In this blog, we will explain to you from A to Z what a Dipping Belt is, what you can use it for, the benefits of a Dipping Belt, and which exercises it is suitable for.
But we will also tell you why we had our Dipping Belt made the way we did, there are obviously reasons behind this.
What is a Dipping belt?
The name says it a bit already, a belt used for dipping. And of course, we don't mean dipping your nachos in guacamole, if you know you know.
No, we are talking about the exercise Dips here, a favorite exercise for some of us and a terrible exercise for others. Why? We'll get back to that later.
So, what exactly is a dipping belt?
In short, it is a belt, often made of leather or neoprene, with a chain link at both ends. You wear the belt (obviously) around your waist, and hang weights (a kettlebell or a plate) on the chain to make an exercise harder because it has become too light with just your body weight since you invested in Thor Gear and have become godlike strong.
Bodyweight VS extra weight with a weighted belt
Let's be clear that there is no benefit to using a dipping belt if you haven't yet mastered your form for certain exercises. If you add weight to an exercise you don't have under control yet, you only increase the risk of injury, so don't do it. Put your ego aside and first learn the exercise properly.
Form over weight at all times.
BUT, if you have mastered an exercise and can add a rep (or more) every week, and instead of your triceps failing during a dip, your lungs fail because you can do 50 reps, then a dipping belt is very useful.
This allows you to add weight when you reach a certain repetition range (say you train in the 5-10 rep range and you have done 3x10), then next time you can hang a plate of, for example, 1.25kg on the belt to apply 'Progressive Overload' again.
Exercises with a dipping belt
There are many exercises where you can use a dipping belt; below I will explain the most common ones.
Weighted chin-up or pull-up:
Would this still need explanation, you might say? Sometimes when I walk in the gym and see people doing this exercise, then yes.
No, we are not talking about 'kipping' the 'cross-fit pull-up' here, but rather the chin-up or pull-up.
This means that ideally you pull yourself up with your chest to the bar and from there lower yourself completely until you are fully 'hanging'.
So no reps where you throw your chin over the bar like a pigeon, and no halfway drops where you bounce in the air to push yourself back up.
Controlled reps with a full ‘Range of Motion’
Can’t do this yet? Then get stronger first with something like a lat pulldown or try ‘negative’ reps.
Weren’t you always so positive, Martijn? Yeah yeah, hear me out.
Negative reps mean, for example in a pull-up, that you jump up until your chest touches the bar and then slowly lower yourself down. This could be 3 seconds, and you do this 5 times.
From there, you might do 6 reps the next time and build up to 10.
You can also adjust your tempo so that instead of lowering for 3 seconds, you lower for 5 or even 10 seconds.
You can vary this a lot, so see what works best for you.
You can also do this with other exercises, like the Bench Press.
Advantages of doing this with a dipping belt:
A pull-up or chin-up is a fairly large and tiring exercise; you’ll probably notice that when you do these exercises with higher reps, you get tired quickly and your reps drop fast. If you do 20 the first time, there’s a good chance you’ll only get 15 the next time (if your set was close to failure).
By adding extra weight, which provides better resistance, your rep range will be much lower, so you might end up doing, for example, 5-10 reps. It could be that you get 9/7/6 reps and build up less fatigue than in the 15-20 rep range.
Because your fatigue is lower in a lower rep range, you have better resistance, and you can progress faster due to mechanical tension, adding weight to your pull-ups or chin-ups is a great tool for more progress.
Be careful not to hang on too much weight so you don’t compensate for good form.
Weighted push-ups:
I hear you thinking; Push-Ups? Dude, I did these when I was 13, after watching my first Arnold Schwarzenegger movie and deciding I wanted a chest like his, so I did 200 push-ups every day before going to sleep. By the way, this didn’t work.
I feel your pain, really. But the push-up is a great exercise, especially when weighted. With a strong carry-over to the Bench Press, it definitely won’t hurt to include it in your programming.
