If at first you don't succeed... Tri again!
The first time I tried a dip I thought I was going to die! I remember watching a few big muscle head guys at a gym doing them and thought I should do them to get muscular arms too. I walked up to this old metal set of bars sticking off the back of an old huge multi station machine that had a leg press, lat pull down, shoulder press and upper/lower pulley on it. You know the one... it was a monster of a machine with all kinds of weight stacks found in the corner of the local YMCA!
I locked my elbows out while grabbing the two bars, slowly lowered myself and suddenly crashed to the floor with no hope of pushing myself back up! However, after several attempts and modifications to the traditional dip, I've mastered one of the best upper body toning exercises!
Below are a few different types of dips. The bench dip and assisted dip machine are usually a good place to start, then progress to the more difficult forms of dips.
Bench Dips
Bench dips are a great way to start out on your quest to perform the perfect dip. Start with your butt on the end of a bench and your hands holding the edge of the bench on either side of your hips. Remove your butt from the bench by sliding forward while maintaining a grip on the bench. With your legs either straight out or knees bent, slowly lower your butt toward the floor bending at the elbows only. Keep your butt close to the end of the bench to prevent rotator cuff strain. Now, simply lift your self back up to the top of the bench. If this is difficult, start with your knees bents and push yourself up with your legs for assistance. As you become stronger you can straighten your legs and rely totally on your chest, shoulders and triceps to perform the dip.
Machine Assisted Dips
You know that huge machine in the corner of the gym that has a chin up bar and parallel bars with a weight stack? That machine that looks older than your grandmother's wallpaper in her living room? That's the assisted chin up/dip machine. This is a great machine for building up the upper body strength to perform a regular dip. The way it works is simple, whatever weight you put on the weight stack is subtracted from your total bodyweight. For instance, I'm 227lbs. If I put 100lbs on the stack, I will be lifting 127lbs of my own body weight. Climb up the little steps, grasp the parallel bars with elbows locked. Put your knees on the pad and slowly lower your body then lift again. As you get stronger, reduce the amount of weight you have on the stack until you can complete a full unassisted bodyweight dip.
Parallel Bar Dips
The jump from bench dips and machine assisted dips to parallel bar dips can be a big challenge. It is extremely important that your form is perfect on this type of dip to reduce risk of injury to the elbows or shoulders. Most people will need to be able to perform generally around 20 bench or assisted dips before attempting a parallel bar dip. Focus on your form and proceed slowly.
First, you need to tilt your torso forward a bit to maintain proper shoulder alignment when performing parallel bar dips. Your elbows should stay approximately over your hands, so your shoulders will end up in front of them. By varying the angle in which you lean forward will target more of the chest. By staying vertical, you will focus more on the triceps. However, which ever angle you lean, you will still work the chest, shoulders and triceps. Trying to stay totally vertical is not advised, however, as doing so can put unnecessary strain on your shoulders.
Also, remember to stay mindful of keeping your abs engaged and maintaining a tight body throughout the range of motion. You don't want your hips or legs to swing at all during your dips. Some people will find that keeping a slight bend in the knees and/or crossing the ankles can help maintain stability.
Your flexibility and shoulder strength will determine how deep into the dip you will able to safely go. Though people have varying levels of mobility, I'm a big proponent of using as large of a range of motion as is safe and practical. Squeeze the most you can out of every rep. "PARTIAL REPS, PARTIAL REWARDS!"
It's also worth noting that the distance between the bars and thickness of the grip will affect the difficulty of the exercise. Beginners are better off using thinner bars spaced fairly far apart (20-24 inches), while thick bars and bars that are positioned closer together (anything closer than 18 or 19 inches) will increase the difficulty.
Once you become a dip master and can perform multiple reps how do you increase the intensity? You can crank up the volume and go for 100+ dips in a single workout, or try doing weighted dips using a dip belt or vest. You could even attempt plyometric variations like clapping dips (Do at your own risk though!!!!) Bottom line, for the sake of progress and to challenge yourself, dips should become a part of your fitness routine!
*As always... always consult your physician before attempting this or any other fitness routine. If you feel pain stop and consult with your physician... Feel free to stop me and ask me to demonstrate the various dips to ensure proper form and technique.