Dips Vs. Push Ups: Find Out Which Exercise Suits Your 2024 Goals Best

Bodyweight training involves strength-based exercises that use your body weight as resistance. When performed with enough lifting volume, they can help to improve muscle strength, size, physical fitness, and general function. As the popularity of home workouts continues to increase, so does their inclusion. 

The push-up and dip are popular bodyweight exercises. Both are seen as pushing movements that involve similar muscle groups. Despite this, the different movement patterns offer distinct strengths and weaknesses. 

The benefits of push-ups are well-known. They use a simple movement pattern that involves lowering your body to the floor and pushing up. 

Dips require you to bring your body up and down using a set of dip bars. They work the same muscle groups but are seen as a harder exercise to perform.

With this, which one should you include as part of your bodyweight routine? Should you include both? We discuss the dips vs. push-ups debate, covering the main points to consider below.

Dips Vs. Push Ups: Key Information

Body Angle 

Body angle refers to the position of your body when performing each movement. Different body angles change the muscle activation rates and, in some cases, exercise benefits. We’ve discussed this point first, as it’s perhaps the biggest difference between the two exercises. 

The push-up uses a horizontal pressing movement. This means that your body moves on the horizontal plane when performing each push-up. This makes the traditional push-up more of a full chest exercise that equally works the three pectoralis major heads.

The incline push-up targets your lower chest while the decline variation is better for your upper chest. The suspended push-up requires more tricep brachii (37% vs 17%) and core activation (88% vs 24%) compared to a standard push-up.

The chest dip uses a vertical pressing movement. Your hands stay in contact with the dip bars while your body moves up and down using the vertical movement plane. Because of this, it’s a great movement for isolating the lower chest muscles.

In this case, both movements can be successfully integrated into a training program by using different body angles. The effectiveness of each one will depend on the variations used. 

Muscles Worked

Generally speaking, push-ups and dips use the same primary movers. However, each movement targets these muscles in different ways. Different variations will also change muscle activation.

• Pectorlis Major (Chest).
• Triceps Brachii.
• Anterior Deltoids.
• Core Musculature.

Push-ups work the three pectoralis major muscles as the primary movers. These are the clavicular, sternal, and abdominal heads. They mainly flex and adduct the shoulders, bringing them in front of your body and into the midline.

The triceps brachii muscles function to extend (straighten) the elbows. This happens as you push up from the bottom position. A closer grip will better target them.

The anterior deltoids play a supporting role in shoulder flexion and arm stability. The core muscles help to keep a straight body position as your primary upper-body muscles function.

Dips, also known as triceps dips, primarily target the triceps brachii muscles as the primary movers. They work to extend your elbows from the bottom position as your arms are parallel to the bars.

Leaning slightly forward moves some of the exercise focus to the clavicular head of the pectoralis major (upper chest). The triceps brachii still play the same role with less involvement.

Like in the push-up, the anterior deltoids flex the shoulder and provide shoulder stability. The core muscles keep the body upright as you move up and down. 

Range Of Motion 

This refers to the extent to which a body part can be moved around a fixed point or joint. Research on the effects of range of motion on muscle growth is still inconclusive. Some studies suggest that performing different ranges of motion may have additive effects on muscle growth.

When performing push-ups, the floor stops your shoulders from moving beyond the position of your hands. Therefore, you can only use a certain maximum range of motion. Using push-up bars or performing handstand push-ups can increase the range of motion. 

When performing dips, your shoulders can go below your hands with no resistance. This means that dips will generally offer a larger range of motion. However, stopping when your upper arms come parallel to the floor is recommended. 

This suggests that performing a combination of both movements may be beneficial when muscle growth is the goal.

Body Weight Percentage Lifted 

Push-ups require you to lift a percentage of your body weight. This is because your legs stay in a straight position while your arms move. With this, you only tend to lift your upper body and some of your torso.

Performing dips requires you to lift your whole body. During the movement, your arms are the only contact point while your legs are freely dangling. Therefore, they need to support your full body as you lower up and down.

Because of this, the dip is generally classed as a harder exercise to perform. This also allows you to perform it at a much higher intensity than the push-up. Therefore, one of the main benefits of dips is to increase upper body strength.

The importance of this mainly depends on your exercise goals and lifting volume. 

Ease Of Learning 

This refers to how easy each movement is to learn and progress. Ease of learning can impact which populations should perform an exercise and at what stage of their training. 

Push-ups require no equipment and use a relatively simple movement pattern. You start in a prone position and flex your elbows to lower down to the floor. 

Your feet and hands are against the floor, providing support and stability when performed correctly. Because of this, the initial learning curve is relatively low. 

Like push-ups, dips are a bodyweight movement. However, they require a dip station or pair of parallel bars to perform them. 

To perform the dip, you lower until your arms come parallel to the floor. Your hands are the main contact points, with your legs hanging freely.

Because of this, dips require more balance and stabilization. They use the upper body as the main contact point, meaning you must support your whole body. This also means they require more upper-body strength.

