For some lifters, nothing beats the upper-body pump they get from a high-intensity chest workout. Many of those gym-goers hope to construct an even bigger, stronger chest by specializing in the bench press, however mastering the easy and efficient body weight dip usually goes neglected.
This staple motion isn’t only for gymnasts or calisthenics fans. It’s a basic old-fashioned train that’s been utilized by bodybuilders and power athletes for many years.
Including dips to your exercise routine will goal your pecs, triceps, and shoulders for an all-around greater, fuller, stronger higher physique. Right here’s tips on how to use solely your physique weight to ship a deep burn and explosive pump to your chest.
Learn how to Do Dips
Dips will be finished on devoted dip bars, at an assisted dip station, or a sturdy and secure pair of chairs. Whichever setup you’re utilizing, guarantee it’s at a top the place you may hold your legs and toes off the bottom when within the backside (stretched) place. This may enable a full vary of movement for optimum profit.
Step 1 — Stand up on the Bars
Step as much as the dip station and seize the bars with palms your dealing with inward. Maintain your arms straight — relying on the setup, chances are you’ll have to sightly leap into the locked out place. Bend your legs barely in order that your arms help your whole physique weight.
Maintain your again straight and your head wanting ahead. Interact your core and glutes by squeezing them each to maintain your whole physique tight.
Kind tip: Ideally, your arms ought to be roughly shoulder-width distance. Some dip bars are angled to permit completely different grip widths. In case your arms are farther aside, shoulder-joint pressure can enhance and stress in your chest muscle mass can lower.
Step 2 — Decrease right into a Stretch
Slowly decrease your physique till your elbows are roughly at 90-degree angles, in case your mobility permits. Keep a forward-looking head place, however let your higher physique angle barely ahead to extend recruitment of the chest muscle mass.
Your elbows will naturally angle barely outwards. Keep away from excessively flaring your elbows on to the edges, which may enhance pressure on the shoulder joints.
Kind tip: Use a sluggish tempo to make sure management, most muscle stress, and increase muscle development. (1) Take as much as three seconds to achieve the underside place.
Step 3 — Drive as much as Full Contraction
Push your physique up in a managed, fluid movement. Cease when you’re again on the beginning place with almost straight arms. Briefly pause on the prime to stabilize your physique and reduce any swinging.
As your physique rises, concentrate on feeling fixed stress contracting your chest muscle mass. Interact the mind-muscle connection by focusing your full consideration on the pecs and visualize the muscle fibers working.
Kind tip: Your physique’s path upwards ought to mirror the reducing part. Your head and shoulders ought to arc barely in entrance of your arms on the best way down, and your higher physique ought to return to a totally stacked place together with your elbows above your wrists.
Dip Errors to Keep away from
Dips are a basic body weight train that may add power and dimension to your chest, arms, and shoulders. Nevertheless, poor type can result in suboptimal outcomes or potential harm, together with put on and tear in your rotator cuff tendons. (2) Happily, the commonest errors are comparatively straightforward to keep away from.
Locking Your Elbows
Within the prime place, keep away from locking your elbows ramrod straight. Keep a slight bend in your arms to maintain them below fixed stress and yield optimal muscle-building outcomes. (3) Taking note of your arm place at lockout reinforces utilizing a comparatively sluggish tempo whereas specializing in most muscle recruitment.
As well as, locking your elbows places them in a doubtlessly hyperextended state, which can enhance your threat of harm.
Keep away from it: As your physique approaches the highest of the motion, concentrate not solely to your chest muscle mass contracting, however your arm place. This shall be tough to do when you use sloppy, swinging repetitions, so preserve a continuing, fluid movement all through every repetition.
Dipping Too Low
The underside, stretched place of most workouts is the place the concerned joints are below the best potential stress. Save your shoulders by paying shut consideration your depth when doing dips.
Going too low, past the purpose the place you are feeling your shoulder muscle mass stretching, can considerably pressure the joints. Keep in mind, type is king with regards to any train. Body weight workouts, together with dips, aren’t any completely different.
Keep away from it: As you decrease your physique into the stretched place, you need to really feel each your chest muscle mass and shoulder muscle mass stretching. Don’t let your ego discuss you into utilizing an extreme vary of movement. When you can see a mirror through the train, pay further consideration as your elbows strategy a 90-degree bend. Stopping barely greater is extra acceptable than dropping too low.
Advantages of Dips
This fundamental body weight train means that you can construct muscle mass and power in your higher physique, significantly your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Mastering power coaching train together with your body weight may also assist to decreased your total threat of harm and enhance core stabilization.
