When it comes to building a strong upper body using just your bodyweight, push-ups are usually the go-to exercise. But research from the Cooper Institute suggests the press-up uses just 69% of your bodyweight when the arms are fully extended, rising to 75% as your chest nears the floor. So, if you’re looking for something more challenging, dips may be the better option.

That’s what led YouTuber Simple Man to test the effects of completing 100 dips every day for 30 days to see what impact it would have on his physique and strength.

Simple Man has previously attempted push-up, sit-up and arm-training challenges, but says none compared to a month of dips.

‘This 100-dips-a-day-for-30-days challenge was hands down the best upper-body workout challenge I have ever done for improving my physique in such a short period of time,’ he says in a video.

Why? Alongside building noticeable upper-body muscle, he also became significantly better conditioned to moving his bodyweight through the demanding movement.

Full Upper-Body Gains

Sharing before-and-after footage from the challenge, Simple Man showed a noticeably more defined chest, with his shoulders and triceps also benefitting from the increased volume.

‘I was shocked by the results when I looked at the comparison photos, and I couldn’t believe how much I had improved in just 30 days,’ he says. ‘To me, it looks like my pecs doubled in size. My back became massive, my lats almost looked wing-like – that improvement alone was huge – my shoulders were turning into boulders and protruding out, and my arms just looked way more solid than they did before.’

The most surprising effect, however, was the impact on his back.

‘I was really surprised how sore my back got from doing dips during this challenge,’ he adds. ‘It was something that I didn’t remember from the past, but I can tell you my lats were burning.’

Measurable Progress

Simple Man also noticed clear improvements in both strength and recovery as the challenge progressed. Sets became easier, rest periods shortened and his overall work capacity improved.

At the beginning of the challenge, he spread sets throughout the day while getting on with tasks around the house, paying little attention to rest times. Instead, he focused on maximising reps within each set rather than sticking to a fixed structure.

‘I mostly focused on making sure that I was pushing myself hard during each set and trying to get as many reps as I could,’ he explains. ‘On my first set, for instance, I’d do 25 or so, then for the second set around 20, then 15 to 10 for the remaining sets. There was no hard set number for each set – just an accumulation of sets that equalled 100 reps in total.’

‘In the beginning, I would do sets throughout the day because I was so sore and that was the only way I could get them done. It was extremely difficult. But as the soreness started to wear off, I began getting them done in one sitting, resting maybe three minutes between sets.’