Ring Dips vs. Bar Dips

[Kevin Perry]

Which one would technically build better overall strength?

Im guessing ring dips would but im assuming both should be used as equally. Just curious.

[Steven Low]

Rings.

Anything you can do on the bar, the rings is better with (except deadhang muscle ups). Better overall recruitment.

It's funny/odd because the same applies for DB as compared to BB for something like bench. But since rings lets you manipulate your body in space compared to moving an external weight it tends to come out superior... Most likely due to increased neurological activity/proprioception with bodyweight exercises.

[Craig Loizides]

Has anyone tried dips on a single bar or on top of a pullup bar? I first tried them about a year ago on vacation when the only piece of exercise equipment I could find was a swing set. I find them to be harder than ring dips.

Steven, do you do most of your dips on rings? I saw you post a pretty big weighted dip recently.

[Steven Low]

Weighted dips at home I do on parallel bars because I have the setup for that. If I had the space for weighted rings dips I would do that instead.

My maxes are:
weighted dips: +170 lbs (~6-8 weeks ago)
weighted rings dips: +150-155 lbs (~16 weeks ago IIRC)

Once you try rings dips you'll see that as you get the poundages up that they become really stable (except in the bottom portion of the dip).

Bar dips (horizontal bar) are much like bulgarian dips which Coach Sommer put out an article on. Go read it on his site... http://www.gymnasticbodies.com/routine/archives.html

[Craig Loizides]

Thanks.

Here's the link for Bulgarian dips.
http://gymnasticbodies.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=513

[Kevin Perry]

Very strong dips there Steven.

[Steven Low]

Yeah. Actually, last cycle I did with them (hitting 170 lbs) basically my triceps insertion tendon/bone started to get sore so I stopped doing them. Gotta be careful with the elbows as the weight comes up much like you would have to with OAC work.

Otherwise, working up to heavy weight is just a matter of hard work (and good programming preferably).

[Ben Reynolds]

I went to the gym to do my bare minimum circuit of pullups, bar dips, and squats. I could manage 20+ of bar dips per set. Some old crossfitter was dipping on rings across the gym, managing only 10 reps per set. Out of curiosity, I asked the guy if I could try the rings for a set. He was kind enough to oblige. I managed to push out 5 reps in horrible form. I could only do 1/4 of the reps I regularly performed on bars. I haven't done bar dips since. My strength and overall upper body definition have improved in leaps and bounds since ring training.

[Blair Lowe]

some testing I did showed a ratio of about 2:1 that possibly could be trimmed down to 3:2 or 4:3 if you were very competent on rings.

[Steven Low]

I agree... probably closer to 4:3 or 5:4 with competency on rings.

Maybe I'll test this one day for you guys.