Parallel Bar Dips

Hi people

I've read alot about parallel bar dips and most ppl agree that it is a very effective exercise that beats the barbell bench press, but they also tell that it is a very dangerous exercise and the most you should ever lower down is until your upper arm is parallel. I'm not sure about this bcoz to train moves like the muscle-up you should dip very deep. So whats up with the parallel bar dip?

I made an extended-handle dip stand but the handles are slightly a couple inches wider than my shoulders. So does that make it worse? Also for building strength and size in the triceps, are ring dips better?

Thanks in advance

You'll notice that going a bit wide with your shoulders will make it a bit more difficult.

Pretty much everything is better on rings. Dips will be more difficult, especially when you turn out the rings.

Many people weight lifting in the gyms will have tight shoulders so dipping can be more dangerous or difficult for them.

So most people get injured during parallel bar dips is because they dont perform stretching and mobility exercises. So by having wider handles, there will be more emphasis on the chest and shoulders and much less on the triceps? What exactly are the benefits of having a wide grip than a narrow grip? I just wanna make sure the dip stand I built specifically for BtGB training is not absolutely useless as it cost me quite a lot of money to build . I can already do 3 bulgarian ring dips with no pain and before my form starts to suffer.

Thanks a lot Blairblob

I don't like doing them on really wide PB. I found the ones in Santa Monica beach to a be too wide for what I prefer as well as swing work.

Generally I set them for wider than my hips and enough room that my thumbs don't hit my hips. This is the setting I more or less use though I'll check it with the elbow to mid knuckles between the rails as well.

As to whether they will effect the triceps less if they are wider, I have no idea. You will feel more of a stretch in the chest though.

... (the reason) most people get injured during parallel bar dips is because they don't perform stretching and mobility exercises ...

Excellent point.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

I've been moving back into dipping. My pec/lat/shoulder complex has gotten extremely inflexible.

I do dislocates and assorted band stretches for pec and lats, but I cannot move into the lower part of the dipping position without feeling like I am compromising the safety of the movement.

Are there any particular stretches recommended to improve this position? I'm getting the feeling I've lost that ROM permanently.

Shaf said:

I've been moving back into dipping. My pec/lat/shoulder complex has gotten extremely inflexible.

I do dislocates and assorted band stretches for pec and lats, but I cannot move into the lower part of the dipping position without feeling like I am compromising the safety of the movement.

Are there any particular stretches recommended to improve this position? I'm getting the feeling I've lost that ROM permanently.

Some ideas would be candlestick, yoga plow/shoulder-stand and german hang. A real simple one is to sit leaning back with your hands behind you and bend your elbows.

Another is to simply get into the bottom of the dip and stand on a block or bend your knees to take off some of the load. This is something I usually cover in my WU besides doing some small swings in that position.

Many people weight lifting in the gyms will have tight shoulders so dipping can be more dangerous or difficult for them.

Is that because they're usually not doing any flexibility work?

Deep isometrics are great, and just increasing the ROM slowly over time is the most surefire way to get the ROM back. You WILL need to do some stretches, and what Blairbob recommends is also my preferred method.

DO NOT crane your head forward like in the picture, that is garbage in so many words. You need to keep the head and neck in line with the spine and activate the traps by staying retracted. Do not lose your upper thoracic mobility, it puts you at a much greater risk of shoulder impingement and changes the muscle activation in the upper body to something less efficient than what nature intended. I am struggling greatly, and making slow progress, to correct this. I don't recommend you put yourself in the same situation.

Yes, in many weightlifters the particular ROM for dips is shortened due to disuse and has to be rebuilt slowly.

slizzardman said:

You need to keep the head and neck in line with the spine and activate the traps by staying retracted.

Hey, slizz

I was wondering why is it okay to let the shoulders go towards the ears during a german hang and not doring a dip, since shoulder angle seems very similar.

I believe Roger Harrell shot that picture as an alternative to a "floor german hang" for people who do not have/care for biceps conditioning, so it's probably not all wrong. It is a part of Shoulder Stretches - http://www.drillsandskills.com/stretching/Shoulder (WFS)

The head and neck positioning is wrong. The rest is fine.

At the VERY bottom of the dip there will be some scapular elevation, that is nearly unavoidable, but by bottom of dip I mean when your hands are very close to your shoulders. WAY below 90. This should still happen in a retracted position with the head and neck in line with the rest of the spine.

Thanks. Good ideas.

Yes, that picture is of Roger Harrell.

I believe Roger Harrell shot that picture as an alternative to a "floor german hang" for people who do not have/care for biceps conditioning, so it's probably not all wrong.

Wrong. Seriously, it's not some special bicep preparation drill. It's just a a stretch for the shoulders. That's it really.

Bending the arms lets you play around where you feel the shoulder stretch. However, some gymnasts can find that stretch somewhat painful when done with straight arms on their elbows. Hyperflexed elbows ya know?

divingpeanut said:

slizzardman said:

You need to keep the head and neck in line with the spine and activate the traps by staying retracted.

Hey, slizz

I was wondering why is it okay to let the shoulders go towards the ears during a german hang and not doring a dip, since shoulder angle seems very similar.

So, to be more clear: The elevation will happen during the eccentric, but should be a slow steady movement and not a constant position like I see a lot of people do. The other thing I see is that people stay protracted the whole time, which is also a terrible idea. If you have trouble using proper scapular motion in the full ROM just start with a very short ROM and slowly work into the full ROM over the course of a month or two.

I know that may seem silly and boring, but if you really want to build up some retard strength then it pays off to be methodical, patient, and to start from the very beginning.

slizzardman said:

So, to be more clear: The elevation will happen during the eccentric, but should be a slow steady movement and not a constant position like I see a lot of people do. The other thing I see is that people stay protracted the whole time, which is also a terrible idea. If you have trouble using proper scapular motion in the full ROM just start with a very short ROM and slowly work into the full ROM over the course of a month or two.

Thanks for the explanation, that makes a lot of sense, and answers quite a few questions.

slizzardman said:

I know that may seem silly and boring, but if you really want to build up some retard strength then it pays off to be methodical, patient, and to start from the very beginning.

Yeah, that's spot on. After a light shoulder injury I had a few months ago, I had a sight of what it would be to be taken off play due to a more serious injury, and started my training again from the scratch. Even though I stopped doing things I like a lot like pull-ups for a while in order to achieve better structural balance, now I have much more control over my scapulae and can do pull ups smoothly with full scapular movement - something that, if I tried prior to the new training routine, would make my shoulders do some nasty "clonking" sounds.

Me too, it was kind of hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept of literally stopping all my heavy work and returning to the very basics, but I am continually impressed with the results. Very little of my top end strength has left me, but function is getting better and ease of movement has increased greatly.

Very smart of you to build the structure from the very foundation! Much smarter than me, I've been through quite a number of injuries and setbacks before I finally resigned to really follow through with this, and it has been the best training experience of my life.