You wonder how you’re going to do this with a dipping belt, let me explain:
You place a bar in the Squat Rack (don’t worry, we’re training Chest today, not legs) at about one meter high (depending on your height).
Place a bench in front of the bar at a distance so that when you put your feet on the bench, you are almost fully stretched out (in push-up position) and can grab the bar with your arms (about shoulder-width or slightly wider).
Once you’ve found this setup, you can put on your dipping belt, hang some weight on it, and start building an enormous chest.
Why you want to do weighted push-ups instead of bodyweight:
Because the push-up is such a basic and simple exercise (even though it is often done ‘wrong’), it is generally quite easy after some practice to do higher repetition sets and really tire yourself out.
To create that extra overload without too much fatigue, we can add extra weight.
By adding weight to your push-ups so that the weight is actually ‘hanging’ in the air downwards, this makes your core work harder and thus strengthens your core stability. So adding weight to your push-ups is also a good idea for a stronger core.
Weighted muscle-ups:
If you really love Calisthenics and Muscle-Ups are really your thing but you’re already so good at them that you can do 20 in a row, you can easily add weight here too by simply hanging a kettlebell or plate on your dipping belt to get even stronger.
Weighted Dips:
Last but certainly not least for some; The Weighted Dips.
A great exercise for some of us for the chest/triceps and shoulders, and for people like me, an exercise where everything starts to crack and hurt from the first repetition. Is it age, is it the way pressure is applied to your tendons/muscles? Nobody knows.
That doesn’t take away that if the exercise feels good for you, it can be an extremely valuable exercise for both muscle growth and carry-over to bench pressing.
Let’s be honest, your triceps get a huge hit from this exercise.
Because this is also a bodyweight exercise and you quickly become ‘strong’ with it, you will also soon reach higher repetition ranges. As mentioned earlier, it’s also nice to add weight so you don’t build up unnecessary fatigue.
So, if you can do this exercise without pain or discomfort in your body and want triceps like horseshoes, start dipping and hang some weight on it right away.
What should you consider when buying a Dipping Belt?
When buying a dipping belt, it's important to pay attention to a few factors, such as finding out how much weight you can hang on the belt. This also depends on your personal goals and strength. If you don't feel the need to do exercises with an extra 150kg, then it's not necessary to get a belt that can lift that weight or more.
Important aspects when buying a belt with weight:
Of course, you can just type into Google; buy dipping belt and you will find plenty.
But, which one do you choose and what should you pay attention to? I’m going to tell you a bit below about what to consider when buying a dipping belt. Think about the length of the chain and the material of the belt.
Length of the chain
Not everyone is the same height or has the same waist size, so the length of the chain affects how low and how close the weight hangs to your body.
Material of the belt
As mentioned earlier, there are usually two types of belts, one made of leather and one made of neoprene.
So what is actually better?
It’s actually a personal preference. Leather is a bit stiffer and gives a certain ‘quality’ look. However, leather can also cut into your waist more easily.
Neoprene is a bit softer and can feel nicer around your waist.
Dipping belt from Thor Athletics
I have used several dipping belts in the past, both neoprene and leather.
The ones with leather were always stiff and cut into my waist. I can already hear the hardcore gym bros shouting; NO PAIN NO GAIN. Yeah, that’s cool bro but if something feels comfortable I’m more likely to use it.
The neoprene belts I have used were often very thin and rough on the inside, so they were never very comfortable.
We chose to use extra thick neoprene for this belt instead of leather because it generally feels more comfortable than leather as it is less stiff.
The inside of our belt is also soft so it doesn’t cut into your waist and feels comfortable.
We have also used an extra heavy chain so you can hang maximum weight on it.
You can add a maximum weight of 100kg to our dipping belt.
The first person who can do a chin-up or pull-up with an extra 100kg, send us a DM for a nice surprise.
The Dipping Belt is currently out of stock, see below which Strength Training accessories are in stock
Thank you for reading this blog, hopefully you found it useful. If you have any questions and/or comments, please let us know by email thorathleticsnl@gmail.com or via DM @thorathletics
