by James - This article may contain affiliate links.
Dips may seem easy, but people who incorporate them into their exercise regime know what a killer they can be. Dips are a compound movement using many muscles, but how do you hit shoulders with dips?
To hit shoulders with dips, you need to lean forward slightly so that your forearms are vertical to the floor and break parallel with your upper arms. This position change increases the recruitment of shoulder muscles, specifically the anterior deltoids found in the front part of the shoulder.
There are factors to consider when performing dips to amplify the use of the shoulders.
The execution is essential because if you get it wrong, you might hurt your shoulder joint or even cause impingement of the nerves in the shoulder. See our post on shoulder workouts for bigger delts.
See the products below if you are in a hurry to see the best equipment to hit dips effectively and safely.
Contents
The Actions of Shoulder Muscles and How They Link to Dips
To understand how to recruit your shoulder muscles during a dip, you must understand how the shoulder works to execute the movement.
The shoulder joint is complex, with many muscles, tendons, and nerves. To understand the whole shoulder structure, you can visit Science Trends to learn more about your shoulder ligaments.
This article will look at the primary muscle forming the shoulder, making it less complicated. These muscles shape the rounding that we see on the shoulders.
This deltoid muscle divides into three parts: anterior, lateral, and posterior deltoid.
Dips use the anterior deltoid, which is part of the front of the shoulder. The action of the anterior deltoid is arm flexion, bringing the arm forward or up in front of the body and overhead. See more in The Ultimate Shoulder Workout Routine.
Dips primarily recruit the chest and triceps muscles. Still, the anterior deltoid acts as a synergist, meaning “helping” to perform the exercise, and performing the movement with a more upright posture – as in the original dip – will conclude that you will use more triceps and less of the anterior deltoid.
To place the focus on the shoulders during dips, you can execute it precisely with the correct form but only lean forward slightly.
You immediately change the angle and activate the arm’s flexion when coming up from the movement rather than just lowering as straight as possible.
The second part is to focus on going low enough to break the parallel position of your upper arms.
You are not low enough if your upper arms are lateral or higher. This angle will ensure you use more anterior deltoid when pressing up again.
These focus points apply to all variations of dips. You will have to start with the beginner version, get your form perfect, and progress to more difficult variations to increase your strength.
You first must accomplish a good form of the dip before thinking about progression or targeting different muscles.
Progression of the Dip Exercise
You can do many variations of dips, but it is essential to know which ones to master first before you progress to the next.
There are also different apparatuses you can use for dips.
Different Equipment to Do Dips On
Here follows a list of the various dips on different equipment:
Using a bench: This is your most basic dip equipment and hardly uses the shoulder muscle and instead forces your shoulder forward, which can cause damage.
Using rings: These are very advanced and also very dangerous. They work the same as dip bars, but the rings can move, thus placing your shoulders in danger of injury if you cannot keep them close to your body.
Dip machine: Various machines can help you to do dips. They are ideal if you struggle with the real deal and need to start lighter than your body weight.
Dip bars: the only equipment you should consider when doing dips. They help you execute the descent flawlessly and minimize the risk of injury if your form is correct.
See our top three recommended dip equipment below.
Progression of the Forward Leaning Dip
Dips might be seen as mediocre because they use bodyweight. For instance, you can start with light dumbbells and work your way up when you do a shoulder press.
See the top three adjustable dumbells we recommend below.
With dips, you start heavy with the weight of your body. To start lighter, you can use dip machines to set your weight lighter than body weight and train your mind-muscle connection to execute the dip with good form, increasing the weight until you reach body weight. learn more in
The ultimate way to get good at parallel bar dips is to do them.
If you struggle to do even one, do negative dips. They require that you lower down into the descent, stop at the bottom of the movement, and place your feet on the floor. Jump up until you are at the starting position with locked-out arms and go again.
As soon as you can do a dip, you can progress by adding reps, adding sets, and adding a weight belt.
See our top three recommended dip belts to protect your spine below.
Also, see an in-depth visual illustration by Jeff Nippard on how to perform the dip and fix the mistakes you might be making.
How to Prevent Pain in Shoulders During Dips
Pain in the shoulders is typical with dips and is called shoulder impingement. This problem occurs when the shoulder blades come in contact and press on the rotator cuff muscles, leading to difficulty when trying to lift the arms.
Shoulder pain can be prevented by following these tips:
- Do not add extra weight too soon – when progressing and starting to add weight, you might over-stress the shoulders, causing pain. Take it slow by first mastering the dip without load and then adding weight and sticking to it until you have mastered it.
- Make sure your form is perfect – This is the most crucial part of any exercise. Dip bars need to be hip-width apart and when lowering down, only go down until you feel a slight stretch in the shoulder.
- Previous injury to the shoulder – Dips require constant shoulder joint tension. Avoid this exercise and focus on machine exercises if you have a weak shoulder because of previous injuries.
Frequently Asked Questions on Building Shoulders With Dips
Here are some related issues you may find interesting regarding dips.
How to Get Stronger at Dips?
To get better at dips, you must perform them more than once each week, adding variations such as negative dips and dips with a band around your knees (which will help you do more reps).
What Are The Best Shoulder Exercises?
The best exercises for the shoulders would be compound movements that engage the shoulder as a whole. Overhead presses with barbells and dumbbells; or front-, lateral- and rear raises using dumbbells and cables.
Conclusion
So, how do you hit shoulders with dips?
Well, if your goal is to better your shoulder mass, it would be wise to incorporate more exercises that target the lateral- and posterior deltoids together with the dips.
Various exercises for the shoulders will ensure consistent shoulder growth, as dips only recruit the anterior deltoids.
Overhead presses with dumbbells or barbells and even cable exercise can help you build the shoulder caps most people desire.
Last update on 2023-01-27 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
