Korean Dips

I just had a breakthrough with Korean Dips that I thought I'd share in case anyone else out there is doing the same thing that I was, or struggling with them.

I've been on Korean Dips now for about 2 months. Instead of looking for help in the forums and figuring out a way to learn something new that felt absolutely impossible the first time I jumped up to the bar, I just forged ahead... and I decided that only a true gymnast (not me) would ever be able to do them like in the video. Dips happen to be a strength of mine... so for 8 weeks, I've been putting my foot out in front of me on a chair or bench, and doing sets on a straight bar of between 8 and 20 reps, thinking this was even better than doing the Korean Dip true to form, because more must be better, right! (yikes)

Today, I decided it was time to move on, so I selected to test for mastery, and proceeded to do the first set of them as I always have. But the thing is, that simple little word "mastery" tripped me up. I realized after my first set that this was NOT mastery... it was something else. 

So I jumped into the forums, found a few threads on the topic, and taught myself how to actually progress - with a bottom hold followed by a Korean swing (both of which I could do). NOW, I'm getting the hang of it, and feel much better about being on the right track. I also lowered my progress back to Step 4 and will continue to work the movement until I truly have MASTERED the movement.  

Good to hear you're having success with these, Andy. I find that once you have the shoulder mobility and strength in place, maintaining tension in the whole body is the key element to work on.

I also think that this is one of those HBP exercises we'll be keeping in our training program permanently in some form, alongside PPPUs and regular single and parallel bar dips.

Nice work Andy. This was a movement I thought I would never get also. I have always been good at dips, but the korean dips really exposed my poor shoulder extension.

I just finished listening to your podcast with Robb Wolf and really enjoyed it. Are you still performing any Crossfit since you sold the box?

Thanks Mark. Glad you enjoyed the podcast... always fun to hang out with Robb!  I stopped CrossFitting for the first time in about 12 years, 3 months ago when I started doing Gymnastic Bodies. It's been a good break. Fun to be a beginner again... and that conditioning is still there waiting when I get back to it. For now, I'm all in with GB. Have a lot of mobility work that is holding me back - and GBs really exposes it!