Weighted Dips

How to Perform the Weighted Dips

Attach a dipping belt around your waist and load it with the desired weight, or hold a dumbbell between your feet.
Mount the parallel bars and support yourself at arm's length with your elbows locked out.
Lean slightly forward to increase chest involvement, or stay more upright to emphasize the triceps.
Lower your body by bending your elbows until your upper arms are at least parallel to the floor.
Keep your elbows from flaring out excessively and maintain control throughout the descent.
Drive back up by pressing through your palms and extending your elbows to return to the top position.
Squeeze your triceps and chest at the top before beginning the next rep.

Adding too much weight too quickly and sacrificing range of motion

Only add weight when you can perform full-depth bodyweight dips for 12-15 reps with proper form.

Swinging the body or kipping to complete reps

Keep your body controlled and steady; if you need momentum, the weight is too heavy.

Not going deep enough on the dip

Lower until your upper arms are at least parallel to the floor for full muscle activation; partial reps limit results.

✓One of the most effective compound exercises for building upper body pressing strength and muscle mass
✓Allows progressive overload with significant external loads for continued strength gains
✓Trains the chest, triceps, and shoulders in a functional pushing pattern

●Lean forward at about 30 degrees to shift emphasis to the chest; stay upright to focus on triceps.
●Progress weight gradually in small increments (2.5-5 lbs at a time) to build strength safely.
●Use a controlled 2-3 second eccentric to maximize muscle stimulus and reduce joint stress.

Strength

4-5 sets of 3-5 reps at 80-90% 1RM

Hypertrophy

3-4 sets of 6-10 reps at 65-80% 1RM

Endurance

2-3 sets of 12-15 reps at 50-65% 1RM

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