Rings or Dip Bars?

[Jetigen]

How is this implying the body mechanics of ring dips are any different than bar dips?

Bar dips are much safer as your arm won't flare out to sides due to muscle coordination problem or weak stabilizer muscles as it can happen when doing ring dips.

That picture is completely inaccurate for a dip - IRL your shoulders are either above or forward of your fists. In that drawing, the guy's body is way behind his fists as if he is coming up or down from a muscle up.

That's Rippetoe's Bubba drawing. He is no nonsense type of a guy. I am guessing he was just trying to show graphically his point his way. Give the man a slack on this.

[RemainDieHard]

Have YOU ever even done ring dips??? There is no flaring out to the side. Well, maybe if you just start training and you are quivering like a bowl of jello lmao but you get over that pretty fast. Your fists will always be shoulder width apart. Does Rippetoe advise again V shaped dip bars too? Because that is closer to what you are describing.

[Jetigen]

Have YOU ever even done ring dips??? There is no flaring out to the side. Well, maybe if you just start training and you are quivering like a bowl of jello lmao but you get over that pretty fast. Your fists will always be shoulder width apart. Does Rippetoe advise again V shaped dip bars too? Because that is closer to what you are describing.

Ok.

[weisgarb]

I think the point here is that ring dips are harder to control, and if you're doing them with added weight or pushing yourself to failure, it's going to be much easier to break form and hurt yourself than if using bars that are stationary.

I've done both types of dips, and I generally stick with dipping bars when I use added weight for that reason. My opinion probably would have been different 10 years ago, but I've accumulated enough injuries over the past few years that I'm no longer willing to risk it.

[cgc]

Bodyweight ring dips require quite a substantial level of physical strength by themselves. In my eyes it's not worth risking shoulder injury by doing weighted dips on rings. I scanned this explanation from Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength book (page 80).

Like the quote below...the mechanics of the shoulder, I personally don't think there is any difference.
But for argument sake (and I'm not really "arguing", just discussing the point).
1. Most people aren't going to start off doing many reps with BW, let alone adding weights. Like with any exercise, the strength will come and the muscles supporting the shoulder should strengthen as well.
2. If you did ring dips with your arms as far out as that diagram....yeah, I can see it being an issue with the shoulder joint.

For the record, I've separated my right shoulder in the past. From time to time, I have issues with overhead press and when I do bag work....I've never had issues doing weighted dips of any kind.

How is this implying the body mechanics of ring dips are any different than bar dips? That picture is completely inaccurate for a dip - IRL your shoulders are either above or forward of your fists. In that drawing, the guy's body is way behind his fists as if he is coming up or down from a muscle up.

My thoughts exactly.

Jetigen - don't take what I said as me being a PITA. If you're not comfortable with ring dips and weight (for whatever reason), that's you and I totally respect that. My experience, in spite of the shoulder issues I've had, I've not had any problems. It's an interesting exercise to get used to, harder than most people realize, and incorporates a lot of stabilizer muscles....that's why I prefer them over a dip station.

Each his/her own.

[jellodirt]

I have both and would recommend both. When I bought my rings I had fantasies of flipping around like a little monkey. I was humbled.

You can do dips on rings but they are so much more difficult and versatile they're in a class of they're own.

[buffbrown21]

Plenty of good opinions and info. I just wanted to add the link to the Gymnastic Ring Round Up thread which gives reviews and such on a few different ring brands plus a ton of tutorials and exercise videos.
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=120190661

[ninjaneer]

How is this implying the body mechanics of ring dips are any different than bar dips? That picture is completely inaccurate for a dip - IRL your shoulders are either above or forward of your fists. In that drawing, the guy's body is way behind his fists as if he is coming up or down from a muscle up.

i think the picture is illustrating bad form, cuz the description says "incorrect position". with rings, you've got a higher likelihood of falling out of position, especially after fatigue settles in. i'd agree, though, poor form (either on dips or bars) is going to wreak havoc on your shoulder.