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Ring/Suspension Dips vs Bar Dips?


One reaches a stage in their fitness journey where doing the same thing gets repetitive, boring and stagnant, in these situations in common practice to try something out of the box to ‘shock the system’, for instance you may try to do a dumbbell rack monster drop-set for a DB Chest Press exercise to ‘shock the system’.


Another way (the smarter way) is to try a different method of the exercise, so for deadlifts you could switch to sumo deadlifts or deficit deadlifts or band-resisted deadlifts or trap bar deadlifts… etc.


The usage of suspension straps and gymnastics rings are becoming a common kit in gyms across the world, almost directly correlated with the popularity of crossfit. You’ll never see someone throw on a tight white vest, strap a couple of 10kg iron plates onto a weightlifting belt, jump on a pair of rings and bust out 10-15 dips with poor range of motion and jerking of the torso. Why? Because they’re much much harder.


Suspension straps and ring dips are unique in that they create instability; therefore the movement recruits more muscles to support the body in the movement. I am able to perform 12+ repetitions of tricep dips on a bar with no issue – but as soon as I jumped on the rings for the first time I got pummelled for 1 rep.


The Research


Not much research has gone into the comparison of bar dips to ring dips, however one study by Walker, (2017) compared bar muscle ups with ring muscle ups, the authors found ring muscle ups to be superior in both the pull (pullup) and push (dip) with regards to activation of the upper traps, forearm flexor, triceps brachii and biceps brachii.


These are the following anatomical reasons why:

  • When the glenohumeral joint is placed in an unstable environment, tricep and bicep activation is enhanced for supporting stabilization.
  • People catch themselves in deeper ranges of motion when using rings
  • The elbows are pinned closer to your sides naturally during ring dips


Disclaimer


I am not saying suspension straps/rings are superior to pullup/dip apparatuses, it is all about context. To use suspension straps or rings, you need to have a strong upper body foundation to begin with, or you could find yourself injured extremely quickly because of the unstable nature in which your joints are forced under.

My advice is to get efficient on bodyweight dips first, and then think about investing in some suspension straps or rings.


I personally use the Gripsling raw training straps; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmAJj9lET9s&ab_channel=EliteFitnessPerformance here is a video of me performing dips on them. These are the most versatile training straps on the market, woven with military-grade material you can loop this around anything from a rig to a tree trunk and find no wear and tear. 


Reference

Walker, C., 2017. Comparison of Muscle Activity During a Ring Muscle Up and Bar Muscle Up. University of Central Arkansas.

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