Elevated Muscle Mass and Power
Doing dips stimulates your pecs, triceps, and core considerably. By stretching and creating stress on all the chest muscle, dips are an environment friendly train for enhancing muscle development. (4) Body weight workouts have additionally been proven to be similar to free weight workouts for constructing power. (5)
Improved Joint Well being
Sustaining muscular stability is crucial for joint stability and total well being and efficiency, and body weight coaching is a extremely efficient resolution. (6)
When you carry out many pulling exercises or take part in actions which are pulling-intensive (e.g. coaching on rowing machines, pull-ups, many fight sports activities, and so forth.), commonly performing dips can construct robust pushing muscle mass to assist forestall muscular imbalances. A ten% enhance in power coaching quantity has proven to considerably reduce total harm threat. (7)
Improved Core Stabilization
Dips aren’t solely a chest train. You’ll have interaction your core by protecting your decrease physique secure all through the motion. Whereas your core isn’t straight skilled throughout dips, it’s strongly recruited to offer total-body stability and coordinated motion as you press. Improved core stability helps to advertise total power, well being, and harm prevention. (8)
Muscle tissue Labored by Dips
Dips are a extremely efficient train for strengthening the muscle mass situated in and across the chest. Whereas dips primarily goal the chest itself, the triceps and shoulders are additionally straight skilled, in addition to smaller stabilizers all through the higher physique.
Pectoralis Main
The pectoralis main is a thick, fan-shaped muscle that’s the most important muscle of the entrance chest wall. The pecs have a number of capabilities controlling arm motion together with flexion and adduction (bringing the arms towards the physique’s centerline)(9)
The pec main has two heads, the clavicular (higher chest) and the sternocostal (mid and decrease chest). When executing dips, the clavicular head is extra considerably labored as you strategy the prime portion of the motion. The sternocostal head is extra extremely activated as you decrease into the stretched place. (9)
Triceps Brachii
The triceps encompass three separate however functionally related muscle heads — the lengthy, medial, and lateral. These are discovered on the again of the higher arm. The triceps are accountable for straightening the arm on the elbow joint, extending the shoulder, and shifting the arm behind the torso — all of which work in sync throughout dips. (10)
Dips apply stress on all three heads of the triceps. Curiously, the medial head, specifically, is extra activated when the elbow is flexed past 90-degrees and the physique reaches a comparatively important depth. (10)
Anterior Deltoid
The anterior deltoid (entrance shoulder muscle mass) is concerned when elevating the arm ahead, in keeping with your physique. Extra significantly, it’s engaged when shifting your arm from behind your physique to the entrance and/or overhead. Throughout dips, the anterior deltoid is activated when your higher arm strikes from the 90-degree bent place into the highest place together with your arms straight arms by your sides.
The anterior deltoids shoulder not be the first working muscle throughout dips, however they’re recruited considerably, which is why lifters with pre-existing shoulder issues might not be comfy performing the train.
Abdominals
The abs are worked statically to regulate your decrease physique and preserve a secure total-body place. Much like performing pull-ups, it’s not unusual for lifters to really feel some ab stress (and even post-workout soreness) of their abs after a number of intense units of dips.
Whereas your abs aren’t contracting by a big vary of movement, they’re recruited to keep up management over the hips and pelvis, and forestall any leg swinging.
Who Ought to Do Dips
Whether or not you’re pushing a lawnmower or pushing a weight overhead, having ample higher physique urgent power is crucial. Dips may also help to extend muscle mass, enhance useful power, and construct higher higher physique mobility.
Bodybuilders and Physique Athletes
Dips are a bodyweight-only various to the bench press or different chest pressing exercises. It permits lifters to coach the chest with excessive stress, excessive depth, and minimal gear. Dips may also help to sculpt the chest by working the pecs at a singular angle, creating an efficient stimulus for development. (11)
Power Athletes
Any lifter targeted on shifting most weight in a urgent motion (bench press, overhead press, clear & jerk, and so forth.) can profit from including dips to their accent coaching. By constructing the chest, shoulders, and triceps, you may enhance the potential energy and power these muscle can exert. (12) The body weight dip additionally permits an intense exercise with comparatively much less load, which may cut back cumulative stress on the joints.
Learn how to Program Dips
Most inexperienced persons will discover the dip to be difficult since you’re required to elevate nearly all of their very own body weight, which will be too tough because of lack of power. Happily, persistence and energy will yield enchancment. Skilled lifters may also profit from the train as a coaching staple for dimension and power.
