There are many exercises that only work one muscle group. There are also many exercises that people think only work one muscle group. Dips are one of them!
A lot of people think that dips are only meant to work your triceps, but that is not the case. In fact, dips can target your chest, triceps, shoulders, and several other muscles all at the same time!
This is a big reason why dips are such a popular exercise. You can also do all sorts of variations of dips, including by adding weight.
Today, you'll learn all about dips, the muscles involved, and how they can help. I'll even talk about exactly how to do dips correctly so you can see the best results.
Let's get into it!
What Are Dips?
Dips are an upper-body strength exercise that mainly focus on your triceps and chest. However, dips can also work your shoulders, biceps, and muscles in your back.
Most typically, you'll see people do dips by suspending their body above the ground by holding on to two poles. These are often called dip stations, dip stands, or dip bars.
Dips can also be done in a wide variety of ways. Dips are most commonly done with just your body weight, but they can also be weighted. Heck, there are even dip machines to offset weight and make them easier!
But, no matter what your goals are, dips can be beneficial. They are a great way to build multiple muscle groups at once and increase strength.
I find myself doing them fairly often for these reasons. But, how exactly do you do dips?
How Do You Do Dips?
Since there are so many variations, this can vary based on which you choose. However, the dips that most people know and love are done like this:
1. Holding onto parallel bars and lifting yourself up by straightening your arms
2. Lean forward slightly and in a controlled manner, begin lowering your body downward. Make sure your feet don't touch the ground by bending your knees and crossing your legs behind you.
3. Lower your body until your elbows are at about 90-degree angles.
4. Push through your chest, triceps, and front deltoids to bring your body back upward.
5. Repeat this as many times as you can or for a set number of reps.
Which Muscles Do Dips Work?
There are many muscles that are worked in the different variations of dips.
Below are the muscle groups listed and the specific muscles that are worked:
• Chest Muscles: pectoralis major and pectoralis minor
• Shoulder Muscles: front deltoids and anterior deltoids
• Back Muscles: rhomboids, levator scapulae, latissimus dorsi, teres major, trapezius muscles
• Arm Muscles: triceps brachii and biceps brachii
Dips are truly a full upper-body movement that can help work many different muscles. They also come accompanied by several benefits.
The Benefits Of Dips
Dips are not your average exercise. Because they're a compound exercise, dips can be great for strength-building and muscle growth.
On top of that, there are several other benefits to dips.
Dips Are Easily Scalable
Dips can be done in so many different ways. That also means they can be scaled to suit any fitness level. If you're super strong, you can do weighted dips.
If you're somewhere in the middle, you can do bodyweight dips.
If you're starting out or need to build up strength, you can do assisted dips with a band or a machine.
Dips give everyone an opportunity to build their upper body strength.
Dips Are Convenient
Depending on the variation, you can do dips nearly anywhere. Whether you're at the gym, at home, or out and about, there will be a way to do them.
For example: reverse dips can really be done on any elevated surface. It can be a chair, stairs, a bench ... you name it!
Dip Are A Great Warm Up and Burnout Exercise
If you're getting ready for an upper body workout, dips can help you warm up easily. It's a good way to get blood flowing to multiple major muscle groups in your upper body quickly.
If you're wrapping up your workout, dips can also be great. Try adding them at the end of an upper body day, and you'll thank me later. You will be toast!
Dip Variations
There is always the question of “Which variation is best for me?” I would argue that it depends on what your goals are. Some variations are much better at targeting certain muscles than others.
With that being said, here are some of the most popular variations of the dip you can try out.
Chest Dips
These will be performed very similarly to how I explained above. This time, you'll bend your upper body forward to engage your chest more. This variation can also be great for strengthening your front delts as well. These are the muscles that sit on the front of your shoulder.
Tricep Dips
Like chest dips, tricep dips are very similar to a normal dip. The key difference is your body positioning. Instead of leaning forward, you'll want to keep your upper body upright. This will place a lot more emphasis on your triceps.
You can also do another variation of tricep dips with a bench or elevated surface. Instead of using bars, you'll plant your palms on the edge of a bench and kick your legs in front of you. Rest your heels on the ground with a slight bend in your knees. From here, lower your body as your elbows bend behind you.
Once your elbows hit a 90-degree angle, push through your triceps to bring your body back up. This is one full rep.
Weighted Dips
Weighted dips are done exactly like any other variation. For that reason, you can actually do weighted dips in any variation you please. The biggest difference may be obvious, but you'll add weight to increase the intensity.
One popular way to do this is by using a weight belt. If you're doing tricep dips on a bench, you can also place a weight plate on top of your thighs.
Just make sure whatever weight you use is one you can still perform the exercise safely with!
Take Your Workouts to The Next Level
Dips are a great addition to nearly any training program and there is no doubt about it.
They can be a great way to build upper body strength, muscle, and keep progressing your fitness. If you are ever looking for additional exercises or ways to level up your workouts, we are here to help.
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