Dip

Execution

1. Set your shoulders down away from your ears and brace your belly, leaning the torso forward a little if you want more chest.
2. Inhale and lower over 2-3 seconds with your elbows pointing back rather than flaring out.
3. Stop when your shoulders reach elbow height, or higher if the shoulder starts to pinch.
4. Exhale, press down into the bars and straighten your arms, keeping the shoulders from riding up.
5. To finish, put your feet down on the floor or a step rather than dropping off from a straight-arm hang.

Quick cues

• Shoulders down, away from the ears.
• Elbows point straight back.
• Stop where the shoulder stays quiet.
• Step down, never drop off.
• Squeeze an imaginary ball between your knees.

Common faults

• Fault: Going so deep that the front of the shoulder gets crushed

  Fix: Shorten the range to shoulders-level-with-elbows, and stop even higher if it still pinches.

• Fault: The shoulders shrugging up to the ears at the bottom

  Fix: Before each rep, press down into the bars to set the shoulders away from the ears and hold that gap through the range.

• Fault: Kicking the legs to get momentum on the way up

  Fix: Cross your ankles, cut the reps and use a band looped under the knees for assistance.

• Fault: Jumping down to the floor from straight arms

  Fix: Lower until your feet meet a step you placed there first, then walk off it.