Unweighted, Average Quantity (Units and Reps)
When chasing optimum muscle good points, coaching the body weight dip with 4 to 6 units of 12 to fifteen reps, a few times per week will be extremely efficient. Method failure on the ultimate reps of every set to make sure acceptable depth. This complete quantity offers your chest with enough time below stress to set off muscle development.
Weighted or Unweighted, Low Repetition
Performing low quantity with low repetitions, comparable to 4 to 5 units of three to 6 reps, is a dependable methodology to build strength. This low quantity will be achieved by suspending weight from a belt, holding a dumbbell between your toes, or from merely being unable to carry out greater than six repetitions with good type.
Performing unweighted, low repetition units steadily all through the day is one efficient methodology for constructing power and bettering method. This is called greasing the groove and it’s a extremely efficient method to grasp any body weight train, together with dips.
Dip Variations
Dips can be utilized by lifters and athletes of any health stage to use stress to the a number of heads of the chest, triceps, and delts. Start with extra manageable variations of the dips whereas specializing in type, then add depth and quantity as you progress.
Ring Dip
Ring dips are a tougher variation that requires important muscular coordination, stability, and stability. This train applies stress to the pecs by an extended vary of movement whereas additionally difficult the smaller stabilizers within the shoulders and higher again.
Ring dips are a well-liked train in CrossFit programming, in addition to normal gymnastic-based applications, however the elevated recruitment of the higher physique stabilizers may also help to enhance muscular coordination and total shoulder well being when programmed appropriately.
Triceps Dip
This very refined variation makes use of slight changes to your arm and torso positions. These will lower emphasis on the chest and enhance recruitment of the triceps, making it a well-liked and environment friendly arm-building movement.
The primary important distinction from the chest-focused dip is to keep up an upright torso through the descent somewhat than leaning ahead, to scale back recruitment of the chest muscle mass. Much more importantly, hold your elbows close to your physique and aimed in the direction of the wall behind you. (13) Don’t enable them to flare outwards.
Dip Alternate options
If a scarcity of shoulder mobility or pre-existing harm prevents you from executing dips, there are many various workouts you are able to do to proceed including dimension and power to your chest.
Push-up
Good ol’ push-ups. This basic train is a superb various to dips that also makes use of your personal body weight to use stress to the pecs and urgent muscle mass.
Some skilled lifters think about push-ups to be too straightforward however, like dips, push-ups will be progressed with elevated quantity or exterior load to persistently problem the muscle mass. The chest and shoulder muscle mass aren’t put by a big stretch throughout push-ups, in comparison with dips, making them a super possibility for lifters with pre-existing joint ache.
Bench Press
The basic bench press is a superb substitute for dips as a result of the potential to maneuver heavy weights can carryover to dimension and power good points. Some fitness center veterans would rank the bench press on par with dips as basic chest-building workouts.
The flat barbell bench press is clearly important for powerlifters, as one of many aggressive lifts. Its potential to construct upper-body power may also carryover to different power athletes together with strongmen and strongwomen.
FAQs
Are dips unhealthy for the shoulders?
Utilizing correct type and avoiding the method errors defined above, dips will place extra stress on the pecs, triceps, and anterior deltoid muscle mass as a substitute of the related joints. This optimum muscle recruitment can considerably cut back the chance of harm.
Nevertheless, if the train is executed with improper type or too heavy a load, dips might result in shoulder impingement, doubtlessly straining the rotator cuff tendons. (14) Essentially, the ideas which apply to all workouts apply to dips — do them correctly, with programming acceptable to your health stage, and also you’ll reduce potential hazards.
How ought to I program dips with different presses in a chest exercise?
Particular programming variables will rely upon various elements, together with your expertise stage, coaching frequency, and targets. Typically talking, performing one to 3 numerous sorts of presses in a single exercise will be an efficient method to prepare your chest.
Ideally, the workouts shall be various — such because the flat barbell bench press, dips, and incline dumbbell press. Redundant coaching — such performing the flat barbell bench press, flat dumbbell bench press, and close-grip barbell bench press in a single session— will ship extreme fatigue and minimal outcomes.
Time to Take a Dip
Shoulder accidents, poor shoulder mobility, and lack of “pushing power” can intervene with every day life and hinder efficiency within the fitness center, on the platform, and on the sphere. Nevertheless, incorporating dips into your coaching program can pack on muscle, enhance power, cut back harm threat, and improve bodily efficiency for lifters, athletes, and weekend warriors alike.
References
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