Many females struggle with parallel-bar dips much like they do with chin-ups. If you perceive that you’re unable to do an exercise, sure enough, you’ll fulfill that prophecy! Rather than a negative perception, focus on the “negative action” and your ability to do dips will improve considerably.
You can lower more weight than you can raise. In fact, the eccentric (negative or lowering) action can be as much as 50% stronger than the concentric (positive or raising) action. Use this to your advantage on parallel-bar dips.
How to Perform Negative-Only Dips
- Start at the top of the movement with your elbows fully extended. Use a chair, step, or simply jump up to get into position.
- Lower yourself slowly and under control for a count of five seconds by bending your elbows.
- At the bottom of the movement, step or jump back up to the starting position and repeat.
- Perform 2–4 reps per set and work up to 6 total sets.
Important Safety Tip
If you reach a point where you can no longer control the descent for at least five seconds, stop the set immediately. Pushing beyond this point increases the risk of injury—train smart!
Progressing with Added Resistance
Each workout, try to add some weight to your body by using either a weight vest or weight belt as demonstrated in the video below:
After a while of this type of training, you’ll be able to perform parallel-bar dips like this:
Challenge Yourself
Give the negative-only method a shot. Do it twice a week for a month. Make sure to test the number of dips you can do before and after the program. I’m sure that you’ll experience a positive outcome from all the negative training.
