Swinging Dips & Dynamic Strength

[Coach Sommer]

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Dynamic strength is one of the primary components in the Gymnastics Bodies Program; however one that, prior to now, we have not spent a great deal of time examining. All swinging, traveling, plyometric and ballistic movements are encompassed within this category. Dynamic strength training is THE essential tool for transferring maximal strength into athletically usable power. Far far too often, athletes and coaches focus exclusively on solely increasing maximal strength, at the expense of dynamic strength, leaving their athlete less than optimally prepared physically; and then are confused as to why their athlete is incredibly strong but athletically ineffective on the field of play. Remember that power is load TIMES speed; you may be extremely strong, but if you cannot express that strength explosively you lack power. And on the field of play - power reigns supreme.

Swinging dips are an excellent introduction to this component of the Gymnastics Bodies program without being overly demanding on the body; allowing the gradual transfer of the maximal strength built with the basic strength exercises and ring strength work. As shown in the video below, I prefer to to have my athletes perform swinging dips on the parallel bars. However if you lack access to parallel bars or an adequately extended dip station; you may also perform this movement on the Xtreme Rings. Be forewarned that the instability inherent in ring work will at first significantly reduce your range of motion during swinging dips compared to performing them on parallel bars; however, this will improve with time and your continued strength gains will be exceptional.

In most dynamic strength work, the focus is usually on performing the exercise for time or distance (as in the L-sit walks) rather than on counting repetitions. Repetitions may of course be counted, but in my experience the tendency here is for a weaker athlete to attempt to perform 10 reps like the advanced athletes, rather than the 2-3 reps that would better serve their current level of development. Hence, 15-30 seconds is usually the average work window that I will assign; focusing on how many quality reps can you explosively perform within that time frame. It is important to note that your ego should be checked at the door. Performing poor quality, abbreviated ROM reps in order to increase your total reps accomplished within the window of work is a fast ticket to nowhere.

Generally it is ineffective to attempt to stretch a dynamic strength set for longer than 20-30 seconds; often even less unless you are already an advanced athlete. Obviously the less power that an athlete possesses, the longer each repetition will take to complete. Conversely the more powerful an athlete is; the more work they will accomplish within that same work window. Although counting repetitions is not the primary focus of this type of movement, comparing the number of quality repetitions completed within the same block of time from prior workouts is a good way to measure progress.

Initially be quite careful and conscientious to not exceed your current range of motion; especially if the flexibility and stability of your shoulders has been compromised by years of "bench press" therapy. My general recommendation is to begin with half of the ROM that you are capable of for your first workout with swinging dips and then gradually continue to increase that ROM over time.

PROGRESSIONS

1) Swing Dip Forward - Begin with a slight swinging motion. When your feet are all of the way at the end of your arc of movement behind you, begin to dip down as your feet swing forward. Allowing your hips to pike naturally will make the movement much more comfortable. Attempt to time your dip motion so that the dip is completed by the time your feet are at the front of your swing. Generally you will at first fail miserably at this . However do not be overly concerned, it is quite natural to be much too slow at this movement initially. Remember this is why we are training this dynamic strength component and it will continue to improve over time. A tip that will be of great help here is to make sure that you dip no deeper than you are able to press out of by the end of the swing.

Swing backward and begin another repetition. If necessary, take an extra swing or two prior to beginning the next rep.

2) Swing Dip Backward - Begin with a slight swinging motion. When your feet are all of the way at the end of your arc of movement IN FRONT of you, begin to dip down as your feet swing backward. Once again, piking the hips during the dip swing is quite helpful. Remember to dip no further than you can completely rise out of prior to the end of the swing.

Swing back forward and begin another repetition. As mentioned previously, extra swings in between reps are acceptable, especially for beginners.

3) 1/2 Swing Dip Forward to Swing Dip Backward - Begin a swing dip forward as described above, however in this variation do not rise out of the bottom of the dip during the front swing. Rather stay in the bottom of the dip until the front swing has completed and then begin to press up once the back swing commences. Remember to strive to complete the dip before the back swing is over. If you find yourself unable to do so, experiment with reducing the depth of your dip position.

Continue working until you have fulfilled your chosen work window.

4) Swing Dip Forward to Swing Dip Backward - You are now advanced enough that you may attempt to perform a full dip during each swing forward and each swing backward. If you find that you are unable to fully complete the dip before the swing is over, you are not yet ready for this variation.

5) Swinging Dips to 45 Degrees - If you have successfully worked your way through the other variations, you are now ready to work on swinging up higher during the backward portion of the swinging dip. However, unless you are already a relatively advanced practitioner of Gymnastic Strength Training™ with a rock solid handstand, I prefer for you to not go above 45 degrees.

If you lack access to parallel bars, note that swinging dips may also be performed on the Xtreme Rings; although, unless you are already exceptionally strong at Gymnastic Strength Training™, you will find that your ROM is greatly reduced. They are still however an exceptionally fine movement, even with the smaller ROM.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Scott Malin]

"Bench Press Therapy" . I laughed really hard at this one. Looks like a fun exercise, can't wait to try it later.

[Felipe]

Complete and tough exercise.

Now I don't have access to p-bars but when I had it I did 8 or more swings to vertical with good form; never did something like that.

The problem is even swinging (without the dips) on the rings is very difficult.

