Chair dips: How to do it to get stronger arms and shoulders at home

Dips have always been a popular calisthenic move across demographics. They are an effective way to build strength and mass in the chest, triceps, and shoulders.

The two popular variations of dips are bench dips and bar dips.

Bench dips are also known as tricep dips, and are an easier variation of bar dips. If you’re looking to master those, the bench is where you want to start. As the name suggests, this move is effective for strengthening and toning the triceps.

Performing dips with a chair gained popularity during the pandemic, when we were all confined within our homes and forced to use our creativity to workout at home.

Bar dips (Image via Unsplash/Edoardo Cuoghi)

Although using chairs for bench dips has always been a thing, fitness enthusiasts didn’t give up on their quest to perform bar dips. By positioning two chairs facing away from each other, people were even executing them at home.

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Bench dips with a chair

Let’s look into the steps involved in performing this variation using a chair.

• Seat yourself on the edge of a sturdy chair and place your palms on either side of your thighs with your fingers gripping the edge of the chair. Keep your back straight and shoulders tall.

• Shift your weight on to your arms and lift your hips off the seat. Walk your feet forward until your hips are hovering an inch or two in front of the chair.

• You may bend your legs at the knee at a 90-degree angle if you are a beginner. To make it more challenging, extend your legs fully and balance on your heels.

• Bend your elbows and lower your hips toward the ground until your arm is bent at a 90-degree angle. Inhale as you lower yourself.

• Push yourself back up to the starting position while exhaling, fully lengthening your arms.

You may perform three to four sets of this exercise, for 12 to 15 reps each.

Watch this for more reference:

To make it more challenging, you can place some weights on your legs. This will add more tension to the movement and help with building more strength.

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Bar dips with chairs

You’ll see numerous enthusiasts repping out on parallel bars at parks and other functional facilities. This is a lot more challenging than bar dips because your legs aren’t on the floor, and the entire weight of your body is on your arms.

For the variation with a chair, you’ll need two.

• Place both chairs on the floor with their backs towards each other. Leave enough gap between them for your body.

• Grip the back rests of the chair and suspend your body on your arms. Keep your core tight and bend your legs to prevent them from touching the floor when you lower your body.

• Bend your elbows and lower your body toward the ground until your arms are bent at a 90-degree angle. Inhale as you lower yourself.

• Push yourself back up to the starting position while exhaling, fully lengthening your arms.

You may perform three to four sets of this exercise, for 12 to 15 reps each.

Take a look at this video for a better picture:

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Incorporate dips into your push days to help strengthen your chest, triceps, and shoulders further. If your facility lacks the bars or bench to perform dips, grab a couple of chairs and try these home-friendly variations!