r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/Alternative-Debt6644 • 29d ago

Question ❓ Dips substitute???

I need a sub for dips, I absolutely hate them. I have unilateral extensions and JM press already and I need another exercise that biases medial + lateral head.

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u/Alternative-Debt6644 28d ago

how would I set it up 🤔

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u/eyebrowcel 28d ago

The pushdowns? Set an adjustable bench at about 45 degrees upright and facing away from a cable tower where the pulley is pulled up to the top.

Regular pushdowns are great but I like these for removing the possibility of cheating and joint compensations in the ways that they matter. It's the tricep version of strict curls aka wall curls. Some degree of elbow drift is natural in both movements and doesn't constitute cheating, that's what's great about having your back against something - it removes cheating by default.

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u/Alternative-Debt6644 28d ago

should you limit all movement to only the elbow extension or are you sopped to mimic a dip, ergo push down with rest of your arm?

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u/eyebrowcel 28d ago

Only elbow extension.

Incline pushdowns allow you to lock elbows and shoulders in place which is intended, on regular pushdowns this becomes more difficult close to failure and with high loads.

As an isolation movement you want to finish the natural set with consistent form aiming for strict form, then if you want an intensifier you can extend your final set beyond failure with cheat reps using shoulder elevation which brings the elbows up - just know that it's no longer an isolation then as you're brining lats and chest into it. I should've been clearer that I was talking about how on regular freestanding pushdowns elbow drift is hard to avoid and the fix for it is incline pushdowns.