14 Best Dip Bar Exercises for (Every Fitness Level & Skill)

Are you looking for a simple, effective way to work out your upper body at home or outdoors? Do you want to build muscle, strength, and endurance in your chest, shoulders, triceps, and back? Do you want to challenge yourself with different levels of difficulty and skill? 

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you must try dip bar exercises.

In this article, we will show you the best dip bar exercises for every fitness and skill level. We will explain how to do each exercise correctly and safely, what benefits they offer, and how to make them easier or harder.

We will also give you some tips and tricks from a personal trainer to get the most out of your dip bar workouts.

So, are you ready to get started? Grab your dip bars, and let’s get dipping!

Best Dip Bar Exercises for Beginners

Dip bar exercises are challenging, though. 

They require much strength and skill to perform them correctly and safely. That’s why you should start with the basic dip bar exercises before moving on to more advanced ones. 

These exercises will help you develop the proper form, technique, and confidence to do dips like a pro LATER.

1. Standard Dips

The first exercise for beginners is one you already know and love.

Dipping!

Standard dips are the most basic and essential dip bar exercise you must master. They also prepare you for more advanced and challenging dip bar exercises that will take your fitness to the next level.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees or slightly lower.
3. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again.
4. Repeat for as many reps as you can.

2. Assisted-band Dips

Are you still struggling to do a standard dip of more than 10?

Then try assisted-band dips!

Assisted-band dips are a modified version of standard dips that use a band or a partner to help lift yourself up.

Muscles worked:  Chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

How to do it:

1. Attach a resistance band to one of the dip bars and loop it around your knees or feet. Alternatively, ask a partner to hold your legs or waist and help you push yourself up.
2. Perform standard dips as usual, but use the band or your partner to assist you on the way up.
3. Repeat for as many reps as you can with good form.

3. Bench Dips

Don’t have dip bars?

Try bench dips!

Bench dips are a simple dip bar exercise you can do with a bench or a chair instead of dip bars.

Bench dips are also good to warm your elbows and shoulders before doing more intense dip bar exercises. They can help you prevent injuries and improve your performance.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, and shoulders.

How to do it:

1. Place a bench or a chair behind you and grab its edge with your hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Extend your legs before you and keep your heels on the floor.
3. Lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees or slightly lower.
4. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again.
5. And Repeat! Repeat!

4. Incline Push-Ups

Incline push-ups are a variation of push-ups that use dip bars or any elevated surface to reduce the difficulty. 

It’s a good exercise for beginners who find regular push-ups too hard or for advanced exercisers who want to add variety to their routine.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.

How to do it:

1. Place your hands on the dip bars or any elevated surface that is stable and comfortable for you.
2. Position your body in a straight line from head to toe with your arms straight.
3. Lower yourself until your chest touches the surface or comes close to it.
4. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again.

5. Inverted Rows

This exercise is good for improving your posture and balance. It’s also a good counterbalance to all your pushing exercises on the dip bars.

I love inverted rows because they make me feel strong. 

Yeah! Strong BACK

Inverted rows are easy to set up and perform with a bar or a pair of straps. You can also use any horizontal object supporting your weight, such as a broomstick, towel, or rope. Just make sure that it is secure and stable before you use it.

Muscles worked: Back, biceps, and rear deltoids.

How to do it:

1. Place a bar or a pair of straps below the dip bars at a comfortable height.
2. Grab the bar or the straps with your palms facing up and your hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
3. Position your body in a straight line from head to toe with your arms straight and your heels on the floor. This is the starting position.
4. Pull yourself up until your chest touches the bar or the straps or comes close to them. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the top of the movement.
5. Lower yourself back to the starting position with control.

Best Dip Bar Exercises for Intermediate

If you’ve been doing standard dips and other beginner exercises for a while and you feel like you need more variety and difficulty, then you should try some of these more complex and challenging exercises.

6. Negative Dips

Negative dips are also good to prepare for more advanced dip bar exercises like weighted dips, ring dips, or muscle-ups. They will make you stronger, more confident, and more skilled.

This exercise is good for increasing your strength and control in the dip motion. It also helps you overcome plateaus and improve your performance.

They train your muscles to handle more weight and stress than they are used to. They also improve your mind-muscle connection and awareness.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Jump or use a band or a partner to help you get to the top position of the dip, where your arms are straight and your chest is above the bars.
3. Lower yourself slowly and with control until your elbows are 90 degrees or slightly lower. Try to take at least 3 to 5 seconds to complete the descent.
4. Jump or use a band or a partner to help you get back to the top position and repeat for as many reps as possible with good form.

7. Weighted Dips

Weighted dips are one of my favorite exercises because they give me a greater pump in my chest and arms than any other exercise.

Weighted dips are a variation of standard dips that add extra resistance to make them harder. It also helps you increase your strength and endurance in the dip motion.

I usually do them as a finisher at the end of my workout chest.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core.

How to do it:

1. Wear a weighted vest, a dip belt, or a backpack with some weight. Alternatively, hold a dumbbell or a kettlebell between your legs or feet.
2. Perform standard dips as usual but with the added weight.

8. Dip Bar Bicep Curl

Dip bar bicep curls are not very common but very effective. They work your biceps from a different angle and with a different resistance than regular curls. They also work your back and forearms as secondary muscles.

It is a variation of inverted rows that target your biceps more than your back.

Muscles worked: Biceps, forearms, back.

