The Kipping Dip

Doug Chapman asks a poignant question: “How many girls fear Elizabeth because of the freakin’ dips in it?”

Enter the kipping dip.

For Chapman, owner and coach of affiliate CrossFit Ann Arbor/HyperFit USA, the teaching progression begins on the parallel bars.

“The dip is the squat of the upper body. I want you to think about that,” he tells a group of athletes at his gym in Michigan. “From my perspective, (it’s) one of the key elements in developing upper-body strength—that and the jerk.”

In the set-up with elbows extended, the feet should be together and slightly in front of the body. From there, the athlete dips down and then presses up.

“Push your hands down into the bar,” Chapman advises. “Ultimately, you want to see this shoulder come forward and this forearm stay nearly vertical.”

Next is adding the kip.

“All I’m going to ask you (to do) is just bring your feet up to your chest and push,” he says. “It’s not about kicking down. It’s about just bringing your body up. So you get that momentum of your legs coming up and you follow it up with your arms.”

Video by Mike Koslap.

4min 40sec

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Additional reading: Dips: The Forgotten Shoulder Exercise by Bill Starr, published Jan. 14, 2011.