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today i'm going to share with you
the 10 most common dip mistakes
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most people make and they're
easily avoidable i'm going to
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be teaching you perfect technique
so you get faster results and more
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progress all right everyone quick question for
you what is the most common dip mistake that you
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see especially one that could be easily avoided
comment below and let's get into the video what
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i'd like to discuss first with the calisthenics
dip is range of motion now this principle on the
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surface seems so basic use a full range of motion
but most people make mistakes when it comes to
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their dips just because they're looking for ways
to make the exercise easier and the first way in
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which it does so is quarter range of motion
they only bend their arms down a little bit
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and then go back to the top that rather pump
out more repetitions by using a smaller range of
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motion than doing the exercise authentically
a second common mistake that people make
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is quarter reps at the bottom range of motion
the myth is that you can target a muscle to a
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greater extent because it's remaining on tension
at all times people believe that your chest
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is going to be targeted more by staying in the
deep position and not locking out now that i've
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shown you the mistakes when it comes to range of
motion for dips i want to show you how to choose
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the perfect technique for you you want to use the
maximum range of motion that your mobility permits
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the reason why we want to do this is to get a full
stretch through our working muscles and the goal
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for most people should be about 90 degrees of
shoulder extension deeper is even better if you
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can achieve it pain-free if you're feeling elbow
or shoulder discomfort or joint irritation that
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is a sign you've gone too deep just choose what
is comfortable for you i really want to drive
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home the point about fully locking the elbow every
single rep if you are missing that lockout at the
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top it's inconsistent you're not using that full
range of motion we know that it is very important
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for rep to rep consistency and getting the most
out of your upper body muscles absolutely must
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lock out the next surprisingly common mistake that
people make with dips is uncontrolled eccentrics
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this mistake happens whether you're a beginner or
someone who's advanced and it's pretty normal when
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we get tired to start trying to cut corners
people dive bomb into the bottom of the dip
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and then come back up you're robbing yourself
of potential hypertrophy muscle mass gains
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in that important negative you're robbing
yourself of the opportunity to build strength
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in that negative every time it's an opportunity on
the way down as well as the way up to get stronger
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more importantly for everyone watching if you're
dive bombing into your dips with an uncontrolled
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negative a fast eccentric you're going to
increase your injury risk unnecessarily this
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puts a lot more strain on your shoulder and elbow
joints those passive structures because you're
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not using your muscles as breaks whether you're a
beginner or someone advanced whether you're doing
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body weight dips or heavy weighted dips respect
the negative and you're going to get so much more
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results less injury and you'll thank me later for
it after hearing me warning you about uncontrolled
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negatives you're probably wondering what tempo
should you use basically just use control you
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don't have to go down super slow taking like eight
seconds to do your negative extremes are cool
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just use control use a moderate tempo apply that
full range of motion and that is going to create
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the environment necessary for muscle and strength
gain don't over complicate it on the surface dips
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look like a very simple exercise you go down you
come up but when it comes to the lean many people
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make mistakes the first way is leaning too far
forward the reason people think leaning forward
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is effective for dips is they believe that it's
going to put more stress on their chest and their
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shoulder muscles although this might be somewhat
true for body weight only the problem is with this
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type of technique it's not very safe or effective
when you get stronger when you're starting to go
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a lot deeper when you're adding additional load
to the exercise keep in mind if you choose to do
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forward lean dips it has a risk to reward ratio if
you want to increase intensity over time through
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increased range of motion or adding weight to the
exercise it comes with more potential for injury
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specifically regarding the shoulder joint leaning
really far forward puts a ton of strain on this
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anterior capsule of the shoulder so it is much
better to use a neutral technique to minimize this
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anterior strain and put more of the stress onto
your deltoids your chest and your triceps it's
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honestly not worth the trade-off in my perspective
the other technical mistake that people make with
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dips is leaning too far backwards the mistaken
belief is that this is going to increase the
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tricep activation but for anyone that has actually
tried this type of form it is a lot more difficult
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to achieve depth it creates a lot more stress
on the elbow joint and there's a much better
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way to do it let's keep things big picture when
it comes to perfect dipping technique just go
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straight down that's going to allow you to get the
maximum range of motion feel the most comfortable
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in your shoulder and elbow joints and maximize
your mechanical tension in your muscles it's the
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best way to keep making progress a huge mistake
with dips is using momentum or kipping you'd
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say that this is one of the biggest sins when it
comes to exercise form is a very common mistake
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you definitely need to avoid these mistakes a
mistake to keep an eye out for is arching the back
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during dips why this happens is when fatigue sets
in picture yourself in the bottom of a dip the way
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that the body compensates to get through the
entire range of motion is by arching the back
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using the back extensors to complete the exercise
keep an eye out for this and do not make this
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mistake the other mistake you're going to see with
dips is using momentum via kicking with the legs
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this is a huge mistake because you're robbing
yourself of the opportunity to build strength
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especially out of the bottom you'll see people
get to the bottom and then kick aggressively with
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the legs this isn't crossfit we don't use momentum
