training doesn’t put as much strain on my joints & it still gives me a challenging workout. When I switched from bar dips to ring dips I was managing around 10 – 12 weighted dips on bars. On the rings was a different story, I struggled getting 3 unweighted reps per set. I have slowly worked up over the past couple of months & am now managing around 8 reps on the 1st couple of sets. I really enjoy this type of workout & it doesn’t leave me feeling totally wrecked like weights did.
Hey Tony, nice one.
I have to admit, I don’t have regular access to rings myself, though I do use them every now and then, and they are very tough! Takes some getting used to.
Body weight exercises are generally a lot safer and easier on the joints than free weights. The military press for example, puts a lot of compression on the spine. On the other hand, its body weight counterpart – the handstand pushup – does no such thing.
and , i got big pecs with ur workouts but cant seem to lose that fat
Hi Lucifer. There’s more to losing chest fat than just doing chest exercises like dips. Here’s what you should be doing to get rid of your chest fat.
when i started seriously doing weighted dips years ago i rocketed in strength on them. wheni did, i beat the local bully arm wrestler who a few years previous had been huge cuz he was roided up too the gills….
Lol, awesome! Dips really do give you a lot of upper body strength.
Gironda advocates leg position in front of the body. This way your chest has to do alot more work than your triceps. I dont understand why you first talk about gironda and then suggest the wrong kind of dips!
Hey Rick. You’re totally right, and I should definitely mention Gironda’s version of dips in the article, I’ll make sure I do in a future revision. However, this is not to say that traditional dips with knees bent and legs going backwards don’t work the chest. This method still allows you to lean forward enough to work your chest very hard.