Okay - bench dips. I take an 80lb DB and put it between my legs - as close to my nuts as it will fit (it doesn't hit anything b/c my legs are bigger than the grips size, so I am just squeezing it between my legs). I then put my feet up on one bench and then have my hands on the other and go down as far as I can (I can technically go down until my butt rests on the floor, but I don't want rest, so I stop just before that point). Then I go all the way up.
fantastic. I do 12/10/8 of that - just three sets.

So my question - what would be the way to make this easy? I don't want to make it easy, but every time I see people doing these in the gym, I only see them putting at the very most a 45lb plate on their legs - and that will disperse the weight further down your legs so the lever action is helping make it effectively even lighter. and then they only do 2 sets of 10.
So why is it that I am lifting more than the other guys in my gym - I'm nervous that I'm doing some bad for that allows me to do more weight. these guys are probably bigger than me too.
I don't want it easier, I want it as hard as possible.
today I tried adding a step up block (from those step aerobics classes) on top of the bench where my feet are so that technically even more of the weight is on my arms. but it was still not too bad.

I'm not saying I'm doing a lot of weight, I'm just questioning why I'm doing more than the bigger guys and maybe if my form is off (it seems right to me and nobody has ever come over and told me I was a dumbass... well, at least not while doing that exercise ).

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"Fear of things invisible is the natural seed of that which every one in himself calleth religion."
--Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651)

You may have your feet touching the next bench farther than anyone else does (not likely). That is, maybe your ankles are making contact with the bench instead of your heels. The farther up your leg the point of contact, the easier the exercise.

That's the only thing I can think of that would make the exercise easier given the fact that you seem to be doing everything else correctly.

Here is my REAL analysis:

All of the "bigger guys" in your gym must be afraid of some hard work on that particular exercise, because only 45lbs on a bench dip is pathetic for a "bigger guy." The distribution of the weight is also a factor. The weight is concentrated in a smaller volume on an 80lb dumbbell than on a 45lb plate where it is dispersed far throughout a larger, flatter volume.

If you are "scared" that you might be stronger than the bigger guys, then keep in mind that not all of them are using as much weight as they could/should. Kind of hard to stack weight on your legs and not have it slip off. If you're NOT "scared" that you might be stronger than the bigger guys (and you shouldn't be scared), then just face it, you're stronger.

I'm stronger than Mr. Superman who can bench 4x his weight but can't squat or deadlift half of mine and I'm not scared - neither should you be.

-Warik

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Sometimes, I see guys struggling with almost no weight, but it's usually on the last set or on the last exercise of an intense workout. I figure that they've already fried the muscle, so that's why they are using lighter weights than I am. I usually take it as a sign that I'm not training hard enough in the rest of my workout if I have that much strength left at the end.

On the other hand, sometimes I just think that I respond better to some exercises and not as well to others.

Then, when I'm dreaming, I tell myself it's because I'm the strongest mofo in the gym!