we've got to use strict form in order to maximize
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strength and muscular size with calisthenics
a common mistake or a way of cheating when
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it comes to especially weighed calisthenics
is a dipping technique where the shoulders
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go forward and the hips go back what's happening
here is those two movements at the opposing joints
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essentially cancel each other out you're
not actually getting a full range of motion
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this is how people cheat to increase the weight
without necessarily getting the full results that
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a full range of motion dip provides keep that one
in mind the final mistake that i want to mention
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which is very common to see is the swinging dip
people move in a pendulum essentially rocking
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back and forth throughout their dips this
goes alongside the uncontrolled eccentric
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and just using a swinging or momentum motion to
get oneself through the exercise without actually
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using muscular control and reaping the benefits
that strict technique actually provides a lack of
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consistency when it comes to dipping technique
is a very common and easily avoidable mistake
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i'm talking inconsistent tempo some reps are fast
some reps are slow we see inconsistent technique
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as well sometimes people are locking out all the
way sometimes they're getting a partial lockout
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sometimes they go down halfway sometimes
they go down all the way you really need
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to use a consistent technique every rep every
workout because this way you can measure your
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progress objectively you know that you're actually
progressing if you're inconsistent you're going to
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get inconsistent results i'd like to continue our
dipping discussion by talking about the grip and
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also the technique in terms of what is best for
you should you use a wide grip should you use
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a narrow grip it's one of those things you need
to choose based on your anthropometry everyone's
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different everyone has different limb lengths and
preferences so for you if you're comfortable doing
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your dips on this arrangement it doesn't give you
any shoulder or elbow pain but moving here does
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this is the option for you and vice versa if you
find that this is giving you issues but if you're
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doing your closer grip technique and it feels
comfortable go for that the big picture thing
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is you don't want to use a technique just because
someone said it's best whether it's a friend or
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some expert that you've seen on the internet you
need to go with your body you know your body best
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choose what is most comfortable choose what
you're strongest with and that's going to
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give you the best results and long-term progress
just another extra point that i want to share with
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you when it comes to dips don't think that
you have to do them always facing this way
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as you can see from the bars it orientates itself
in a certain direction some of you gonna feel
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comfortable if you're facing the rack this way or
others might find you're more comfortable this way
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choose a setup which is most comfortable for you
and of course experiment find what feels strongest
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a common weighted calisthenics mistake is the
setup and also the intention of how you're doing
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your way to dips you see so many people do
this and it's such an easily avoidable mistake
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it is letting the weight plates literally
swing like this why is this not a good idea
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well if the weight is moving around everywhere
it's going to create unnecessary instability so
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this is going to increase the strain going through
your shoulders it's going to increase your risk of
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swinging around during your dips and basically
you're not going to be as stable and as strong
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if the weight plate is going all over the place
a weighted dip setup that i'm not a fan of is
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tucking the knees during your reps it's
much more likely that you're going to arch
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your back when you're doing weighted
dips with this particular technique
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for those of you that want to perfect
your way to dip to maximize strength
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maximize stability minimize injury risk and
maximize muscular tension mechanical tension
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just keep your legs squeezed this is going to keep
the weight plate directly under your center of
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mass and it's going to create the most stability
and you'll be the strongest using this technique
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best to set up the dips so that it's high enough
so you can keep your legs straight to squeeze the
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legs together keep the weight plate in place
and your dipping technique absolutely perfect
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let's talk scapular and back positioning for
dips the common mistakes that you're going to see
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are shrugging up scapula elevation and
also scapular protraction this is generally
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combined with hunchback thoracic flexion this is
incorrect dipping form definitely avoid this let's
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talk optimal technique for successful dips it all
starts with a proud posture thoracic extension
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next if we look at our scapula we want
to squeeze our shoulder blades together
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and down this retraction and depression is
going to center our humerus upper arm bone
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within our scapular glenoid fossa this position is
optimal for strength this position is optimal for
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injury prevention and this is going to maximize
your upper body muscles and the function during
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exercise moving on a problem that i see a lot
of people make is going way too heavy with their
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weighted dips as we've already discussed in this
video the dip exercise it's inherently unstable
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so if you're throwing on a ton of weight
and you're doing one two three reps it's not
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really worth it your risk of injury is much higher
and there's a much smarter way to get more from
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your dips drop the loads a little bit keep the
intensity at a more moderate rep range so you can
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play around with the 10 15 20 even up to 30 rep
range without the inherent risk which comes from i
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guess ego training with heavy weighted dips watch
out for that one in closing here's why i recommend
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chasing perfection when it comes to your dipping
technique you're going to maximize your results
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in terms of strength and muscular gain while
minimizing injury risk further to this it's
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important you have standards for yourself and you
take pride in your form this way over time you're
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going to see objective improvements through
your own effort that's been genuine and you
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know that the adaptations have been earned by
you and you alone this is really important when
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it comes to dips and it's going to keep you
in the calisthenics game for years to come
