Exercise guides · Triceps
How to do dips
How to perform parallel bar dips safely — depth, torso lean, elbow path — plus how to bias chest or triceps, how to build your first rep, and when to add weight.
- The top — arms locked, shoulders down, slight forward lean.
- The bottom — upper arm to about parallel, elbows tracking back.
- Primary muscles
- triceps
- Also works
- lower chest and front delts
- Equipment
- dip station
- Type
- compound, push
- Level
- intermediate
- Also called
- Dip
Dips are one of the few bodyweight exercises that load the pressing muscles hard enough to matter, and they scale further than almost anything else — a belt and a few plates turn them into a genuinely heavy lift. They build triceps, front delts and lower chest at once, and they carry over to the bench press better than most direct bench accessories.
They also have a reputation for shoulder problems, which is earned but avoidable. Nearly all of it comes from going deeper than the shoulder can tolerate, and from starting with bodyweight when bodyweight is too much.
The set-up
- Use parallel bars set roughly at shoulder width. Much wider stresses the shoulder; much narrower crowds the elbows.
- Mount to the top position with your arms locked out. Push your shoulders down away from your ears — do not hang in the joint.
- Bend your knees and cross your ankles behind you so your body stays still.
- Brace your abs. Set the torso lean you want: upright for triceps, leaning forward 20–30° for chest.
The rep
- Lower under control by bending the elbows, keeping them tracking back rather than flaring wide.
- Descend until your upper arm reaches roughly parallel with the floor. That is deep enough for almost everyone.
- Stop earlier if your shoulders round forward or you feel a pinch at the front of the joint. There is nothing to gain below that point.
- Press back up by driving through your palms, maintaining the same torso angle you started with.
- Lock out at the top with the shoulders still pushed down, and reset before the next rep.
Common mistakes
- Going too deep
- The single biggest cause of shoulder pain from dips. Below parallel the humeral head is driven forward into the front of the capsule, and there is no additional muscle being trained to pay for it. Upper arm to parallel, stop.
- Sinking into the shoulders at the top
- Hanging passively at lockout with the shoulders up around the ears loads the joint rather than the muscle. Actively push down and away at the top of every rep.
- Starting at bodyweight when it is too heavy
- Dips at bodyweight are a substantial load. If you can only manage two ugly reps, use an assisted dip machine or a band and do proper sets, exactly as you would with pull-ups.
- Letting the elbows flare wide
- Wide elbows put the shoulder in the same compromised position as a flared bench press. Keep them tracking back along your sides.
Sets and reps
Once you can do ten strict reps, add weight rather than reps — dips respond to load extremely well. Twice a week fits most pressing schedules.
| Goal | Prescription | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Strength | 4 sets of 5–8 | Weighted, on a belt. Progress like any barbell lift. |
| Muscle | 3–4 sets of 8–12 | Forward lean for chest bias. Stop one or two reps short of failure. |
| Building the first reps | 3–4 sets of 5 | Assisted machine or band, plus slow negatives from the top. |
Variations worth knowing
- Assisted dip
- A counterweighted machine that takes a set amount off your bodyweight. The most direct way to train the pattern before you can do full reps.
- Bench dip
- Hands behind you on a bench, feet on the floor. Easier to load lightly, but considerably harder on the shoulder — use it sparingly.
- Close-grip bench press
- The horizontal equivalent for triceps and lower chest. Easier to load in small increments and gentler on the shoulder joint.
Questions
Are dips bad for your shoulders?
Not inherently — done to a sensible depth with the shoulders actively depressed, they are well tolerated. The problems come from descending below parallel, hanging passively at the top, and doing them at a load you cannot control. If your shoulders hurt even with good depth, use close-grip pressing instead.
How deep should I go?
Until your upper arm is roughly parallel to the floor. Deeper offers no extra training benefit and is where the shoulder risk lives.
How do I make dips hit the chest more?
Lean your torso forward 20–30° and let the elbows travel slightly wider. Staying upright with the elbows tucked biases the triceps instead. Both are valid; pick according to what you are training that day.
How do I do my first dip?
Slow negatives from the top position — jump or step up, then lower for five seconds — plus assisted reps on a machine or with a band. Three sessions a week gets most people there in a couple of months.
Dips or close-grip bench press?
Dips load the triceps and lower chest harder and need no rack; close-grip bench is easier to progress in small increments and easier on the shoulders. Running both is common and sensible.
How should I log weighted dips?
Record the added weight, not your total — that is the number that will progress. Workout Chat logs it as its own movement with its own progression chart, so the +20kg you are dipping with now is directly comparable to the +5kg you started with.
Log it the moment you rack it.
Type “dip 3x5 at 80kg” and it's recorded, charted, and checked against your best.
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