Dips are one of my favorite exercise after pull up, which I regularly do in my workout routine. This exercise is extremely difficult for beginners but with practice everyone can achieve them.
Nowadays, many people prefer machines to train their chest, shoulders and triceps, because they are easy to do, compared to dips. But, don't forget that certain body weight exercises are so effective and no machine can replace them.
Dips are good for building upper body and has many benefits, you can do this at home. So, in this article you will know everything about dips:
- Dips workout what muscles target
- How to dips for Triceps, Chest (pectoral) and Shoulders
- How to improve dips and techniques
- Dips variations to increase difficulty
1. Muscles Used During Dips
Dips uses your whole upper body but it has major impact on these muscles:
- Triceps
- Shoulders
- Chest or Pectoral
Dips also uses secondary muscles such as trapezius, rhomboid muscles, serratus anterior, upper back, forearms and abdominals that help stabilize the body during movement.
2. How to do Dips
Make sure you have enough strength to push your whole body weight. If you can do 10-20 clean push ups in a row then you can move to this exercise, else try to build basic strength with pushing exercises.
However, you can try easier variation such as chair dips to build strength.
- You will need parallel bar where you can place your hands safely.
- Stand between bars, hold the bar shoulder width apart.
- Now jump up and keep your arms straight and legs off to the floor.
- Keep your back straight to balance your body and reduce the arm stress.
- Look forward and your chest out, you can lean forward slightly.
- Tightly hold the bar and slowly bend your elbows, lower your body until your arms are almost parallel to the ground.
- Keep your elbows close to your body and not point outward.
- Push yourself up using your hands and avoid motion. Once you have reached full extension at the top, contract the core of your triceps.
- Make sure don't lock your shoulder at top and repeat as much as you can.
Avoid These Mistakes while Doing Dips
- Incorrect distance between bars which is most important to protect yourself from injuries.
- Don't place your hands too wide, else it can increase stress in your shoulder.
- Don't go too deep which also increases the risk of injuries in your shoulders and triceps.
- And most importantly fast movement which, always perform slow dips to effectively train your muscles.
3. How to dips for Triceps, and Chest (pectoral)
Dips for Chest
They are great for building a well-rounded and muscular chest, but needs a little bit modification in your position to work on your chest. You have to slightly lean forward to train more your chest muscles and make sure keep your legs straight. You can use wider grip but not too wide.
Dips for Triceps
When done with close grip and straight back position the triceps muscles use more and you can feel the burn when you perform dips with that position. While doing this make sure maintain the proper form and practice on narrow parallel bars with elbows close to the body.
4. Dips Variations to Increase the Difficulty
Before moving this advance exercises make sure you are able to do 10 dips with proper form.
Straight Bar Dips with Weight
You can do this on a single bar, just place your both hands on a bar and jump up, rest everything is same as basic dips. While doing this keep your elbows close to your body. You can use a backpack or waited waist.
Weighted Dips
This is great for building a big chest and triceps but also increases the risk of injuries in your shoulder. While doing this use lighter weight. You can use backpack with weight plates or belt that carry weight plates.
Ring Dips
This variation allows the shoulder joint to be strengthened and improves your balance, as it involves stabilization work.
5. How to Improve Your Dips
I have a complete article for you which has step by step detail, and progression, that help improve yours performance and get you stronger.
Read this article: How to get better at dips
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