[Brandon]

looks fun, but im not too sure how im going to pull this off at my globo-gym just yet

[David Picó García]

I tryed thouse yesterday, but on rings... :shock: felt great (although only dipping up at the backward swing). it was intense and after a few reps my chest was pumped like arnold (well more or less ), i had to do some swing (without dip) between dips and that on rings it cant be called rest :shock:

I founded a nice video of this exercise on youtube (this IS NOT me):

[Gregor]

swings in support on rings with straight arms, palms facing out is GREAT exercise seratonin!. Great for sholders, chest and feeling for rings. swings in aupport to handstand on rings->only few can do that.

[animalhands]

I've been playing with something similar to this and have some questions. i don't have parallel bars so on two chairs i come into an L-sit. I then tuck and press up into a tuck planche, then swing back into an l-sit. my arms stay straight throughout the whole movement. after only a few seconds,three or four reps, the momentum is too much for me. i'll try to post a vid. is this a beneficial movement or am i wasting my time?

thanks you all

[braindx]

I've been playing with something similar to this and have some questions. i don't have parallel bars so on two chairs i come into an L-sit. I then tuck and press up into a tuck planche, then swing back into an l-sit. my arms stay straight throughout the whole movement. after only a few seconds,three or four reps, the momentum is too much for me. i'll try to post a vid. is this a beneficial movement or am i wasting my time?

thanks you all

Er, it's by far not as effective....

I wouldn't say it's useless, but it would have little transfer over to actual skills on parallel bars or anything.

[animalhands]

braindx,

is that because of keeping my arms straight the whole time or the tuck? i'll try adding the press into it but i am far from extending out of the tuck.

thanks

[braindx]

braindx,

is that because of keeping my arms straight the whole time or the tuck? i'll try adding the press into it but i am far from extending out of the tuck.

thanks

Well, not sure why you posted in this topic since it's swinging dips.

But yeah, they're fine. Just a different variation... I suppose you could count it as part of a progression in an embedded planche.

The straight arm control is good, but you'd probably get better carryover to everything working more straight arm press handstands than doing this.

[animalhands]

I posted here because the swinging dip look kinda like what I was doing. This week I'm trying to add in a press, i.e. a swinging dip to tuck planche. We'll see

[Hayden Whealing]

these are a great way to make dips more interesting. I am only on progression 1 which is even quite hard for me

[Mikko Saks]

I have a question.. I always straighten and lock my arms/elbows also in the front swing after the dip, but thats not the way he does it in the video even though i bet hes waaaay stronger than i am. Which way is better and why?

edit: Well, what i really meant to ask is that is there a reason for him not to straighten his arms in the front part?

[Blairbob]

Look at the progression steps in the first post. Look at the difference between step 3 and step 4.

[Coach Sommer]

Well, what i really meant to ask is that is there a reason for him not to straighten his arms in the front part?

Good question.

The majority of the time I prefer for my athletes to stay down in the front portion of the swinging dip as it intensifies the stretch on the chest. As you may or may not be aware of; striving to maintain mobility while increasing strength is a constant battle.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Mikko Saks]

As i mentioned in another post recently, my shoulder has been injured abit for the past 2 weeks or so. ive done tons of re-hab work took 7 days off from doing any strength training, just some slight mobility work with light rubberbands.

Now everything feels pretty good, i did some ring inlocates and dislocates today along with some press to HS stuff and i didnt feel any discomfort at all. But when i hit the pbars and started doing swinging dips i immidiately had to stop cause it felt like someone stuck a knife in my rotator cuff. Its not just the dipping motion, the regular swings felt the same way.

Anyone have the slightest idea why it is so that basically just pbar swings and swinging dips hurt like hell, and with pretty much everything else the shoulder feels just fine. L-sit or MU on rings didnt cause any pain.

[Karri Kytömaa]

Well obviously the affecting forces are much greater in a dynamic move like swings.

Did you try German hangs since they stretch the shoulders in a same way but can be better controlled? I assume it is the front swing part where the pain strikes.

[Joshua Naterman]

Well obviously the affecting forces are much greater in a dynamic move like swings.

Did you try German hangs since they stretch the shoulders in a same way but can be better controlled? I assume it is the front swing part where the pain strikes.

Don't assume.

If you want to help, that's great but it is best to start by asking where it hurts, and then responding to the information with a more informed opinion.

You will need to know what training looked like, if the pain came on slowly or from a specific accident, etc. Pretend you are a private detective who needs to piece together a crime scene and you'll be able to do some good things for people.

Sorry if this seems intrusive, but we need to start establishing a bit more of a proper approach when people want to give advice.

[Mikko Saks]

German hangs do not hurt, though i kinda have to descent into it very carefully since in that position the shoulder feels a bit weak/strange. Backlever is no problem.

Originally the shoulder was injured simply because of overtraining. Tendonitis in the rotator cuff area/bicep tendons i think, but nothing too serious cause i simply stopped training for a week when the shoulder started hurting.

I will keep my workouts less dynamic for another 2 weeks, but do some light ring work 2-3times a week cause it dont cause any pain. What do you guys think about this?

[Joshua Naterman]

If you felt it, you already had some pretty reasonable issues going on.

I will try to make one more video on some scapular progressions to help with the recovery. They are helping me a lot but I don't know how well they will work for you. We'll see soon, I hope