Dip progression

The dip is the big press of bar training: your full bodyweight lowered between two bars and driven back to locked arms. This is the road from a first support hold to deep dips on turned-out rings.

Realm: The Handstand
Steps: 18
Grades: White to Yellow
Gear: bar, rings, floor

A dip starts at the top of a support, arms locked, and lowers you between two bars as deep as your shoulders allow before you press back up. Your chest, triceps and shoulders move your whole bodyweight, with no floor to borrow help from. It is also how every muscle-up finishes: once your chest clears the bar, a dip is what takes you to lockout.

Few moves pay back more. Strong dips make the top of the muscle-up feel lighter and give you the support strength that ring work is built on. Once bar dips feel easy, the chain also tells you what comes next: first an L-sit held through the rep, then the rings, where every inch of the press has to be steadied as well as pushed.

Each step wears a chalk grade for how hard it is, and this road runs White to Yellow. White is the base: the Sup Hold at 3 × 60s and the Dip Neg, lowered under control. Green is the full Dip at 3 × 8, dips with an L-sit held through them, and your first holds on rings. Blue is the Ring Dip, then the RTO Dip with the rings turned out throughout. Yellow adds the Ring Wide Dip and turns the rings further, up to the RTO 90° Dip.

The ladder

Every step has a standard. Own it, then climb. Grades run White, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red.

01
Sup HoldWhiteBuilds the base for L-sits and dips; rings version conditions the biceps tendon for levers.
3 × 60s holdfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
02
Dip NegWhite
build to 10s descentsfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
03
DipGreen
3 × 8 repsfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
04
Tuck L-Sit DipGreen
3 × 8 repsfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders
05
L-Sit DipGreen
3 × 8 repsfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
06
Russian DipGreenDrop to forearms and press back to support; trains the muscle-up transition.
3 × 8 repsbar · triceps · chest · shoulders
07
Ring Sup HoldGreen
3 × 20–30s holdrings · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
08
RTO Sup HoldGreen
60s hold, turn thumbs out more as you get strongerrings · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
09
Ring Dip NegGreen
3–5 × 3–5 slow negatives (5–10s down)rings · chest · triceps · shoulders
10
Ring DipBlueBefore this: 3×8 bar dips + 60s RTO support first.
3 × 8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
11
RTO DipBlue
3 × 8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders
12
Korean DipBlueDip behind the bar, hips leading; a shoulder-extension monster.
3 × 5–8 repsbar · triceps · chest · shoulders
13
Bulgarian DipBlue
3 × 8 repsfloor · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
14
Ring L-Sit DipBlue
3 × 5–8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders · video
15
Ring Wide DipYellow
3 × 5–8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders
16
RTO 45° DipYellow
3 × 5–8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders
17
RTO 75° DipYellow
3 × 5–8 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders
18
RTO 90° DipYellow
4 × 3–5 repsrings · chest · triceps · shoulders · video

How to climb it

Move up when you own the standard on an ordinary day: full depth, and the last rep as clean as the first. Dips belong in the push half of your strength session, two or three times a week with a rest day between. On BARCROSS that session runs a ladder: 3 × 5 on day one, one more rep each time you log it, and at 3 × 8 you move to the next step.

The rings have a gate. Wait until you own 3 × 8 bar dips and a 60-second RTO Sup Hold before your first Ring Dip, because the rings move and your shoulders pay for every wobble at the bottom. Warm the shoulders before deep work, with arm circles and a few easy reps, and add depth over weeks, not in one session.

Form cues

Straight or slightly hollow body, no hip bend
Lock out and depress the shoulder blades at top
As deep as you can, elbows in

Accessory work and gear

No parallel bars? Two chairs (weight the seats), or a 90° countertop corner.

Common mistakes

Rushing to the rings: without solid bar dips and a steady turned-out support, the rings swing and the front of your shoulder absorbs it.
Kicking out of the bottom: swinging the legs to get moving hides a weak press, so slow the rep down until your body stays still.
Half reps for a better count: stopping halfway makes 3 × 8 look easy and leaves the bottom range, the part a muscle-up needs, untrained.
Bench dips as a shortcut: hands on a bench behind you is a different angle with little carryover, while support holds and negatives are the real on-ramp.
Shoulders creeping up: if your shoulders rise toward your ears at the top, you are hanging on the joint instead of pressing away from the bars.

Questions

How do I get my first dip?

Build it from the top down. Hold the Sup Hold until 60 seconds feels steady, then work the Dip Neg, lowering under control for up to 10 seconds. The first full dip usually arrives once those negatives stay smooth all the way down.

Are dips bad for your shoulders?

Not when depth is earned. The bottom of a dip stretches the front of the shoulder under load, so go only as deep as you can control and add range gradually. Sharp pain means you stop for the day, and if pain persists, see a professional.

Are ring dips harder than bar dips?

Yes. Bars stay put, while rings move in every direction, so your chest and shoulders have to steady them as you press. That is why the Ring Dip sits a grade above the bar Dip, and why turning the rings out keeps the chain climbing into Yellow.

What does RTO mean in ring dips?

RTO stands for rings turned out: at the top of the support, you rotate the rings until your palms face forward. Holding that turn through the whole rep makes every dip harder, and the Yellow steps raise it by degrees, up to the RTO 90° Dip. Add turn-out a little at a time, because the elbows and biceps tendon adapt more slowly than the muscles.