Weighted Dips
Parallel bar dips with extra weight hanging from a dip belt: you lower until your shoulders are about level with your elbows and press back up, loading your lower chest and triceps.
- Primary muscles
- Lower chest, Triceps
- Secondary
- Upper chest, Middle chest, Front delts
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Added weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Once bodyweight dips get easy for a good number of clean reps, a belt with plates is the simplest way to keep progressing, and it turns dips into a heavy press for your lower chest and triceps. Lean forward for more chest, or stay upright with your elbows tucked for more triceps. Add weight in small jumps, because the stretch at the bottom gets harder to control under load. If the bottom position bothers your shoulders, use a shallower depth or go back to bodyweight.
How to do it
Load a dip belt, put it on and check the weight hangs securely, then support yourself on the bars with straight arms.
Lower yourself by bending your elbows until your shoulders are roughly level with them or a little below.
Press back up without fully locking out at the top.
Leaning forward puts more work on the chest, staying upright with your elbows tucked shifts it to the triceps.
Common mistakes
Letting the weight swing
A swinging plate pulls you out of position and makes every rep different. Start each rep from a still hang on the bars and keep your legs quiet so the load hangs straight down.
Dropping into the bottom
With extra weight, a fast drop into the stretch is hard to stop and harder to reverse. Lower under control until your shoulders reach about elbow height, then press.
Cutting depth as the weight goes up
Adding plates and then stopping halfway down only trades range for load. Keep the same depth on every set and add weight only when the full range holds.
Rolling your shoulders forward
Letting your shoulders creep up and forward at the bottom shifts the load away from your chest and triceps. Keep your chest up and your shoulders down throughout.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
