A Problem With Weighted Dips

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[Xenekn]

My sternum use to hurt while doing dips. I them put my legs infront of me, my knees to my stomach, and my sternum pain is gone. If your sternum hurts try doing this!

[MikeKincaid]

Alright, I've never commented here before but I've got to jump in on this one. This guy is absolutely right and I just did exactly what he is describing. I'm no rock star but this last winter/spring I was as strong as I've ever been at my bodyweight 5'10 167 pounds. I was benching 245, shoulder press 145 for 4 reps, weighted pullups with 90 pounds for 3 reps, and weighted dips with 115 pounds for 6 reps. I thought I was Joe Cool and then boom! Just over 2 months ago I was pushing the stretch too far on the weighted dips and it happened. Screwed up my rotator cuff bad. Intense pain for days in the left shoulder. I haven't been able to even do 1 pushup for over 2 months. I've lost a ton of muscle and strength and am now down to 157 pounds because all I can do is deadlift and pullups but even that aggravates my shoulder, absolutely can't do any pushing exercises. It all happened right in the middle of summer too which is when you want to look your best. I've been working with several physical therapists and apparently this is a long slow recovery, could take many more months, very depressing to not be able to lift. I don't know what the right body type is for dips (I've got a short torso but long arms and legs) but If I can give any advice to help someone else prevent this injury it would be to not use a full range of motion for dips. Just lower yourself to where it feels very comfortable and don't push the stretch at all, it's just not worth it.

[panagiotisalloimonos]

I started dips 8 months ago. When i started adding 40 kg and going deep i started have serious pain in sternum ( right side). I continued doing bw dips for one month and after started slowly adding weight. The pain was just gone. Done a lot of shoulder and chest stretches too. Untill now i have a +75kg dip. Video' s on my channel. 💪

[kier]

I prefer to train dips with bands and linearly progress straight weight whilst keeping the same band tension.
150+ at the top, plus linearly increasing straight weight, i've found this an effective way to work the dips extremely hard whilst minimising the amount of straight weight you need, thus decreasing the max load in the most vulnerable position (at the bottom)

I never have any problems with dips anyway but I still prefer to train my dips like that!

[randomnumbers]

I used to have sternum pain doing dips but after I fixed my form it became my best exercise. it's so easy to put more and more weight on it each training session it's crazy.
The form has to be tight: shoulderblades back at all times.

[XtremeDamage]

I thought i should share my story, so anyways,  was doing weighted dips progressed really well, in like 2 months I added 60kg around my waist for 6 reps, I was amazed at how easy they were progressing, got overzealous when i was training one time and i felt a little nibble in my sternum didn't think much of it but about an hour later on my way home i felt this crazy pain down the middle of my chest, went and got it checked it was costochondritis with dislocated cartilage, luckily my physio was able to pop it back in place, that was 10 months ago and I'm only just now able to do dips just bodyweight, so i do agree with this guy definitely not an exercise for everyone.

[djmadmaxwallace]

I've noticed if I go down to far on a weighted dip, it begins to stress my shoulders, rotator cuff, but if I don't go down as far no problem, seems to be going fine.

[TFreshour]

I played baseball and college and we did some BW dips all the time. When I hit med school and wanted to throw on some weight it was fine for a while. Now when I try and do weighted dips I 100% agree with you my sternum will hurt no matter how hard I try and that is with a smaller chest, great ROM, and being (in college at least) a pretty serious athlete. So good shit here man. Totally preaching the truth here. Wish people like you were everywhere.

[CHIVA]

Before starting with weighted dips you must be good at dips otherwise you will hurt your joints like most of the guys on the comments. 🤦‍♂️

[EClasher]

Check out Alex most recent +30 min video on dips - it will show you how to solve most of the problems Alex originally talks about here. Amazing growth mindset Alex has and taking natties to a whole new level!

[Trevordoesntlift]

Dips started out as bodyweight for me a 220lb guy (nothing special lean wise) and now I can do 90lbs for sets of 5 super happy

[TMNXtras]

Used to not like this channel years back when it first started but it's really picked up and became great over time. Great consistent work, keep it up, the topics you cover are great

[dangerousdavid]

I used to have tremendous sternum pain feeling like something was gonna tear open, but as I kept doing dips taking it slowly for two months this sternum pain went away completely and I have never had problems with it since, and now I love doing heavy weighted dips with 100+ lbs.

[ZenGamer]

Back doing weighted dips I was going too deep on them way back when I was like 16 and my sternum was fucked for a year as a result I couldn't do the movement for an entire year due to excruciating pain in the sternum but I'm back on it now, just gotta be very careful and warm up properly

[robertswift]

bro honestly, your one of the few youtubers that post frequently. great advice!

[SonicSyndicate]

In my opinion if someone experiences pain doing dips it's more likely that they have a mobility issue (therefore go too deep ) or they use wrong technique. Sorry I don't think that structural problems are the widespread problem.

[bassfishingnewjersey]

I never knew about cracking a sternum, I’m only 16 and I get pain in my sternum doin dips, i never really thought about it like that though, hopefully my bones fuse and I’ll be good

[_Brennus]

How close the dip bars are matters as well. I use to get very bad pain in the clavicle area when I would dismount from my dips. Then I figured out that the bars were a little too far apart. Adjusted and never got pain again. I have ectomorph body type.

[rledesmamerino]

my sternum used to hurt with even bodyweight dips at times I was 20, now I'm 27 and have a lot more strength and mobility. I never get the pain now so I ramped up the weight

[davidfillary]

I think also the bars you are using make a big difference. I trained in a park for several months and had no problem doing dips. But then in my gym, I got immediate pain as it was too wide. Even the v shaped handles don't go narrow enough for my body.