Starting Strength

during the movement. There is enough angle to provide for a tremendous amount of pec involvement, using primarily the lower part of the muscle belly. And since the arms are operating downward relative to the upper body, the lats are also involved in the adduction of the humerus, adding even more muscle mass to the exercise.
    Heavy weights can be used in this exercise, and many powerlifters have used it to maintain bench strength while an injury heals, one that the bench aggravates but that dips do not. Dips can be used unweighted for high reps or weighted, just like the bench would be trained, as a progressively loaded lift. The whole-body effects are felt more as weight increases, with very heavy efforts producing fatigue throughout the trunk and arms.
    Dips are best done on a set of dip bars, a station designed for this purpose; most modern gyms do not have a set of parallel bars as might be found in a gymnastics studio or, previously, most gyms.

    Figure 7-42. The dip station, shown above and in the previous figure , that permits a variety of grip widths.

Dip-station bars are usually 24–26 inches wide, and the most comfortable ones are made out of 1¼- or 1½-inch pipe or bar stock. They are between 48 and 54 inches high, tall enough to allow the trainee’s feet to completely clear the ground at the bottom of the dip. They really, really need to be stable, either attached to a wall or built with enough base that any possible amount of wobble during the movement will not tip the bars. A non-parallel station, with the bars at a 30-degree angle, allows for a variety of grip widths that can more closely approximate the press, bench press, or jerk grip without adversely affecting the neutral hand orientation. But in a pinch (or a motel room), two chairs can serve as a dip station if they are stable when turned back to back.

    Figure 7-43. Dips can be done between two chairs if other equipment is not available or if you are traveling.

    To perform dips, select your grip and jump up into position on the bars, with your elbows locked and chest up. Take a big breath and hold it; start down by unlocking your elbows and leaning forward a little; and continue down until your shoulders are below your elbows. This position is easily identified by someone watching you; the humerus at the shoulder will dip below parallel. This criterion ensures a complete range of motion, plus a good stretch for the pecs. It also provides a way to judge the completeness of the rep – a way to quantify the work and compare performances between two people, thus serving the same purpose that the below-parallel criterion does in the squat. Drive your body up out of the bottom stretched position until your elbows are locked out, raising your chest into position directly above your hands on the bar. Exhale at the top after finishing the rep, and when you need a breath, be sure to take it only when you’re locked out at the top. Don’t exhale during the rep; the pressure provides rib cage support that is important for effective control of the body while it is moving.

    Figure 7-44. Dips done in a power rack, making use of equipment that’s already in the gym.

    The two most common errors in performing dips involve the completeness of the movement. Most people, when not being yelled at about it, will cut the depth off above parallel. They do this because it is easier to do a partial dip than a full dip, just as it’s easier to do a partial squat than a full squat. A partial dip does not carry the injury potential that a partial squat does. But partial dips are not as valuable as deep dips for the same reason that half-squats are less than adequate: they work less muscle mass. If you go to the trouble of loading a dip belt to do the exercise weighted, and then cheat the depth, you are just wasting training time and kidding yourself about how strong you are, just like when you cheat any other exercise. Do your dips deep, with a lighter weight if necessary, so you don’t miss the actual benefit.
    The other problem is a failure to lock out the elbows at the top between reps. This is not the heinous crime that cutting off the depth is, because it is usually unintentional. Tired triceps don’t always know they are not completely contracted. The chest-up position at the finish helps cue the elbow lockout because it pulls the mass of the upper part of the torso behind the hands so that the triceps can extend the elbows against a more evenly