Bodyweight Dip 101 (How to Perform the Dip Exercise)

The parallel bar dip exercise is one of the best exercises for building upper body strength!

At the moment you be taught one of the vital underrated workouts of all time: the dip.

It’s one thing we remind our teaching purchasers to not overlook, and I’m excited to share the train with you right now.

Right here’s what we’ll cowl so you possibly can be taught the body weight dip:

A fast notice: we’ve compiled ALL of our power coaching content material right into a complete information that may take away all of the confusion and reply all of the questions you will have about weight coaching! Seize our information, Energy Coaching 101: All the pieces You Have to Know, if you enroll within the field beneath!

What Is the Dip Train? What Muscle tissues Does the Dip Prepare?

The dip is a compound, body weight train.

You seize two parallel bars, hoist your self up, after which decrease your total physique by bending your elbows.

Whenever you hear “compound exercise,” it’s referring to multi-joint actions that work a number of muscle groups or muscle teams on the similar time.

The dip train trains your:

Chest
Shoulders
Tricep
Again
Abs

You could be pondering, “abs?”

Yep! You might want to stabilize your physique as you elevate and decrease your self.

Which is without doubt one of the causes body weight dips are so nice!

Some would even argue that dips are the very best chest train on the market, even higher than the bench press.

There’s some logic to it.

When you concentrate on it, the bench itself provides a variety of assist in the course of the bench press. So do your legs.
With the dip train, your higher physique is supporting your total physique. Thus a fuller exercise.

As an alternative of isolating your chest for five workouts, your shoulders for five workouts, and triceps for five workouts, simply do dips!

How you can Do a Correct Dip Train

To start with, ensure that you are able to do a dip.

Don’t hop up there after which decrease your self until you’re pretty assured you may get via at the very least one among these items. We will’t have you ever tearing any muscle groups or falling on any individual, as a result of that may suck.

Head to our progression plan if you can’t do a full dip but.

Right here’s how one can do a correct dip train:

Seize the parallel bars (or rings), and hoist your self up. At this level look straight forward, and contract your abdomen muscle groups (similar to if you do squats and deadlifts). Should you’re retaining your abs tight for all of those workouts, you’ll by no means should do a crunch once more and also you’ll nonetheless have washboard abs.
Bend your knees in case you like (so your ft are behind you), for stability functions, however preserve your head up and look straight forward.
Conserving your elbows at your aspect, decrease your self till your triceps are parallel to the ground. A whole lot of people will advocate you go previous parallel, however I believe this places an excessive amount of pressure in your shoulders at a bizarre angle and may trigger harm/discomfort. I solely go right down to parallel and haven’t had any points, so I’d advocate the identical.
When you hit parallel, explode again up till JUST earlier than you’re in a position to lock your elbows. By not locking your elbows, you retain the stress in your muscle groups and don’t jack up your joints. w00t.
Now do one other one. After which one other!

These are dips.

Hold your elbows as tight as doable, have interaction your abs, and maintain your physique in stability as you go up and down.

Are you doing it proper?

Test your type by recording a video of your self and matching it in opposition to the movies and gifs right here. If it appears shut then you definitely’re doing nice!

Wish to have an professional evaluation your type? Our coaches can just do that in our spiffy app!

What If I Can’t Carry out a Dip? (Development Plan)

Should you don’t fairly have the power to do a full body weight dip, observe our development plan beneath.

You’ll be doing the entire dip motion earlier than it!

Degree 1 Dip Development: Knee Push-Ups

Should you’re simply beginning to develop your push muscle groups, our first cease can be knee push-ups. We’ll construct your power up so you can begin doing…

Degree 2 Dip Development: Push-Ups

Are you able to do a push-up with proper form but? If not, that’s our cease.

Push-ups will assist you develop chest muscle groups for doing correct dips. Solely after you are able to do 20 correct push-ups must you think about attempting to do a dip.

Degree 3 Dip Development: Assisted Dips

It’s now time to do some dips! With somewhat little bit of help…

We’ll use a resistance band to assist assist your weight whilst you develop stronger. You possibly can progress with weaker and weaker resistance bands till you are feeling snug attempting a correct body weight dip.

How about utilizing an assisted dip machine?

That’s an incredible possibility as nicely, although it could be more durable to seek out one in your space until you belong to a health club.

A dip machine offers a constant quantity of help all through the vary of movement. Whereas a resistance band provides you the MOST assist on the backside of the vary of movement, and the least on the prime. Relying in your objectives, a dip machine can really be BETTER at serving to you slowly construct power throughout the total vary of movement!

In the end, we wish you to make use of no matter you will have out there to carry out the motion. Whether or not that’s a machine, a resistance band, or utilizing your ft to assist push off the bottom, dips are a good way to construct higher physique power!

You possibly can try some manufacturers to purchase, and how one can practice with them, in our Guide to Resistance Bands.

ALSO, if you end up getting caught on “assisted dips,” you’re not alone.

We work hand-in-hand with folks such as you to grasp body weight coaching in our Online Coaching Program. Should you don’t know how one can add dips into your exercises, otherwise you simply need any individual to provide the precise exercise to observe on daily basis, we received you!

Suggestions and Methods for Performing the Dip Train

Listed below are some further recommendations on getting higher at dips:

#1) Get your setup right firstly.

When folks expertise ache with their dips, it’s most likely one among two issues:

When your arms go too far again, they will shut off the shoulder and begin to trigger ache.
Should you enable your shoulders to spherical ahead in the course of the motion, it will probably once more shut off the realm and create discomfort.

