Chest Dip
By leaning your torso forward and letting the elbows drift out, the dip shifts from a triceps move to a powerful lower-chest builder that stretches the pecs deeply under load. It carries your full bodyweight, so it demands real pressing and shoulder strength, which is why it sits at the advanced level. Add weight from a belt once bodyweight reps come easily.
- Equipment
- Dip Bars
- Body part
- Chest
- Type
- Strength
- Browse by muscle
- Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
- Browse by movement
- Vertical Press
- Target
- Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
- Secondary
- Pectoralis Major Clavicular, Deltoid Anterior, Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head
How to do it
- 1
Grip parallel bars and press up to a supported start with arms locked.
- 2
Lean your torso forward and let your feet drift back behind you to bias the chest.
- 3
Lower under control, letting the elbows flare slightly outward, until you feel a stretch across the lower chest.
- 4
Descend until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor, keeping the forward lean.
- 5
Press back up along the same path, staying leaned forward, and stop just short of a hard lockout.
Tips
- Maintain the forward torso lean the whole set; standing upright shifts the work to the triceps.
- Do not drop deeper than a comfortable stretch, which can overstress the front of the shoulder.
- Use a dip belt or hold a dumbbell between your feet to add load once bodyweight is easy.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Dropping fast and bouncing out of the bottom. The front of the shoulder takes that jolt at the exact point where it is most stretched, so lower over about two seconds and press from a still position.
- Letting the shoulders ride up toward the ears at the bottom. Keep the shoulder blades pulled down so the chest holds the stretch instead of the joint.
- Kicking the knees up to start each rep. The swing moves you rather than the chest, and it usually costs you the forward lean as well.
- Setting adjustable bars far wider than your shoulders. A wide grip forces the arms out at the bottom and gives the chest a stretch you cannot control.
- Snapping the elbows into a hard lockout at the top, which parks the load on the joints instead of the chest and turns the next descent into a drop.
Frequently asked
- How many sets and reps of the chest dip should you do when you are new to the exercise?
- If you can already manage five strict reps, three sets of 6 to 10 is the place to start, ending each set two reps before the forward lean falls apart. If you cannot do five, use an assisted dip machine or a band across the bars, or lower yourself slowly from the top for three to five controlled descents per set. Once three sets of 12 feel comfortable, hang 5 kg from a dip belt and go back to sets of 6.
- How do I make the chest dip easier or harder?
- Easier: loop a band across the bars and put a knee in it, use the assisted dip machine, or do the lowering half only and step back to the top. Cutting the depth slightly also helps while you build strength. Harder: hang a plate from a dip belt or hold a dumbbell between your feet, pause a second at the bottom of the stretch, or slow the descent to three seconds. Add load in small jumps, since your shoulders are already carrying your bodyweight before anything else goes on.
- What is the chest dip good for, and who should avoid it?
- It builds the lower chest and pressing strength through a deep range, and because it carries your whole bodyweight it is one of the harder upper-body exercises to earn, which is part of what makes it worth having. Anyone whose shoulder hurts at the front of the joint should avoid it, and so should anyone who cannot yet control the descent: the bottom position is a real stretch under load, and that is where dips cause trouble. A decline press or machine chest press trains the same area with far less demand on the shoulder.
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