Parallel Bar Dips

At one time this was my favorite upper body exercise. So I decided to specialize on dips for a while. The Dip is a real strength lift. It is very good at building muscle and upper body strength. I didn't hold any records in my local gym for the bench press, but when I started doing dips, everyone took notice. I ended up holding three records at that gym. I had some very good upper body development from this wonderful, heavy duty lift. Dips are performed on parallel bars a little over shoulder width apart. The exercise starts with the body supported on straight arms with the elbows locked. The feet should not touch the floor. The body is then lowered and raised by bending at the elbows. It uses a lot of upper body muscles including the pectorals, the triceps, the deltoids and even the back muscles; the lats and the traps. If parallel bars are not available, dips can be done between the backs of two chairs. That's the way I did it when I was in high school. Dips don't have to be just a "bodyweight" exercise. Just like Chins, a belt with a chain can be used around the waist to add resistance. A dumbbell or a few plates are held steady between the knees. After you are able to do about 10 reps for a couple sets, it's time to add weight. Start out by adding 10 pounds. Add weight in small amounts. Take your time. The Parallel Bar Dip is not a competition lift, however two of the best performers in this "lift" were Marvin Eder and Pat Casey. In 1953, at 198 pounds, Marvin Eder did one rep with an added 434 pounds! In the 1960s, Pat Casey did one rep with 380 pounds at a bodyweight of 305. A typical Dip workout for Pat Casey was 3 sets of 5 to warm up, then ten sets of 5 reps with 205 pounds. In later years he said he did way too many sets---but what a powerhouse! If you get to the point where you are using 50 to 100 pounds on your dipping belt for reps, you'll be impressed at your development. An outstanding achievement for an average trainee would be 150 pounds on the belt. That's a lot! Not many will be able to use that much. Just remember to make gains slowly and avoid injury. It is far better to be able to do dips with no added weight than it is to injure yourself trying to impress yourself with how much weight you can bounce out of the low position with. Torn shoulders don't impress anyone.