Push · Tier 2
Dip
The dip is the king of bodyweight pressing strength, loading your chest, triceps, and front delts through a deep range that push-ups can never reach.
Also known as: Parallel Bar Dip · Chest Dip- Difficulty
- 4/10 · Novice
- Tier
- 02
- Equipment
- dipbars · rings
Track this skill
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The dip sits in the push tree right after the push-up, and it's your first real vertical pressing strength milestone. It loads the chest and triceps through a range push-ups can't touch, which is exactly why it transfers to harder skills like the muscle-up and ring work later.
Respect the depth. Your muscles will want to drop fast, but your shoulder and elbow tendons adapt slower, so earn your range over weeks, not in one session. Own a strict, controlled, full-depth dip before you ever hang a plate from your waist.
Readiness gates
Clear these measurable conditions before forcing the skill.
15+ clean reps
30s on the bars
5 slow lowers
Technique, step by step
Four checkpoints for one honest repetition or hold.
- 01Setup
Lock out the support hold
Jump or press to a tall support on parallel bars: arms straight, elbows locked, shoulders pushed down away from your ears. Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs so your body hangs in a slight hollow, not arched. Cross your ankles behind you and look at a fixed point straight ahead, not down.
- 02Lower
Descend under control
Lean your torso 15-30 degrees forward to bias the chest and protect the shoulder. Bend at the elbows and let them track back and slightly out, lowering for a count of 2-3 seconds. Stop when your shoulders drop just below your elbows, or where your shoulder feels strong, never forced.
- 03Drive
Press out of the bottom
From the bottom, push the bars down and away as if shoving the floor through your hands. Keep that slight forward lean and drive through the meat of your palm. Don't shrug, keep the shoulders pulled down the whole way up.
- 04Top
Finish with a full lockout
Press all the way to straight, locked elbows and a tall, depressed shoulder position. Squeeze the triceps hard at the top for half a second. Reset the hollow brace before the next rep, don't bounce out of one rep into the next.
Skill practice guide
Public skill guidance — not your protected personalized eight-week plan.
Build a clean, full-depth strict dip and pile on controlled reps.
4-5 sets of 5-8 strict reps; once you hit 12+ clean, add weight via a dip belt or hold a dumbbell between your feet.
2-3x/week with at least 48h between dip sessions so the elbows and shoulders recover.
Add depth and load before chasing more reps. When 8 reps feel easy, add 2-3kg rather than grinding out sloppy doubles.
Common faults
My shoulders hurt at the bottom of the dip+
You're almost certainly dropping too deep, letting the shoulder roll forward and round under load. Cut your depth to where the shoulder feels strong and keep them pulled down and back, then add depth over weeks as the joint adapts. If a specific bar width feels pinchy, narrow the bars toward shoulder-width.
I can't press out of the bottom of the dip+
The sticking point is usually weak triceps and a body that collapses out of tension at the bottom. Train slow negatives and paused bottom holds for 3-5 seconds to build strength exactly where you fail. Stay braced in a hollow so you press from a rigid frame, not a sagging one.
I keep swinging and kipping my dips+
Momentum means your brace is loose and your reps are too fast. Cross your ankles, squeeze your glutes, and hold a still hollow body so your legs can't pump. Slow the tempo to a 3-second lower and a controlled press; if you still swing, you're working past your honest rep count.
My elbows flare way out in dips+
Hard elbow flare loads the shoulder and drains your triceps. Cue your elbows to track back over your wrists with only a slight outward angle, and keep the forearms vertical. Pressing on rings that turn out at the top can also retrain a cleaner elbow path.
I tip and roll forward and lose balance on dips+
Either the bars are too wide or your core is loose, so the torso wanders. Pick bars near shoulder-width and grip hard to create a stable base. Brace your abs and glutes from the support hold onward so the whole body moves as one rigid piece.
Useful setup
A fixed, non-wobbling station lets you lower deep with confidence and full control.
Rings let you turn the hands out at lockout, which builds shoulder stability and a cleaner elbow path.
Once bodyweight dips are easy, a belt adds clean external load so you keep progressing instead of just adding reps.
Primary muscles
Chest · Triceps · Front delts