How to do it:

1. Perform inverted rows as usual but with a few changes:
2. Grab the bar or the straps with your palms facing down instead of up.
3. Keep your elbows close to your body throughout the movement.
4. Curl the bar or the straps towards your forehead instead of your chest.

9. Korean Dips

Korean dips are another hard dip bar exercise that I learned how to do recently. They require a lot of balance and stability to perform them correctly. They also stretch my lower back and spine in a way that feels good.

I recommend you have enough strength and flexibility in your lower back before attempting it.

It involves leaning backward and lowering your hips below the bars. It also helps you transition to other skills like back levers.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, lower back.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Lean backward and lower your hips until they are below the bars or come close to them. Keep your legs straight or slightly bent.
3. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again.

Best Dip Bar Exercises for Advanced

If you’ve been doing intermediate dip bar exercises for a while and you feel like you need more challenge and excitement, then it’s time to try some of these exercises.

These exercises will not only work your muscles harder, but they will also test your power, speed, coordination, and technique in different positions and movements.

10. Muscle-Up

Muscle-up combines a pull-up and a dip in one fluid motion.

And yes, you need a pull-up strength here, but it will make you feel like a superhero.

It took me several months to achieve my first muscle-up, but it was worth it. It helped me improve my strength and power in both pull-ups and dips a lot.

It also challenges your whole body and your mind in every single rep.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, biceps, forearms, core. 

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Pull yourself up explosively until your chest is above the bars. Try to keep your elbows close to your body and use momentum to help you get over the bars.
3. Transition from the pull-up to the dip by pushing yourself up until your arms are straight again.
4. Lower yourself down until your elbows are at 90 degrees or slightly lower.

11. Typewriter Dips

Typewriter dips are a fun dip bar exercise that will work your muscles differently than regular dips. 

They will make you feel like you’re typing on a giant keyboard.

It involves moving side to side along the bars. They will also improve your balance and stability on the bars.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, core.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees or slightly lower.
3. Shift your weight to one side and push yourself up until your opposite arm is straight and your opposite shoulder is above the bar. Keep your other arm bent and close to your body.
4. Move back to the center and lower yourself again.
5. Repeat the same movement on the other side.
6. Alternate between sides for as many reps as you can with good form and control.

12. Impossible Dips

“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says ‘I’m possible!” Audrey Hepburn

Some people say that impossible dips are impossible to do, but that’s not true. They are possible, but they are very hard. You need a lot of strength and power in your chest and triceps, as well as good technique and balance.

It involves lowering yourself below the bars and pushing yourself back up without touching them.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, forearms.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees or slightly lower.
3. Lean forward and rotate your elbows behind you until they are below the bars. Keep your legs straight or slightly bent.
4. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again without touching the bars with any part of your body.

13. Front Lever Dips

Front lever dips are a variation of straight bar dips that involve holding a front lever position before and after each dip. This exercise amazingly works your chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, and core. 

It also requires a lot of skill, strength, and endurance.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, core.

How to do it:

1. Grab a single bar with your palms facing down and your hands shoulder-width apart or slightly wider.
2. Lift your legs up in front of you and keep them straight and together. Try to form a 180-degree angle between your torso and your legs. This is the front lever position.
3. Hold this position for a few seconds while keeping your body stable and your arms locked.
4. Lower yourself until your chest touches the bar or comes close to it.
5. Push yourself back up until your arms are straight again.
6. Return to the front lever position and hold it for a few seconds again.

14. L-Sit Hold

L-sit hold is a simple yet effective exercise that works your whole body. It doesn’t involve any movement, but it requires a lot of concentration and endurance to hold it for longer than a few seconds.

It also burns your abs and quads like crazy.

Muscles worked: Abs, hip flexors, quads, triceps.

How to do it:

1. Grab the dip bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight.
2. Lift your legs up in front of you and keep them straight and together. Try to form a 90-degree angle between your torso and your legs.
3. Hold this position for as long as you can while keeping your body stable and your arms locked.
4. Rest and repeat for a few sets.

Dip Bar Workouts

Workout Level	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Rest Time
Beginner	Standard Dips	3	10	1 min
	Bench Dips	3	15	1 min
	Incline Push-Ups	3	15	1 min
	Inverted Rows	3	10	2 min
Intermediate	Weighted Dips	3	8	1 min
	Russian Dips	3	6	1 min
	Korean Dips	3	6	1 min
	Straight Bar Dips	3	8	1 min
	Dip Bar Bicep Curl	3	10	2 min
Advanced	Muscle-Up	3	5	1 min
	Typewriter Dips	3	8	1 min
	Handstand Dips	3	5	1 min
	Impossible Dips	3	3	1 min
	Front Lever Dips	3	5	1 min
L-Sit Hold: Max Time

Conclusion

You have just learned about the best dip bar exercises for every fitness and skill level. You have also learned how to do each exercise correctly and safely, what benefits they offer, and some tips from a personal trainer.

We hope you enjoyed this article and learned something new.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more articles on calisthenics, bodyweight training, or street workouts.

References

• Chest Workout Technique// Bodybuilding: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/chest-workout-technique-get-a-monster-pump-with-negative-dips.html
• Inverted Rows// Healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/australian-pull-up
• Inverted Rows Guide// Barbend: https://barbend.com/inverted-row-guide/
• 7 Most Effective Dip Bar Exercises for Beginners// TheWorkoutDigest: https://theworkoutdigest.com/dip-bar-exercises-for-beginners/