MariposasHow to Do the Dips
By Zachary, builder of Mariposas · Reviewed against published exercise-science sources (references)
· Last updated June 2026
Dips sit in a rare category of bodyweight movements that load the triceps through a long range of motion under real tension, not just at the shortened position the way a pushdown does. The combination of triceps, chest, and front delts working simultaneously makes it one of the few pressing patterns that builds serious upper-body mass without a barbell or a bench. The forward-lean angle of the torso shifts emphasis toward the chest, while staying more upright keeps the triceps doing the bulk of the work, giving lifters a single movement with two distinct loading options depending on body position. Dips are also one of the best absolute-strength tests for the upper body, since the load scales automatically with bodyweight and can be increased by simply adding a plate to a belt. You can log every set and track your progress for free in the Mariposas app.
How to do it
- Set up at a parallel bar dip station with your hands gripping the bars just outside shoulder width, arms fully extended and elbows locked out at the top.
- Jump or step up so your body is suspended with straight arms, then cross your ankles behind you to keep your legs from swinging and maintain a stable base throughout the movement.
- Take a breath in and brace your core, then begin lowering yourself by bending at the elbows while allowing a slight forward lean from the hips if you want more chest involvement, or stay upright if the goal is triceps emphasis.
- Lower yourself until your upper arms are at least parallel to the floor, which typically places your elbows at or just past 90 degrees of flexion; stopping short here is one of the most common ways to cheat the movement.
- At the bottom, pause briefly without letting your shoulders roll aggressively forward or your elbows flare wide out to the sides, since both positions increase shoulder stress without adding muscle stimulus.
- Press through the palms and drive yourself back up by extending the elbows, keeping the torso angle consistent throughout the ascent rather than suddenly jerking upright.
- As you approach lockout, squeeze the triceps actively at the top rather than just passively resting into the joint, then exhale and reset your breath for the next rep.
- If the bars are very wide apart, widen your grip slightly but always confirm your elbows track roughly over your wrists rather than flaring behind your torso, which can strain the shoulder capsule.
Form cues
- Elbows back, not out.
- Chest forward, shoulders down and away from your ears.
- Full depth: upper arms parallel or lower.
- Squeeze the top, don't just fall into lockout.
- Ribs down, core tight the whole way.
Common mistakes
- Stopping the descent early is probably the most common error: most lifters only dip to about 60 or 70 degrees of elbow flexion, which shortchanges the stretch on the triceps and chest and essentially cuts the productive range of the rep in half; the fix is to lower until the upper arm is parallel to the floor at minimum.
- Letting the elbows flare wide out to the sides during the press shifts the load off the triceps and onto the shoulder joint in an unfavorable position, increasing capsule stress; keep the elbows tracking back and slightly inward throughout.
- Using momentum to bounce out of the bottom is a sign the load is too high for controlled reps; when a lifter swings their legs or jerks the torso upward, it offloads the muscles exactly at the point where they need the most tension, which is at the bottom stretch position.
- Shrugging the shoulders upward so the traps get involved is a compensation pattern that appears when someone lacks the shoulder stability or strength to stay packed; actively depress the shoulder blades and think about keeping space between your ears and your shoulders throughout the set.
- Going too wide on bar grip or bar width forces the elbows into an exaggerated external rotation that places stress on the front of the shoulder; most people find a grip that keeps their hands just outside shoulder width to be the most comfortable and mechanically efficient position.
Why do the Dips?
- The triceps are loaded under a stretch at the bottom of the dip in a way that pushes exercises like cable pushdowns simply cannot replicate, and there is a growing body of training research suggesting that muscles trained through longer ranges of motion respond well to hypertrophy stimulus.
- Because the load is the lifter's own bodyweight, dips provide a genuine strength benchmark that transfers to pressing movements, and many lifters who bring their dip numbers up notice carryover to their bench press lockout strength since the triceps are the primary limiting factor in that portion of the movement.
- Dips require no setup beyond the bars: no loading plates, no adjusting a bench angle, no spotter for safety the way a heavy barbell bench might. This makes them highly practical for consistent training across different gym environments.
