Korean dip

I'm still 1 PE away from this one, but want to understand the mechanics. Managed squeeze one out of it. Wohoo! Got some good advice from an older post to start from the bottom of the dip. The butt against the bar is the biggest problem here. In the 2nd rep I adjusted my grip and almost completely relied on my upper body for counter balance to get the butt over the bar. It is not the right way to do it, is it? I should aim to use more momentum and get clearance off the bar, and straighten the legs?

Jin, one revelation for me for this element is to remember that it's a DIP - in other words, your elbows bend as you descend, and straighten as you come up. This seems to help keep your butt away from the bar, along with keeping your body in a "back hollow".

The other revelation is that it's scarey when you're almost in a back lever position at the bottom. Practice reduces the fear!

And yes, your knees should be a little more straight - this is difficult if you don't have much space behind your feet. Could you use one of the safety rails on your power rack (if the rails are comfortable to hold)? This is what I used to use before I bought my parallel bars.

Yes, you need enough space to get a bit of a swing, extend your legs and get to horizontal at the bottom, keeping a stiff and arched body. Once horizontal it helps to think of pressing forward rather than up to clear the bar.

I'd also consider that if you lose your grip and crash from that height onto the stuff below you are risking serious injury. I lost my grip a couple of times when learning the dip and although I landed on a level surface that I had covered with a gym mat, and not from a great height, it still felt nasty. Especially with the undergrip you can land on your face if you don't have time to move your elbows to break your fall.

I did them on the Smith machine at my gym. Maybe an option for you is to train them safely at your (old) gym?

Thank you guys! Love your tips!! Gives me plenty guidance for improvement  . It is a scary dip to learn, esp. to go horizontal at the bottom. I wanted to try it several times when I still had my gym membership, but was too afraid that I'd make a huge fool out of myself. Lost my chance now cuz I ended my membership since my garage gym is up. I thought about using the power rack. But the safety pin rotates, same with a barbell. I can probably find a way to secure the ends to minimize spin. But most of the time I'm lazy. What do you think if I face the other way on my pull up bar? So face towards the wall, and legs will have plenty space to extend. But will I face smash the wall first then the floor? LOL! I'm still planning on building an outdoor gym in the backyard, so I can have parallel bars and some high bars! Parallel bars are great for korean dips, aren't they? And I'll be face smashing the grass, better than the concrete . I should probably get a crash mat no matter what.

Parallel bars with grass underneath sounds like the way to go :-). I should get a pair for my yard too. I'd avoid the PU bar unless I had a crash mat below.

"...was too afraid that I'd make a huge fool out of myself."

I started by looking like an idiot (having decided to not care about it), then graduated to a lesser fool and when I was able to do sets people were still looking with amazement. My only option was to go through the learning process in the middle of "normal" gym goers.

Hey Jin her some tips for you:

-begin on sitting on the bar

-retract and depress the shoulder, the goal it is to extend the thoracic spine

-hold the lower body and middle body tight in an arc position, bending the knees will result in a failure

-simply bend your elbow while trying to hold the elbows backward as much as possible, this will prevent the tendency of the body of falling forward

-let your body swing backward

-when it begins to move forward push forward first then upward.

-the attempt to push vertically prematurely will result in a failure.

6 hours ago, Petri Widsten said:

Parallel bars with grass underneath sounds like the way to go :-). I should get a pair for my yard too. I'd avoid the PU bar unless I had a crash mat below.

"...was too afraid that I'd make a huge fool out of myself."

I started by looking like an idiot (having decided to not care about it), then graduated to a lesser fool and when I was able to do sets people were still looking with amazement. My only option was to go through the learning process in the middle of "normal" gym goers.

That's the way to go! Once you get it, all that initial risk-taking & even fool-like moments only adds to your character 

Just realized I used undergrip. @Petri Widsten did you lose grip with overgrip? Is overgrip less secure compared to undergrip?

2 hours ago, Jin Liu said:

Just realized I used undergrip. @Petri Widsten did you lose grip with overgrip? Is overgrip less secure compared to undergrip?

Well, you first learn the dips with the overgrip so by the time you get to undergrip dips you should be able to avoid falling. Having said that, the undergrip feels a bit riskier. I think I came close to losing my grip the first time I tried it but was able to recover. It's mostly about knowing how to keep enough tension in the right muscles during the negative phase to keep it under control.

Finally able to consistently get the hip over the bar (at last)! How does this look? Should I reduce the amount of swing, and aim to have body more horizontal? Thank you!

Maybe it is the time to increase the swing so that you can reach almost the horizontal position with the body.

55 minutes ago, Alessandro Mainente said:

Maybe it is the time to increase the swing so that you can reach almost the horizontal position with the body.

Will do. Thanks!

Apparently I'm still struggling with being horizontal at the bottom. Am I not swinging hard enough? Or am I not doing it right? If I swing harder, I lose control. And that could end in a bad way...

Does being horizontal at the bottom require more shoulder extension? Or is it more for arching the T spine and keep the rest of the body rigid? I feel my shoulder extension is ok, and it allows me to reach a decent depth. But that's not enough?

@Alessandro Mainente  @Leo Trinidad  @Everett Carroll

Thanks coaches!!

Hey Jin,

I like this form. You have an excellent back position and plenty of depth. You will never achieve a totally vertical torso position here. Nice improvement!

It is practically impossible to reach the horizontal position without a swinging that basically it is the mistake for the execution.

I think this is the most terrifying element in all of Foundation, and I've looked through all of them!

Is it wrong to sit on the bar at the end of each rep? The athlete in the course video sits on the bar, and I've been doing that to catch a breather for my shoulders. It also helps me swing a little bit more and get my body more on the horizontal plane.

18 minutes ago, John Kiggundu said:

Is it wrong to sit on the bar at the end of each rep? The athlete in the course video sits on the bar, and I've been doing that to catch a breather for my shoulders. It also helps me swing a little bit more and get my body more on the horizontal plane.

I got written up on a form check for sitting on the bar. Made the change and the opening of the hips helped keep legs straight, kept body tighter, allowing for smoother reps.

The idea of avoiding the sitting on the bar leads to a superior ability to hold the alignment and the thoracic extension during a prolonged work set.