Ring Dips
The ring dip is a dip performed on gymnastics rings, which move freely and force you to stabilise every rep. It trains your chest and triceps, with your shoulders and abs working hard to stay steady. It is much harder than bar dips. Master solid bar dips and a steady ring support hold before you try it.
Muscles worked
The ring dips trains the chest and triceps, with shoulders, abs helping.
Weekly sets for chest
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for chest, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the ring dips
- 01Set the rings around hip height, grip them and press up to a support hold with straight arms and rings by your hips.
- 02Turn the rings slightly outward, squeeze your arms against your sides and brace your abs to stop wobbling.
- 03Lower yourself by bending your elbows, keeping the rings close to your body and your elbows tracking back.
- 04Descend until your shoulders are slightly below your elbows or as deep as you can control.
- 05Press back up to straight arms and finish by turning the rings out again at the top.
Coaching cues
- Rings glued to your sides
- Turn the rings out at the top
- Slow and steady beats fast and shaky
Common mistakes
- Letting the rings drift away from your body makes you lose control; squeeze them in close to your ribs throughout.
- Jumping to ring dips without a stable support hold leads to shaky, unsafe reps; build 30 second ring holds first.
- Rushing the bottom position where the rings are least stable invites a crash; lower slowly and press with control.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Once the top of the range is easy, Swole.fit suggests a harder variation or added load.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Ring Dips alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your ring dips free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.