Dips

Parallel-bar dips are done up to 45° lean dips, and on rings I’ve got support holds through ring L-dips and wide ring dips. The next rung is the rings-turned-out 45° dip: rings rotated out at the top with a forward lean, a step towards the deep, straight-arm ring strength of the advanced skills.

Why rings change everything

On parallel bars the bars hold you still. On rings you hold the rings still, which means the stabilisers do far more work. That’s also why ring dips carried over to the muscle-up: the press-out from the bottom of a ring muscle-up is a deep, unstable ring dip.

The ladder

1. Support hold (bars, then rings, then rings turned out)
2. Dip negatives, then full dips
3. L-dips (legs held out)
4. Wide ring dips
5. Rings-turned-out dips with increasing lean (45°, 75°, 90° and beyond)

Weighted dips run in parallel; see Weighted Pull-ups and Dips.

Cues

• Rings close to the body throughout. If they drift wide, the shoulders take a beating.
• Turn out at the top: rotate the rings so the palms face forward and lock the elbows.
• Depth with control: shoulders below the elbows, without collapsing into the bottom.
• Shoulders down, away from the ears, at the top.

Programming

• Three sets of five to eight, adding a rep per session, as in the Recommended Routine.
• Ring support holds as a warm-up, building to 30 seconds turned out.
• Turned-out and leaning dips are strength-skill work: low reps, long rests.

Common mistakes

• Shrugging at the bottom and losing shoulder position.
• Skipping support holds. If you can’t hold the top still, the dip won’t be either.
• Too much depth too soon on rings; build range gradually.

Sources

• Overcoming Gravity (2nd edition), Steven Low: dip and ring dip columns.
• r/bodyweightfitness Recommended Routine: dip progression.