Dips destroy shoulders

[chamelious]

When attempting dips, my front delts hurt like a mother. Its so bad i can't do dips. Obviously i have some kind of issue somewhere, any one able to point me in the right direction?

Currently running mobility drills for shoulders, t-spine and hips after years of desk work, hoping this may help.

[hugeaiden]

You need to be leaning forward when u dip bro, not straight down , you need to really make sure your grips not to wide and make sure your form is relatively good so your rotator cuff isn't being fkd every rep.
Il try and link you to example

[chamelious]

You need to be leaning forward when u dip bro, not straight down , you need to really make sure your grips not to wide and make sure your form is relatively good so your rotator cuff isn't being fkd every rep.
Il try and link you to example

Leaning forward emphasizes the chest, remaining upright emphasizes the triceps, both are valid!? However shoulders hurt in either position

[Lombardment]

if it hurts dont do them, maybe a decline press instead?

[hugeaiden]

Leaning forward emphasizes the chest, remaining upright emphasizes the triceps, both are valid!? However shoulders hurt in either position

I have heard otherwise, anyway some people just cant do the bad boys cos it aggravates to much , not much you do beyond that

[chamelious]

if it hurts dont do them, maybe a decline press instead?

Well yeah, i don't currently do them. But i figured if i'm unable to it means somethings up somewhere and would like to fix it

[Jasonk282]

I've stopped doing dips all together because it just kills my shoulders....not a fuk was given.

If it hurts and you've looked at your form, just don;t do it. Plenty of other ways to grow tris and chest without killing your RC

[IronMaskDuval]

Do you have access to a seated dip press?

[chamelious]

Do you have access to a seated dip press?

Nopes! . main reason i'm asking is because i'm struggling to feel my triceps on CGBP (again being overtaken by front delts)

[ThickAsABrick]

Nopes! . main reason i'm asking is because i'm struggling to feel my triceps on CGBP (again being overtaken by front delts)

Give decline CGBP a shot. Tends to be a bit better at minimizing shoulder involvement compared to flat CGBP, IME.

[Tommy W.]

Nopes! . main reason i'm asking is because i'm struggling to feel my triceps on CGBP (again being overtaken by front delts)

You need to tuck your elbows as much as possible and narrow your grip. These are the 2 main ingredients in CGBP

[Oversteer]

If you want to feel your triceps, do skull crushers & push downs.

How low are you going with your dips?
Any thing past parallel with the floor, your upper arm that is, starts straining your shoulder & can cause injury.

[ANumber1]

I had the same issue and quit doing dips until my shoulders felt right, then came back and evaluated my form on an assisted dip machine. My problem was that I was flaring my elbows, letting them go out to the sides, instead of keeping them tucked and sending them back behind my body as much as possible. Now dips don't hurt anymore.

Others have covered all of this, but...

- Use the narrow grip if your dip bars are adjustable.
- Keep your elbows tucked in close. (I found that putting my hands a little further back behind my body, near the end of the grips, made this easier.)
- Don't go down past parallel.
- If something hurts, don't do that thing.

[Aphoticc]

If they hurt, just switch them out. Everyones body is different, some have limitations, for example I can't do front or side laterals, but I can do shoulder presses and got great gains that way.

[davisj3537]

Nopes! . main reason i'm asking is because i'm struggling to feel my triceps on CGBP (again being overtaken by front delts)

I'd be willing to guess you aren't controlling your bar path well. If you keep it under control, it will control elbow flare and lead to more tricep emphasis.

Also, I don't feel triceps in any of my presses and all of my pressing HEAVILY emphasizes triceps to improve my shirted press. Don't worry so much about the "feel" part of the lift.

[houstonrice]

i'm 105 kg heavy at 28% bf.

i can barely do 1 dip and 1 pullup.

So in the dips, I just kind of jump up slowly and take help from my legs with that hop up momentum.

in the pullup, again i take leg help and support.

