Dip Workout at Home: Exercise Guide for Beginners

Dip Workout at Home – Introduction

What’s a great dip workout at home for beginners?

Push-ups are arguably the most popular calisthenics or bodyweight exercises in the world.

Olympic athletes, the military, home workout enthusiasts, and even school children do push-ups – they have a mass appeal.

But, while push-ups are clearly an effective and convenient exercise, they also have limitations.

For starters, if you only ever do push-ups, your workouts could soon become boring.

Also, in terms of overload, push-ups involve lifting about 60% of your body weight.

If you are already pretty strong, this may not be enough for your training goals.

The good news is there is another exercise you can do that’s as effective and convenient as push-ups but is also a little more challenging; we’re talking about dips.

This article reveals why and how to do dips and provides you with a few variations and alternatives to try.

Dips Muscles Worked

Dips are a compound bodyweight exercise.

This means they involve multiple joints and muscle groups working together.

The primary muscles directly affected by dips are:

Pectoralis major

Known as the pecs for short, this is the fan-shaped muscle that makes up your chest.

There are three sets of pectoral fibers, often referred to as heads:

• Clavicular head – upper chest
• Sternal head – mid-chest
• Costal/abdominal head – lower chest

All three pec heads are involved in dips, but the lower chest is the most active.

The functions of the pecs are horizontal extension, adduction, and medial rotation of the shoulder joint.

Pectoralis major muscle

Image Credit: Yogaanatomy.com

Deltoids

The deltoids are your most prominent shoulder muscles.

Like the pecs, there are three deltoid (or delt) heads:

• Anterior – front
• Medial – side/middle
• Posterior – rear

The deltoids perform numerous functions, including flexion, extension, abduction, medial rotation, and lateral rotation of the shoulder joint.

While all three deltoid heads are involved in dips, the anterior or front head is the most active.

The anterior deltoid head almost always works alongside the pecs.

Deltoid muscles

Triceps brachii

The triceps brachii, or triceps for short, is a three-headed muscle located on the back of your arms.

It is responsible for extending your elbow and plays a part in shoulder extension.

Because of its relative size, the triceps are often the weak link that limits dip performance.

As such, most people feel their triceps working harder than any other muscle.

This means that dips are often considered as much a triceps exercise as they are a pec exercise.

Triceps brachii

How to Do Dips

There are two ways to do any exercise – the right way and the wrong way.

The right way is safe and effective and ensures the target muscles get a good workout.

The wrong way is often less effective and can even be dangerous.

Follow these steps to ensure you’re doing dips the right way.

1. Use a sturdy dip bar, either on a power tower, freestanding dip station, or portable dip bars, like the Lebert Equalizer.
2. The bars should be roughly shoulder-width apart.
3. Grip the bars with a neutral or palms-facing inward grip.
4. Support your weight on straight arms.
5. Push your shoulders down and back and brace your core.
6. Bend your legs enough that your feet won’t touch the floor at the bottom of each rep.
7. Bend your arms and lower your shoulders down toward your hands.
8. Descend until your elbows are bent to at least 90 degrees.
9. Extend your arms and push yourself back up, stopping a couple of degrees short of complete lockout.
10. Take a breath, reset your core, and repeat.

Pro tips:

• The wider your bars, the more chest recruitment there will be.
• Lean forward to hit your chest more, or keep your upper body upright to emphasize your triceps.
• Only descend as far as your shoulder mobility and health allow.
• Keep your chin tucked in and your neck neutral throughout.
• Use chalk to stop your hands from slipping.

Dips Pros and Cons

Do dips deserve a place in your workouts?

Consider these pros and then decide!

Pros:

More challenging than push-ups –

Where push-ups involve lifting roughly 60% of your body weight, you’ll be lifting closer to 90% when you do dips.

This is a significant weight increase, meaning dips are more challenging than push-ups.

A good bench press alternative –

Because of the extra weight involved, dips are often viewed as a viable bodyweight alternative for bench presses.

After all, dips work almost all the same muscles.

Easy to load up and make harder –

You don’t have to limit yourself to lifting your body weight with dips.

If you want to make your workout harder, you can wear a weighted vest, use a dipping belt, or simply grip a dumbbell between your knees.

A time-efficient upper-body exercise –

Dips work your chest, shoulders, and triceps at the same time.

This provides a very efficient upper-body workout.

Pair dips with pull-ups to train your entire upper body in just two exercises.

Fairly accessible –

You don’t need a ton of fancy or expensive equipment to do dips.

In fact, all you need is some bars.

Dip stations can be found in most gyms and calisthenic parks and are also available for home use.

Cons:

While dips are a mostly beneficial exercise, there are also a few cons to consider before you add them to your workouts:

Shoulder stress –

Dips are not the most shoulder-friendly exercise.

Descend too deep or use too much weight, and you could injure your joints.

Some exercisers find that dips are uncomfortable and cause lasting aches and pains.

Equipment requirements –

While dip bars are widely available, you may not always have access to the equipment you need to do this exercise, e.g., when staying in a hotel without a gym.

May be too challenging for beginners –

90% of your body weight is not an insubstantial load.

As such, dips may be too hard for some beginners, and even more experienced exercisers may find dips too hard if their body weight is above average.

Women often struggle to perform dips.

The Five Best Dip Variations and Alternatives

While dips are a fantastic exercise, they are not ideal or accessible for everyone.

Here are 5 dip variations and alternatives:

#1. Chair-back dips

No dip bars?

No problem!

You can do dips between a couple of high-backed chairs.

Just make sure your chairs are strong and sturdy before attempting this exercise.

Also, make sure you push down and not out or in to stop the chairs from tipping.

