If you're working toward a lean, strong upper body, don't spend all of your time on the weight bench. Body weight exercises are some of the most effective exercises you can do because they improve your functional strength, not just your "weight room strength." Of the body weight exercises, the dip is one of the toughest for most people, because it works your entire upper body in a different way and forces you to lift the weight of your entire body.
The Dip
The dip is performed on the parallel bars, or any apparatus that has two handles about shoulder-width apart. Grab the handles or bars and support yourself with your arms straight. If the bars are low, you may need to bend your knees to keep them from touching the floor. Simply bend your elbows to lower your body until you feel a tension across your chest, then push yourself back up to the starting position.
Variations
Leaning slightly forward targets your chest muscles more directly, whereas dipping straight up and down hits the triceps. If you don't have access to a set of parallel bars, you can sit on the edge of a chair, support your weight with your arms and push up to lift your butt from the seat. If dips are too easy to challenge you, buckle yourself into a weight belt, clip on a plate or two and try them weighted. The capacity to add weight makes dips just as much a progressive exercise as any chest press, which means you can constantly push your limits and build as much bulk as you want.
Muscles Worked
All dips work your shoulders, simply from the action of lowering yourself and pushing up. The forward-leaning variety targets your pecs, but it also works your entire upper back. The straight up and down version targets your triceps, but it also works your entire chest and upper back. If you do them on a chair, the mechanism changes as bit --- some of the stress gets taken off your shoulders, and your chest gets worked much harder. You'll feel it in your back between your shoulder blades, and your abs will tighten as you maintain the tucked position necessary to keep your knees from sagging.
Caution
Allow your elbows to flare to the sides as you dip, and never lock your elbows at the top of the move. The bars you use must allow your hands to remain under your shoulders during the exercise --- if they're too close or too narrow, you can cause joint or nerve damage. If you plan to make dips a regular part of your exercise routine, either use padded bars or wear padded weight gloves to avoid compressing the nerves in the heel of your hand. If you have rotator cuff problems or other shoulder issues, check with your doctor or physical therapist before trying dips.
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