[boston10927]

I can't do dips and it sucks! It Was one of my favorite things to do. I had some others check my form and it was fine but just killed my shoulders everytime! Try DB decline press I started doing those along with skullcrushers and it makes up for not doing the dips! I get a good pump using the DBs

[nowheym8]

Some people just weren't made 2 do dips pain free. Find what works for you, plenty of alternatives.

[UgotAniceSNATCH]

Leaning forward emphasizes the chest, remaining upright emphasizes the triceps, both are valid!? However shoulders hurt in either position

you're right. regardless of leaning forward or not a healthy shoulder shouldn't hurt. sorry can't help you though i have no problems with my shoulders *knocks on wood
i think you're going in the right direction trying to figure out why it hurts during those specific movements because you can most likely get rid of it

[HILMAN76]

Also, I've read not to "shrug" at the top of the dip. I had my left clavicle broke in two about ten years ago, it healed retarded as chit! Doing chest dips and not shrugging at the top so far has worked painlesly for me. I started doing dips with different color assistance bands until I had enough strength to do them on my own.

[PatchPatrol]

It's very likely just tightness in the biceps tendon under the front delt, not the rotator cuff. Start doing massage work to loosen it up

[Garage Rat]

If it hurts don't do it.
I loved dips when i was younger.
I use to sink deep into them for a stretch and with weight.
They did hammer my shoulders to the point i stopped doing them.
These days if i even have an urge to dip i don't take it past where elbows are at 90 degrees.

[shadowbobo8028]

what a lot of ppl don't do is retract their shoulder blades while they dip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa5BEaQ9T6Y

[GeneralSerpant]

I have to make sure my posture is proper at the top of the lift. I can easily suspend myself upright with bad posture in the shoulders, but if I give extra attention to it before I descend, I get rid of any shoulder problems I might have otherwise. I also would only go about an 1/8th of the way down on the first rep, a little more on the next, and near all the way on the third before going the intended ROM.

[mic8400]

If they hurt, just switch them out. Everyones body is different, some have limitations, for example I can't do front or side laterals, but I can do shoulder presses and got great gains that way.

THIS! I have the same issue with laterals. Just found other ways to make gains. =]

[stealth_swimmer]

Leaning forward emphasizes the chest, remaining upright emphasizes the triceps, both are valid!? However shoulders hurt in either position

Yeah, but what hugeaiden says is more important. I would do them upright, but after a while, my elbows would start to hurt. So now I just go by feel and use form that feels comfortable on my joints and emphasizes using the muscles involved. I get a good workout from it and little to no joint discomfort anymore. In the long-run, that's what really matters.

what a lot of ppl don't do is retract their shoulder blades while they dip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa5BEaQ9T6Y

This, too. I naturally do that for fuller ROM, but i'm sure it also eases it up on the rotator cuff as well. Kinda like if you don't retract the shoulder blades on bench and incline, your shoulders take a beating and your chest doesn't feel as stimulated.

[BagABones]

So do we know for sure that if the proper form is done that dips can be done safely?

I don't have a shoulder injury, but I do want to strengthen my shoulders a bit because I feel like I could have a problem if I don't take precautions.

I used to love dips and had good results from them, but with all these posts of people that are getting injuries from them... I'm a little wary!

[fourdegrees]

I do weighted dips 3x a week, there's nothing about them that will just automatically injure you. Keep your elbows tight, and dont go too deep.

[Turbs]

So do we know for sure that if the proper form is done that dips can be done safely?

I don't have a shoulder injury, but I do want to strengthen my shoulders a bit because I feel like I could have a problem if I don't take precautions.

I used to love dips and had good results from them, but with all these posts of people that are getting injuries from them... I'm a little wary!

If you keep your elbows tucked by retracting your scapula the muscles of the rotator cuff are in a much more stable position and shouldn't cause issues. If your elbows are flaring however, its going to stretch the rotator cuff and put it in a vulnerable spot taking much more of the stress in the movement and thats when injuries start to come in.

[mikegilbert1986]

Deal with the pain your weak
points will get stronger