Dip
Parallel bar dip (triceps)
Works
Also works
Equipment
How to do it
- Support yourself on the parallel bars with your arms extended and your torso as vertical as possible.
- Keep your body upright with your legs under you to emphasize the triceps.
- Lower by bending your elbows backward until your shoulders reach elbow height.
- Keep your elbows close to your body, pointing backward, during the descent.
- Press up by extending your elbows back to the starting position.
- Avoid leaning forward so the effort stays on the triceps.
Common mistakes
- Leaning the torso forward and shifting the effort to the chest
- Descending too far and stressing the shoulder joint
- Not fully extending the elbows at the top
What the evidence says
Comparing bench, bar and ring dips with motion capture and EMG, the bench dip drove the shoulder to nearly 90° of extension — considerably more than the other two — and still produced lower peak triceps activation than the bar dip. A worse ratio between what it stimulates and what it demands of the shoulder.
McKenzie A, Crowley-McHattan Z, Meir R, Whitting J, Volschenk W. «Bench, Bar, and Ring Dips: Do Kinematics and Muscle Activity Differ?». International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022. View the study
In a review dedicated to the dip, the authors flag end-range glenohumeral extension as a vulnerable position that the training literature had overlooked. It doesn't say the dip is dangerous: it says depth is the variable to watch, and that nobody had been watching it.
McKenzie AK, Crowley-McHattan ZJ, Meir R, Whitting JW, Volschenk W. «Glenohumeral Extension and the Dip: Considerations for the Strength and Conditioning Professional». Strength and Conditioning Journal, 2021. View the study
What isn't settled: This is the thinnest of the five families. No training study has measured how much dips grow anything, nor compared them against pressing. The forward-lean-for-chest vs upright-for-triceps distinction everyone repeats has never been measured head-on. And no data defines how deep to go: end-range shoulder extension is known to be the sensitive zone, but not at what angle it becomes one.
Other variations
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