The Joy of DIPS

Sometimes I think dips are the next best thing to sliced bread! In fact if I wasn't such a glutton for punishment I would do dips more often than pushups! Not to worry: when dips are done in conjunction with push-ups and done in abundance you not only will develop huge shoulders and wider upper body but you will also build yourself a solid set of arms as well. And we all know -- at least those of you who read my ramblings on health and fitness -- well-proportioned shoulders and arms will suit you no matter if you are male or female, young or old or big or small.

The Real Deal

First of all, why devote time in your workout for dips? Well, for one thing, dips work your upper body with a focus on the triceps the front and back of the shoulder with the remaining effort benefitting the biceps. When in high numbers, dips work your upper body hard. Are dips easy? Absolutely not if you're a beginner and even if you've banked a lot of time in the gym I'll wager dips are still tough because you don't enough reps. No matter. Stick with 'ol Gar and you'll be shopping or a new shirt size before you know it.

Let me add that I get the best benefit from dips when I superset them with push-ups. We'll touch on push-ups later. Right now let's discuss technique.

Performing the Proper Dip

If you go to a gym then by all means use the dip bars made especially for dips. If you are in a hotel or your room then use two sturdy chairs. Pull yourself up into position with arms straight and your body hanging down between the dip handles. Weight should be equally distributed between the arms with shoulders down and not hunched. When doing dips, posture is everything! Your chest should be up and out and your chin parallel with the ground. Legs flexed at the knee or if the dips bars are high enough you can keep your legs straight. Whatever you don't buck, shake, jump or anything else that distracts from your arms and shoulders.

On the Way Down

While bending at the elbows, slowly lower your body down between the bars. If you have chosen a narrow grip, keep elbows close into your body; if you have chosen a wide grip the elbows will move outwards - this is fine.

By the time you lower yourself all the way down, your upper arms should be parallel with the floor. You can lower yourself further if you want to make the exercise more difficult. In fact I recommend it! The deeper you go the better it is for your shoulders.

On the Way Up

When you reach the bottom of your dip, push up through the arms to straighten your elbow and slowly push yourself back up to your starting position. It's that simple. Congratulations! You just did your first dip! Now, make me proud of you and do 14 more!

Incredibly, there are some big guys I know in the gym who cannot do dips. This may very well be because when you perform dips you are pulling your own bodyweight, and for my money, using your own bodyweight is the best weight you can use. But that's for other folks to decide.

The Greatest Dip Workout

If you have spent at least a little time in the gym I recommend 10 sets of 15 dips with supersets of 25 push-ups in between. Alternate your dip-sets by facing into and out of the dip-machine. By this I mean on your first set step into the dip support stand and then on the next set do your dips with your back to the dip-stand. This hits the front and back of your shoulders. Immediately after your first set of 15 dips, drop to the ground and do 25 push-ups. And that means keeping your butt down and flexing your arms all the way. You can learn more about push-ups here.

By the end of your workout you will have done 10 x 15 dips with 10 x 25 push-ups.

Easy stuff right? Ha! Talk to me in the morning.

Um, did I tell you that was for STARTERS? Ideally you should focus on 10 sets of at least 50 dips with a similar number of push-ups.

Dips for Beginners

I won't kid you: dips are not easy. Especially if you have never done them before. Don't worry - nothing that is good for you is ever easy, right? If you work out in a gym, you may find a counter-balance dip machine (see photo) that allows you to increase or decrease a counter-weight so the dips are a little easier to do. That is, until you improve to point of not using that machine any more. If that's not available, use a flat bench or two chairs. Keep your legs flexed at the knee and give yourself a little push when needed.

If my initial numbers of 10 x 15 are too much, then go for 5 sets of 10 or even 5 sets of 5. Don't strain yourself but don't back away from the hard work involved either.

How Much is a Good Thing?

As much as I love the dip/push-up combination I never devote more than 2 workouts in any given week. (Usually on a Monday and a Saturday) I devote the rest of the week to legs or cardio so my shoulders can get a rest.

So there you have it. An invitation to some gorilla shoulders and arms and it doesn't even involve any iron!

Dips...gotta love em!