Chest Dips
Chest dips are a bodyweight exercise that target the chest, triceps, and shoulders. They are performed using parallel bars or dip bars, and involve lowering your body by bending your elbows and leaning forward slightly, and then pushing yourself back up by straightening your arms.
How to do:
- Stand facing a set of parallel bars with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing inward.
- Jump up and straighten your arms so that your body is fully extended. Your feet should be off the ground.
- Lower your body by bending your elbows and leaning forward slightly, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
- Continue lowering until your shoulders are slightly below your elbows or until you feel a stretch in your chest.
- Push yourself back up to the starting position by straightening your arms, exhaling as you do so.
- Repeat for your desired number of repetitions.
Tips: It’s important to keep your core engaged and your body in a straight line throughout the movement. If you’re new to chest dips, start with assisted dips using resistance bands or a dip machine until you build up the strength to perform them unassisted.
Chest Dips Benefits
- Dips are a closed-chain exercise. As a bodyweight movement that targets your chest and triceps, dips have numerous benefits in terms of strength improvements, mass building, and general fitness performance.
- Dips are literally one of the best exercises you can do for your upper body. Keep in mind that the position of your torso affects the focus of the exercise. A slight forward tilt is better for targeting the pectorals, and the more you bend forward the harder you work the pectorals. An upright posture shifts the focus to the triceps.
Chest Dips Muscles Worked
The exercise primarily works the chest muscles, but also engages the triceps, traps and shoulders.