- The ability to manipulate torso angle mid-training block lets a lifter use one movement for two different emphases, putting more stress on the chest when leaning forward and more stress on the triceps when staying upright, without changing exercises.
- Front delts are trained through a full pressing arc alongside the larger prime movers, meaning they get meaningful volume without needing a separate isolation exercise on most upper-body days.
Dips variations
- Assisted Dip (machine or band)
- Reducing bodyweight via a band looped under the knees or using an assisted dip machine makes sense early in training when someone cannot yet complete a full rep with control, since it preserves the full range of motion while allowing the muscles to build toward unassisted work.
- Bench Dip
- Using two benches rather than parallel bars removes the need for full body suspension and works well as a regression for people building initial triceps strength, though the range of motion and shoulder position differ meaningfully from bar dips.
- Weighted Dip (belt or vest)
- Adding load via a dip belt, a weighted vest, or a dumbbell held between the ankles is the most straightforward progression once bodyweight reps become easy, and it allows the movement to be programmed across the full strength and hypertrophy rep spectrum as load increases.
- Ring Dip
- Gymnastic rings demand constant stabilization through the triceps, chest, and front delts since the handles are free to rotate and swing, making this a significantly harder variation that exposes any bilateral imbalance and builds stability alongside strength.
How to program it
Dips appear across the rep spectrum depending on the training goal: many strength-focused lifters use weighted dips in the 4 to 8 rep range as a primary pressing movement, while hypertrophy programs more commonly place them in the 8 to 15 rep range, sometimes using bodyweight for higher rep sets as a finisher. In session structure, they most often follow a main horizontal or vertical press as a secondary compound movement, though some upper-body programs place them first when the triceps are the primary development target. Unweighted dips used for higher reps also show up at the end of push-focused days as an accumulation tool when the lifter's goal is volume rather than intensity.
Dips alternatives
FAQ
- Are dips bad for your shoulders?
- Dips get a reputation for being hard on the shoulders, and that reputation has some validity when form breaks down. The main culprit is the combination of going too deep with an exaggerated forward lean, flaring elbows wide, and having bars that are too far apart. People with pre-existing anterior shoulder issues sometimes find dips aggravating, but many lifters with healthy shoulders train dips for years without problems by keeping depth controlled, elbows tracking back rather than out, and shoulder blades depressed throughout the set.
- What is the difference between chest dips and triceps dips?
- The distinction comes down to torso angle. Leaning the chest noticeably forward increases the stretch on the pectoral fibers and makes the exercise feel more like a decline press, which is why lifters targeting chest use that cue. Staying more upright keeps the elbow extension pattern dominant and puts the triceps under greater demand. In practice, most people end up somewhere in between, and both the chest and triceps are working hard regardless of lean angle since the movement is inherently multi-joint.
- How many dips should I be able to do before adding weight?
- There is no universal standard, but a common practical benchmark used in training communities is the ability to complete at least 10 to 15 controlled full-range reps with good form before introducing external load. The reasoning is that if someone cannot control the movement through a full range under bodyweight alone, adding a dip belt does not solve the problem and often just reinforces shortened range or compensated mechanics.
- Do dips build chest or triceps more?
- Both muscles are active throughout the movement, so framing it as one versus the other misses the point of training a compound lift. However, the primary driver of muscular emphasis is torso position: more forward lean recruits more chest and front delt, more upright position shifts demand toward the triceps. Most hypertrophy-focused lifters treat dips as a strong secondary chest exercise when leaning forward and as a primary triceps movement when staying upright.
- Why do my wrists hurt during dips?
- Wrist discomfort usually comes from trying to grip a bar that is either too wide or positioned so the wrist must bend sharply to maintain contact. Parallel bars that allow a neutral grip (palms facing each other) are generally more wrist-friendly than bars requiring pronation. Some lifters also find that gripping toward the front of the bar rather than the center, and actively pressing through the heel of the palm, reduces wrist extension stress during the movement.