In this case, the dip is the harder movement to perform.

Variations 

This refers to the number of exercise options that use the foundational movement pattern. Performing a variation can change the exercise focus and muscle activation rate for the primary movers. 

The push-up offers several useful exercise variations. These can change the difficulty level or target muscle focus. These are some examples:

• Incline Push-Up.
• Decline Push-Up.
• Clap push-Up.
• One-Arm Push-Up.
• Handstand Push-Up.
• Close Grip Push-Up.

On the other hand, the chest dip movement is performed using one main movement pattern. While adding weight can change the difficulty, it offers limited variations. These include:

• Ring Dips.
• Bench Dips.

Because of this, the push-up is the winner when it comes to exercise variations.

Who Should Prioritize Dips?

The dip is a compound upper-body movement that develops a functional movement pattern. The primary muscles used are the triceps brachii and pectoralis major muscles. The anterior deltoids and core play secondary roles. 

Dips require an initial strength level to do correctly. They are difficult to perform, requiring you to support your full body weight. 

These are the main populations that will benefit from performing dips:

• Strength And Power-Based Athletes — The dip uses a compound movement pattern that requires muscular strength. It provides a suitable exercise intensity for strength and power athletes, even as a bodyweight movement. Use it as an accessory exercise to the main powerlifting movements.
• Functional Fitness Enthusiasts — The dip uses a functional movement pattern involving the chest and triceps as primary movers. Getting up from the floor or placing something overhead requires similar movements. Include them as part of your functional fitness routine.
• Olympic Lifters — The main training focus should be on the Olympic movements: the snatch and the clean and press. These involve your upper body muscles which include your chest, triceps, and shoulders. Therefore, include the dip as an accessory exercise to improve their strength and function.

Who Should Prioritize Push-Ups?

The push-up is also a compound upper-body exercise that uses a functional movement pattern. The primary muscles used are the pectoralis major and the triceps brachii. Again, the anterior deltoids and core perform secondary roles.

These are the main populations that should perform push-ups:

• Bodyweight Lifters — The push-up uses a bodyweight movement pattern. Different variations can be used to change the difficulty. With this, it’s a great movement for bodyweight lifters. 
• Beginner Gymgoers — The simple movement pattern makes it a great exercise to perform for beginners. Alongside this, it requires no equipment and has no barrier to access. Use it to learn the pressing movement pattern or as a stand-alone beginner exercise. 
• Functional Fitness Athletes — The primary muscle groups used in the push-ups are involved in many functional movement patterns. These include the chest, triceps, shoulders, and core. Use it as part of your routine to improve functional movement.

How To Program Each Exercise

Both exercises use compound, functional movement patterns and work the pectoralis major and triceps brachii as the primary movers. The main differences between push-ups and dips that determine programming are the exercise difficulty and intensity. 

Both movements are bodyweight exercises. This means you don’t need to worry about loading recommendations unless you use a weighted dip belt. These can be used for your weighted movements, depending on your training style. 

In terms of volume, aim for a weekly lifting volume of 10 sets for both movements. This is the suggested minimum for muscular hypertrophy. 

Your rest periods will largely depend on your training style. If you’re training for hypertrophy or endurance, allow 60–90 seconds of rest between sets. If you’re training for strength and power, allow 2–3 minutes of rest between sets.

Push-Ups

The push-up uses a simple movement pattern that uses a percentage of your body weight. You can change the difficulty by using a weighted vest or performing different variations. Use these general guidelines based on your ability level:

• Beginner lifters —  2–5 sets x 10 repetitions.
• Intermediate Lifters — 2–5 sets x 10–15 repetitions.
• Advanced Lifters —  2–5 sets x 10–20 repetitions.

This means that you’ll be performing 50–100 push-ups, depending on your ability level. You can also use the programming table below if the majority of your training session consists of weighted movements.

Dips

The dip is a harder movement pattern that requires you to lift your full body weight. It can be progressed by using a weighted dip belt. 

Determining additional weight can be done using your one repetition maximum. This is the maximum weight you can lift for one repetition with good form. Use this programming table as a general guide:

For bodyweight dips, you can use the general guidelines below based on your ability level:

• Beginner lifters —  2–3 sets x 5–10 repetitions.
• Intermediate Lifters — 3–5 sets x 10–12 repetitions.
• Advanced Lifters —  3–5 sets x 10–20 repetitions.

Conclusion

Both movements are compound, functional exercises that work the chest, triceps, and shoulders as the primary movers. Both also require a degree of core strength to maintain stability and balance. However, the equipment requirements and intensity level determine their different programming. 

Both are great options for those who are looking for foundational upper-body exercises that require little equipment. The dip is more of a strength-based tricep movement, while the push-up is more of a general chest movement that is easier to perform.

When it comes to dips vs push-ups, there isn’t a clear winner. Program each of them according to the guidelines above. The effectiveness of each depends on your training goals and ability level.

Frequently Asked Questions