FAQs
Balance yourself on the dip bars with locked elbows and your feet in the air. Raise your chest to keep your shoulders down. Then take a big breath, hold it and dip down. Hold your breath on the way down and at the bottom.
Is 20 reps of dips good? ›
The average male lifter can do 20 reps of Dips. This makes you Intermediate on Strength Level and is a very impressive achievement.
How many sets of dips is enough? ›
If you are training for strength you should pick a weight that you can perform for 3-5 reps for 3 sets. If you are training for hypertrophy pick a weight you can do for 8-12 reps for 3 sets. If you are training for both pick a weight you can do for 6-8 reps for 3 sets.
What are dips best for? ›
What is a dip? The dip is an exercise that primarily targets your chest, but it also activates the shoulders, triceps, and abdominals. Depending on how you angle your body during the exercise, you can increase the demand on the chest or the triceps.
What muscle does dips build? ›
Both your major pectoralis and minor pectoralis muscles benefit the most from the chest dip, however, the anterior deltoid, triceps, rhomboids, levator scapulae, and latissimus dorsi are all engaged as well. To a lesser degree, the traps are activated too.
Can I hit dips everyday? ›
However, the body as a unit requires a recovery period, not just the individual muscles. If you perform dips or pullups everyday, eventually you will wear your body out. Throw in a recovery day after every two workouts to avoid overtraining and reversing all your progress.
Do dips build abs? ›
Whether you are doing chest or triceps focused dips, many of the targeted upper body muscle groups are the same, focusing on the chest, shoulders, arms and back. Keep in mind that your abdominals and glutes are being used throughout either version of the exercise in order to help stabilize your body.
Which is better, dips or pull-ups? ›
Performing dips will improve lockout strength for exercises such as bench presses, overhead presses, and Olympic lifts. Pull-ups are right there with dips as they build strength and muscle in the lats and upper back, and real-world grip strength.
Are dips better than bench press? ›
While dips may not be the most effective way to build muscle strength in your chest compared to traditional bench presses or flys, they do have merit as an additional exercise. Many lifters use dips as their last chest exercise of the day to add a liberal helping of triceps activation.
Are dips harder than push-ups? ›
With dips, your body is suspended and the arms are forced to support your bodyweight. With a push-up, however, your body is supported by the floor and the arms are only responsible for a fraction of the load. That makes dips significantly more challenging than push-ups.
Leaning forward as you dip will activate your pecs more and take some pressure off your triceps and shoulders. If you do the exercise on parallel bars, your core will kick in to help you move your entire body down and up.
