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Plyometric Dip

This turns the dip into a plyometric drill, training the triceps and lower chest to fire fast enough to launch you off the bars. The eccentric catch also builds serious pressing strength through the stretch. Only attempt it with rock-solid strict dips and stable, well-spaced bars.

Equipment
Dip Bars
Body part
Chest, Triceps
Type
Plyometric, Strength
Browse by movement
Vertical Press
Muscles worked
Target
Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head, Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
Secondary
Deltoid Anterior, Pectoralis Major Clavicular
Tertiary
Trapezius Lower

How to do it

  1. 1

    Support yourself on parallel bars with arms locked and shoulders down.

  2. 2

    Lower under control to a comfortable depth without shrugging.

  3. 3

    Drive up explosively so your hands pop off the bars at the top.

  4. 4

    Catch the bars again with the elbows bending to absorb the drop.

  5. 5

    Reverse immediately out of the catch into the next rep.

  6. 6

    Keep reps low and stop when the pop off the bars fades.

Tips

  • Keep the chest tall and shoulders packed so the catch loads the arms, not the shoulder joint.
  • Do not chase depth; a moderate range keeps the rebound fast and the joints safe.
  • Set the bars just outside shoulder width for a clean, repeatable re-catch.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Hands come back down an inch inside or outside where they left, and half a hand on a bar at the bottom of a drop is how people come off a dip station. Grip the same spot every rep.
  • A rocking dip station or a pair of benches will move under the catch; load the bars hard and shake them before the first rep, and use a fixed station if there is any give.
  • The pop gets chased for height, when an inch of daylight is all the drill needs, and the bigger the air the later and harder the catch.
  • Elbows flare out as the hands take the bars again, which puts the shoulders in the worst position available just as the load spikes; drive them back toward the ribs.
  • On a low station the feet clip the floor during the catch, which jolts the rep and breaks the rhythm. Bend the knees and cross the ankles, or use a taller set of bars.
  • The torso tips forward through the pop so the shoulders end up ahead of the hands on the way down, turning a vertical catch into a lean you then have to press out of.

Frequently asked

How many plyometric dips should I do, and what should I own first?
Five or six sets of 2 to 3 reps with two to three minutes of rest, done early and twice a week at most. The prerequisites are real: 12 to 15 strict full-range parallel-bar dips, pain-free shoulders at the bottom of a dip, and a couple of weeks of fast strict dips where you drive hard without letting go. Progress by adding a rep, then by raising the pop slightly, and finish the set the moment the hands stop clearing the bars.
What can I do instead of plyometric dips if I do not have parallel bars?
Two heavy matched chairs, or a rack with two barbells set level, can work, but only if nothing shifts when you load it; a park or playground dip station is usually the better answer. Rings replace bars for the strength but not for the pop, since there is nothing solid to leave and return to. Without any bars, an explosive bench dip where the hands leave the bench for a moment trains the same fast triceps drive at far lower load, and a plyo push-up trains the pattern lying down.
What is the plyometric dip good for, and when is it a poor choice?
It builds explosive triceps and lower-chest strength plus a hard eccentric catch, which carries into muscle-ups, pressing speed and gymnastics work. It is a poor way to add arm size, since the total reps are tiny, and a poor choice for anyone whose shoulders already dislike the bottom of a dip, because the catch arrives faster than you can correct your position. It does not belong at the end of a pressing session, when the pop has already gone.

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