Calisthenics Challenge: 15 Consecutive Dips

In this challenge, I trained to be able to do 15 consecutive full range of motion dips. Dips are an upper-body strength exercise. They are kind of like a pushup except you are pushing vertically downwards and lifting your entire bodyweight. They work your pushing muscles: the chest, shoulders, and triceps. Dips are a foundational exercise in modern strength training, especially in calisthenics where you use your bodyweight as resistance to develop strong muscles. Dips can also be loaded with additional weight using something like a weight belt or weighted vest. Adding weight provides an endless opportunity for progression, making dips popular with athletes interested in developing strength.

I chose 15 full range of motion dips as a goal because I’ve seen it recommended as a strength standard by several fitness experts. The calisthenics influencer Tom Merrick includes it as a foundational milestone for progressing to intermediate and advanced calisthenics skills. The fitness influencer kneesovertoesguy lists 15 "shoulder below elbow" dips as one of his fitness standards in building a balanced, strong, injury-proof upper body.

I am an active guy who grew up playing sports and exercising, so I am not a beginner to exercises like dips, but I've never really been one to push myself to my limits in the gym. I tend to go through the motions, with the goal of being healthy and feeling good. But I want to start pushing myself. I think there is a ton to learn by pushing myself to my limits and expanding my capabilities.

I tested where I was on day one of the challenge and got to 9 reps. I had to stop halfway through and then grind through the remaining reps. The last rep was at my limit and my arms quivered and my face contorted to get it done. I tested my max reps the next day and got 10. Then the next day I got 11. I tested three days later and got 12. Then I hit my first plateau. I tested myself three times over the next week or so and got stuck at 13 reps. Finally at day 18 of the challenge I hit 14 reps. Then I got stuck on 14 for my next 9 max dips attempts over the course of 32 days. Finally, I hit my goal of 15. The whole progression took me 17 tests of my max dips over the course of 54 days. You can see the process illustrated in the line chart below:

Here is a video of me doing 15 full range of motion dips:

I did experience some aches and pains through this process. Pushing yourself to your limits is where injuries often occur. I will be mindful of this as I take on future fitness challenges. I have to ease into new challenges and prepare my body to take on new forces. I had some minor aches in my right upper trap muscle and in my right elbow during this challenge. Thankfully there was nothing debilitating, but it is worrying to encounter pains that feel unhealthy.

This challenge reminded me that you need to make sure you are supplementing intense focused work with other exercises that balance things out. It is especially important to warm up the tendons and muscles when you are testing your limits. I've often seen strength coaches recommend that you balance out your pushing exercises like dips with pulling exercises like pullups and rows. It is recommended to warm up properly, building up to your max sets slowly. I've seen it recommended to supplement pushing exercises like dips or the bench press with rotator cuff work that supports your shoulder health.

I also experienced first hand the phenomenon of "noob gains" and the diminishing returns that come soon after. I quickly went from 9 to 13 reps in a matter of days, but then plateaued for weeks until I hit my goal of 15 reps. Those last few reps took patience to unlock.

My approach to this challenge was not ideal. I basically just used my max tests as my training and threw in some smaller sub-maximal sets here or there throughout the week. It was not structured at all. I didn't warm up at all for my max dip tests. As you can see in the line chart above, I tested irregularly, especially once I started plateauing. Plateauing is frustrating. I would get very anxious before doing my max tests. Pushing yourself to your limits is not a good way to make yourself show up to the gym everyday. It can create a lot of friction and anxiety. But part of this challenge was the mental test of facing discomfort and pushing myself a bit. Hopefully I can learn to get more comfortable with getting out of my comfort zone through this and other fitness challenges in the future.

If I were to re-do the challenge, I would follow a structured routine. I would build up my max reps by doing the "grease the groove" method. The "grease the groove" method is basically to do a high volume of sub-maximal sets of an exercise done consistently throughout the day and throughout the week. It is based on the idea that strength is a skill that takes practice, that your nervous system becomes more efficient at a movement through high volume. One of its advantages is that, by doing sub-maximal sets, you can also avoid injuries and fatigue so you can train consistently to make steady progress. Here is a video on the "grease the groove" method for the purpose of increasing your max pullups (other exercises like dips work as well):

Now that I've hit my 15 dips goal, I want to continue building my calisthenics strength foundation by working towards 10 pullups with great form using the "grease the groove" method. Then I want to start working on getting a muscle-up, which is basically a combination of an explosive pullup and a dip. I'm excited that I've built some solid foundational pushing strength with dips, and I am eager to keep expanding my capabilities.