How to do the Chest Dip
Step by step
- Grip parallel bars and press up to support yourself with arms straight.
- Lean your torso forward and let your feet drift slightly behind you.
- Bend your elbows and lower until you feel a stretch across your chest.
- Press back up to the top, keeping the forward lean throughout.
The thing people get wrong
Skip this if the front of your shoulder pinches. The forward lean is what targets the chest - staying upright shifts the load and stresses the shoulder.
Coaching cue
Stop lowering when your upper arms are about level with the floor.
Stay safe
Lower slowly into the bottom; dropping fast can strain the chest or the front of the shoulder.
Make it easier or harder
- Easier: Keep your feet on a box or the floor and push through your legs to help.
- Harder: Pause two seconds at the bottom of each rep.
Muscles worked
- Primary: Chest, Triceps
- Secondary: Front delts
What to do instead
Same job, different movement — useful if you don't have the equipment or it doesn't feel right today.
Daily Coach builds this into a real weekly plan. It picks the exercises for your equipment and experience, swaps around injuries you tell it about, and tracks what you actually lifted.