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Weighted Dip

Once bodyweight dips get easy, adding load turns the dip into one of the best mass and strength builders for the chest and triceps. A plate hung from a dip belt lets you progress the resistance cleanly rep after rep. A slight forward torso lean biases the lower chest while a more upright torso shifts the work to the triceps. Add weight only once your full-range bodyweight dip is clean and pain-free.

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

How to do it

  1. 1

    Load a plate onto a dip belt and secure it around your waist before mounting the bars.

  2. 2

    Support yourself at arm's length on parallel bars with the shoulders down and chest up.

  3. 3

    Choose your torso angle: lean forward for more chest, stay upright for more triceps.

  4. 4

    Bend the elbows and lower until the shoulders reach about elbow height under control.

  5. 5

    Press back to full lockout without shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears.

  6. 6

    Add small weight increments over time rather than sacrificing depth.

Tips

  • Keep the shoulders packed down to avoid loading them at the bottom.
  • Do not bounce out of the bottom; control the eccentric to protect the shoulders.
  • If a full range aggravates the shoulder, cap the depth slightly and still progress the load.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • The belt chain is left long, so the plate swings between the legs and sets up a pendulum that drags you off the bars; shorten it until the plate hangs close and quiet.
  • The belt is not centred before the plate goes on, and one that has slipped around to a hip tilts every descent to the same side.
  • Depth shrinks as the load climbs, so the training log records progress that the range no longer supports; keep the shoulders reaching elbow height or take weight off.
  • Load jumps in ten-kilo steps because those are the plates lying around, when the shoulders need 2.5 kg increments far more than the chest needs speed.
  • Getting onto the bars means hopping up with the plate already hanging, which jolts the shoulders in their most stretched position; step up from a box and step back down onto it.
  • The torso angle wanders from rep to rep, drifting forward once the set gets hard, so neither the chest nor the triceps get a consistent dose; choose the lean on rep one and hold it.

Frequently asked

How much weight should you add to a dip, and for how many reps?
Four sets of 5 to 8 reps with two to three minutes of rest suits it best, since this is a strength lift once a plate is hanging. Earn it with 10 to 12 clean full-range bodyweight dips first, then start around 10 kg. Add 2.5 kg only when every set reaches the top of the rep range at full depth. For size, drop to 3 sets of 8 to 12 with less on the belt and a three-second lowering, which keeps the chest under tension for longer.
How can I add weight to dips without a dip belt?
A dumbbell squeezed between the ankles or crossed feet is the classic no-belt option, and a weight vest is the tidiest. A backpack loaded with plates works if it sits high and does not sway. With no bars at all, a bench dip with a plate on the lap trains the triceps, and a close-grip bench press or a machine dip covers the same pattern with easier loading. Most parks have parallel bars, which are worth the walk for this one.
What is the weighted dip good for, and who should avoid it?
It is one of the most efficient mass and strength builders for the lower chest and triceps, it needs almost no equipment, and the load is easy to progress a plate at a time. Lifters who want heavy pressing without a bench get a lot from it. Avoid it if the front of your shoulder complains at the bottom of a bodyweight dip, since a plate makes that position heavier rather than better, and avoid it entirely until your unweighted dip is clean, full-range, and painless.

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