05-11-2009, 04:23 PM
Iuvenalis Wrote:My shoulder joint tends to hurt when doing them regularly.Are your arms out, away from your body? If you can bring your hands in closer, and lean forward a little, making it more of a triceps and pectoral exercise, instead of mostly a lat and pec exercise, you should be able to avoid that shoulder pain.
I have tears in both my right and left rotator cuffs, and if I do dips on regular dip bars, it feels like someone is stabbing my shoulders. I've made a set of dip bars that fit on top of the safety bars inside my squat cage, and I don't feel any pain when I use those, since my hands are closer to my sides.
Rosarium Wrote:As an exercise, they work, but unlike pullups, I would not consider them to be an essential movement. It is not a movement which is that useful in real life. A pushup (which a dip is) going more forward (classic pushup), on an incline (elevated feet) or a handstand will work the same muscles in a safer and more productive way I think.
I can only think of one motion where it could prove helpful- in climbing, like when going up, over a ledge.