Weight the chairs down to make them more stable.

How to do it:

1. Place two high-backed chairs back-to-back about shoulder-width apart.
2. Place your hands on the backs so your palms are facing inward.
3. Lift your feet off the floor and bend your legs.
4. Bend your arms and descend until your elbows are bent to around 90 degrees.
5. Push back up and repeat.

Dips Between Chairs

#2. Bench dips

Bench dips are a little more triceps-centric than conventional dips.

They’re also a little harder on your shoulders.

However, with your feet on the floor, you won’t have to lift as much of your body weight, so this exercise is more suitable for beginners.

How to do it:

1. Sit on a bench or chair.
2. Put your hands next to your hips, fingers pointing forward.
3. Straighten your arms and lift your butt up and forward.
4. Extend your legs in front of you so your weight is supported on your hands and feet only.
5. Bend your arms and lower your butt down toward the floor until your elbows are bent to around 90 degrees.
6. Extend your arms and repeat.
7. The closer your feet are to your hands, the easier this exercise becomes, so move them accordingly.

Bench Dips

#3. Straight bar dips

Straight bar dips resemble decline bench presses.

They’re no better or worse than parallel dips, but they are different and also mean you only need a single bar to do them.

Compare them to parallel bar dips and see which you prefer.

Alternatively, incorporate both into your workouts for variety.

How to do it:

1. Stand side-on to your dipping bar.
2. Hold it with an overhand, shoulder-width grip.
3. Jump up and then support your weight on straight arms.
4. Hinging your hips slightly, bend your arms and lower your chest down to touch the bar.
5. Push yourself back up and repeat.

Straight Bar Dips

#4. Floor dips

Floor dips are a somewhat pale imitation of parallel bar dips, but they’re a little harder than push-ups, so they deserve a place on our list of alternatives.

However, the range of motion is quite short, and you won’t really feel your chest working.

How to do it:

1. Sit on the floor with your legs bent and feet flat.
2. Put your hands on the floor next to your hips, fingers pointing forward.
3. Straighten your arms and lift your butt off the floor.
4. Lift your hips a little higher to increase your range of motion.
5. Bend your elbows and lower your butt to the floor.
6. Extend your arms and repeat.

Tricep Dips on Floor

#5. Ring dips

If you have mastered parallel bar dips, this is the exercise for you.

Dips on rings are far more challenging, as you’ll have to not only lift your weight with your arms but also stop the rings from swinging away.

Only attempt this exercise if you can do 12 or more regular dips and are comfortable with ring push-ups, too.

How to do it:

1. Adjust your rings to about waist height and stand between them.
2. Hold the rings with a neutral grip.
3. Push your shoulders down and back and brace your core.
4. Using your legs for assistance, straighten your elbows and support your weight on straight arms.
5. Bend your legs so your feet won’t touch the floor at the bottom of each rep.
6. Bend your elbows and lower your chest down between your hands.
7. Descend as low as your shoulder health and flexibility allow.
8. Push yourself back up and repeat.
9. Yes – all that shaking and wobbling is normal, and you’ll become more stable with practice.

The Ring Dip

Dip Workout at Home

It’s not really practical or advisable to do an entire dip-based workout at home.

After all, doing just dip variations won’t provide a balanced workout for your upper body.

So, here is a bodyweight upper body workout that uses dips and several other popular calisthenics exercises to target all your upper body muscles.

Do this workout twice a week in conjunction with lower body and core workouts on the remaining days.

But before you start, remember to prepare your muscles and joints for what you are about to do by warming up.

Begin with 5-10 minutes of light cardio followed by dynamic mobility and stretching exercises for your upper body, focusing on your shoulders, elbows, and twists.

All warmed up and ready to go?

Then let’s get to work!

Dip Workout at Home

Program notes:

The exercises in this workout are arranged in supersets or pairs.

This is a training method that helps save time while delivering a more effective workout.

To do a superset, perform the first paired exercise, designated a, and then immediately do the second exercise, designated b.

Rest for 60-90 seconds, and then repeat the pairing for the required number of supersets.

However, if you prefer to do straight sets or even do this workout as a circuit, you are free to do so.

AMRAP means as many reps as possible and is the best way to control bodyweight workouts where you cannot easily change the resistance.

Rather than tell you how many reps to do, it’s up to you to rep out until your muscles approach failure.

Continue your set until your movement speed and quality start to deteriorate.

You should feel that you only have a couple of reps left in reserve.

Your rep count will probably decrease from set to set as you get more tired.

This is entirely normal.

Just keep pumping out as many clean reps as possible, and you’ll stimulate your muscles to get stronger regardless of how many you do.

Dip Workout at Home – Wrapping Up

Dips are an excellent addition to your upper-body workouts.

They’re more challenging than push-ups but more convenient than bench presses.

All you need to do dips is some parallel bars, and there are variations you can perform even when you don’t have access to the necessary equipment.

However, dips can be hard on your shoulders, and you must be pretty strong to do them.

They involve lifting 90% of your body weight using just your arms.

As such, they may be impractical for heavier exercisers, women, and beginners.

But if you can do dips comfortably and safely, they’ll be very rewarding.

They’re an excellent exercise for building a stronger, more muscular chest and shoulders and will beef up your arms, too.

Do them as part of a calisthenic training program or in conjunction with other training tools, such as free weights, resistance bands, kettlebells, or machines.

Combine dips with pull-ups or chin-ups to train your entire upper body with just two exercises.

Talk about an efficient workout!

However, whenever you do dips, make sure you warm up before your workout.

Dips already put a lot of stress on your shoulders, and cold, immobile muscles and joints are even more prone to injury.

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