Chest · Dip Bar
Chest Dip
How to do the chest dip, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Dip Bar
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Horizontal Press
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Grip parallel bars and lean slightly forward. Lower your body by bending your elbows to 90 degrees, then push back up.
- 1Feel your chest and triceps lowering and lifting your body between parallel bars
- 2Lean slightly forward to emphasize chest involvement
- 3Keep your elbows slightly flared and shoulders down
Common mistakes
- Avoid descending too low; stop at a comfortable depth
- Don't let your shoulders shrug or rotate forward
- Avoid swinging or kipping
Muscles worked
The chest dip mainly works the lower chest, triceps, and mid chest, with the upper chest and front delts assisting.
- Lower ChestPrimary
- TricepsPrimary
- Mid ChestPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
Chest Dip strength standards
See how your chest dip ranks, from Bronze to Champion. These are the same standards the Kovo app uses to rank your lifts.
Bronzee1RM20 lb
Silvere1RM52.5 lb
Golde1RM125 lb
Platinume1RM200 lb
Diamonde1RM240 lb
Champione1RM275 lb
Find your rank
Enter your best set. We estimate your 1RM and match it to a tier.
Kovo tracks this rank automatically as you train, across every lift, and levels you up as you get stronger.
Kovo programs the chest dip for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed April 2026.