Gymnastics movements can be some of the most difficult to train. Being able to control your body weight in space & move it efficiently, isn’t always as easy as it sounds. One of the most challenging bodyweight movements in our opinion, is the dip.
The majority of the public really struggles with this simple yet challenging movement. We get questions all the time like "why is a dip so much harder than a push-up?" Well, let’s figure that out...
In a typical push-up, your hands are shoulder width, your core is tight, legs are extended, and toes are on the ground. With this kind of a set up you have your body weight is distributed from head to toe.
While you will typically feel the weight in your hands, your total body weight is distributed. For example there might be 50 pounds of weight being pushed through the balls of your feet. This is 25 pounds of weight that you won’t have to use your chest muscles to actually move. Therefore taking some of the work off of those pressing muscle groups (pec, triceps, deltoids, rotator cuff).
The dip not only has more body weight to move, but the range of motion is greater as well. With the dip a person's feet are normally off the ground. Meaning their entire body weight is driving through their arms. Their upper body is responsible for moving it's total weight below parallel and then to full extension again.
The range of motion with a dip is usually greater than with a push-up. If you look at the angle made with the elbow & forearm in both movements, you’ll see its much shorter at the bottom of a dip. Both movements CAN stop at parallel, but with pushup you typically have the floor supporting your chest at a certain point. The same is not true with the dip. There is no extra support while suspending your body off the ground with only your two arms as anchors.
Greater range of motion = greater work
Great amount of weight moved = greater workThese two main principles are what makes dips so challenging.Interested in getting better at dips? There is still room in our Aug 8th gymnastics seminar. It is open to all! Just click HERE to learn more!
