Friday 18 August 2006: DIPS + CHIN-UPS

DIPS + CHIN-UPS
The tried and true superset for developing balanced upper body strength.

Pick a low number of reps for both parallel bar dips and chin-ups, then perform them back to back without rest. Only rest between "super sets" (i.e. one set of dips and one set of chins). Perform as many supersets as possible in twenty minutes. Your number of reps per set will likely change during the course of the workout. Start small at the beginning lest you burn yourself out early.

If you do not have access to parallel bars, you can perform bar dips on the backs of two sturdy chairs or at the corner of a countertop. Variations for intermediate and basic trainees consist of chair dips (with hands in the seat of two chairs and feet on the floor or elevated on a third chair), push-ups, knee push-ups, or countertop push-ups. Advanced trainees may substitute feet elevated push-ups for dips if necessary.

Intermediate and basic trainees should substitute partial chin-ups, assisted chin-ups, or bodyrows for regular chin-ups.

Post results to Comments.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi JME,

what is your background on fitness?
How do you plan the workouts?

day 1 strenght
day 2 conditioning
day 3 explosive strenght etc.

or do you plan at all?

Br,

Ari

JME said...

Ari,

The blog cycles are planned in advance. Generally, we follow a M/W/F-Strength, T/Th-Conditioning schedule with distance runs on Saturdays. The cycles utilize periodization to ensure steady progress while reducing the incidence of overtraining or overuse injuries.

The key to this program is intensity. Repetition recommendations are guidelines only. Each trainee adjusts the WOD to their particular level. Each workout is designed to be individually regulated: you can go all-out or easy depending on your personal circumstances and daily preferences. The workouts are structured to permit high intensity training every day by changing the daily techniques and points of emphasis. This permits participants to train at a high level, without burning themselves out. In fact, I think you will find that most of our participants have found they have more energy, greater strength levels, and less bodyfat as a result of this daily, intense training.

Neil said...

My usual "workout area" was packed with moms and strollers, so I had to jog about a mile to the next closest park. Anyway:

44 Chins (various)
53 Dips

I spaced them out over sets of 4-5 with about 60-90 seconds of rest. Good workout.

JME said...

85 Dips + 80 Chins/20min.
Dips (20 x 4r, 1 x 5r)
Chins (15 x 4r, 5 x 3r, 1 x 5r)

Getting closer to that 100-100/20min. benchmark.

Anonymous said...

Don, Troy: 220 BRs, 220 PUs
Andrea: 400 BRs