#2) Don’t swing – this goes for virtually each train. Should you begin swinging your physique as you go up and down, you’re taking the emphasis off the muscle groups you’re really attempting to work.

Save swinging for the playground:

#3) Don’t flare out your elbows in case you can keep away from it – the extra “out” your elbows are, the extra emphasis in your chest. Elbows tight = emphasis on shoulders and triceps.

#4) Don’t do half reps – once more, this might be one other common rule. Problem your muscle groups by bringing your triceps parallel to the bottom, then be sure you prolong arms to virtually “elbows locked” on the prime:

#5) Don’t go too quick – you wish to be gradual and in management throughout your dip. Whenever you go too shortly, correct type is usually sacrificed. Be sure to practice safely by going slowly…this isn’t a race!

Variations on the Dip (Superior Dip Strikes)

As soon as you are able to do 3 units of 15 dips no drawback, you will have a couple of choices to ramp up the problem:

#1) Add weight to your body weight dips by:

Choosing up a dumbbell between your ft (difficult)

Sporting a weighted backpack (awkward)

Sporting a belt with weights hanging off it (what I do)

#2) Go Slower: preserve your abs tight, and decrease your self ridiculously gradual.

Your physique must recruit each muscle in your chest, shoulders, and triceps (together with all stabilizer muscle groups) to maintain your physique underneath management.

#3) Attempt Ring Dips:

Decrease your self down till your chest touches the rings (sure, that low!), after which push up till you might be in a straight arm assist place.

Should you’ve by no means performed with gymnastic rings earlier than, the instability of the rings will present a better problem than your customary dip station.

You too can decrease the peak of your rings to make the most of some assist out of your ft:

Elevate the rings larger and larger as you develop stronger and stronger.

Be sure to try our “Guide to Training with Gymnastic Rings” in case you’d wish to be taught extra.

How you can Do Dips at Dwelling

Should you’re coaching at your home gym, you possibly can completely do body weight dips.

Listed below are two variations to strive:

#1) Body weight Dips Between Two Chairs or Bar Stools:

That is all going to be in regards to the chairs or barstools you will discover.

The necessary factor right here is the steadiness of your furnishings – don’t decide something that’s wobbly. Nevertheless, if in case you have a pair tall and durable chairs or bar stools, you possibly can set them up on both aspect of you to carry out your body weight dips.

In the event that they’re too excessive for you and you may’t fairly get your ft on the bottom for assisted dips, no drawback. Simply stand on a couple of books or a brief stool that can assist you achieve assist.

#2) Body weight Dips Off a Countertop:

One other nice possibility is to carry out dips on the nook of two sturdy counter tops. So long as you possibly can place your fingers to the aspect to allow them to face ahead, and you’ve got loads of room to maneuver between them, then you definitely’re strong.

One factor you have to be cautious with is bench dips, which might be performed off of a sofa:

The difficulty with this comes out of your arms being behind you.

As we coated within the “How you can Do Ache-Free Dips” video above, this place is a standard drawback space for inflicting ache in body weight dips. If it hurts when attempting the bench dip, keep on with the opposite two dwelling variations above.

When Ought to You Do Dips in Your Exercise? (Getting Began)

Now that how to do dips, let’s focus on when to do them.

Until you’ve been power coaching for years and know what you’re doing, we advocate that you simply decide a full-body routine that you are able to do 2-3 instances every week.

So let’s build a full-body workout proper now!

You desire a exercise routine that has at the very least one train for:

Quads (entrance of your legs).
Butt and hamstrings (again of your legs).
Chest, shoulders, and triceps: (“push” muscle groups).
Again, biceps, and grip ( “pull” muscle groups).
Core (abdominals and decrease again).

Dips would make an incredible addition to your “push” muscle groups (chest, shoulders, triceps).

So a pattern exercise routine that features dips might seem like:

Barbell squats: 5 units of 5 reps.
Barbell Deadlifts: 3 units of three reps.
Dips: 3 units of 15 reps.
Pull-ups (or chin-ups): 3 units of 8 reps.
Planks: 3 units, 1 minute maintain every.

That’s all!

Do your full-body exercise after which go play some Nintendo.

Want some assist getting began?

I’ve three nice choices that can assist you together with your dip and power coaching journey:

#1) If you need step-by-step steering, a customized power coaching program that ranges up as you get stronger, and a coach to maintain you accountable, try our killer 1-on-1 coaching program:

2) If you need an actual blueprint for crushing dips, try NF Journey. Our enjoyable habit-building app helps you train extra often, eat more healthy, and degree up your life (actually).

Attempt your free trial proper right here:

3) Be part of the Rebel! We’d like good folks such as you in our group, the Nerd Health Rebel.

Enroll within the field beneath to enlist and get our information, Energy Coaching 101: All the pieces You Have to Know. It’ll assist you begin incorporating dips into your coaching:

That ought to get you occurring mastering the body weight dip.

Alright, now I wish to hear from you:

Do you head to the health club to crush dips?

Are you at the moment progressing via assisted dips?

Any ideas or methods we missed?

Tell us within the feedback!

For the Rebel,

-Steve

PS: Wish to be taught extra? Learn the remainder of our Energy Coaching 101 collection:

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Photograph supply: Fitness time, Lost, Assisted Dip Machine, Blue benny, Maltz Challenge, The Harbor Divers of Stone Town, Visiting Friends.

GIF supply: Weighted dips, Bodyweight Dip, Bench Dips.