Weighted Dip Standards – UPDATED 2022 – How Many Dips Should I Do?

There are a lot of benefits to doing weighted dips, and they’re often used as the next progression stop after regular dips. If you’re looking at trying out weighted dips, you need to do your research.

You’ve probably already looked at how to do weighted dips, what weighted dips are…but something that there’s not much information about is the weighted dip standards. You could just use your judgment, but that can be inconsistent with other opinions and can be confusing.

What are weighted dip standards? We’ll be answering that in this guide, and also talking about how many dips you should do and the average dips by age.

 

Weighted Dip Standards – A Complete Guide

To start with, what exactly are weighted dip standards? In general, what do standards mean when it comes to working out?

A standard is a guideline for how much of a certain exercise, or how much weight of a dumbbell or barbell, the average person can do. There are usually multiple different standards that are calculated based on average height, weight, and/or age.

Standards can be determined through academic study. This is where volunteers are specially selected and asked to do as much of an exercise as they can. This is recorded and then used as the standard for that person’s age or weight.
Standards are helpful for beginners, or people trying a new exercise for the first time. By looking at an exercise standard, you can set yourself a reasonable goal that has been proven to be achievable.

Even for people who are at a more advanced level, however, standards are still very important. Standards are a measure of progression and offer validation for your achievements. Some will set themselves to meet the standards of a higher weight or age to them as a challenge for example.

Weighted dip standards specifically are measured in weight, such as how much weight you should use for weighted dips depending on your height and age. This is either given as an absolute number or as your weight + a certain number of lb.

How Many Dips Should I Do?

Before you move on to weighted dips, it’s important to be comfortable doing regular dips – not just doing 1 and calling it a day though. You should be able to do a specific number of dips without much effort before moving on to weighted dips.

The bare minimum dips you should be able to do is 10. These 10 dips should be using your body weight, with no additional weight. Once you can do 10 dips, it’s a good start but you still have lots of room for improvement.
The most common answer to the question “how many dips should I do” is that, for a male under the age of 30, you should be able to do between 29 and 36 dips for an average score.

 

Average Dips by Age – UPDATED 2022

If you’re interested in a full breakdown of the average dips by age, then we’ve put together this short guide. Remember that this guide assumes that you are the average body weight and build for your age and does not consider any muscle or higher body fat percentage.

Under 30 Years Old
Average # of Dips: 29 – 36
Good # of Dips: 37 – 43
Excellent # of Dips: 57+

30 -39 Years old
Average # of Dips: 25 – 33
Good # of Dips: 34 – 38
Excellent # of Dips: 53 +

40 Years Old and Over
Average # of Dips: 21 – 27
Good # of Dips: 28 – 34
Excellent # of Dips: 45 +

You might notice that the older you get the fewer dips you are expected to do. This is due to natural muscle weakness and atrophy that happens with age. As you get older, you’re at more risk of injury from doing dips so it’s important to not push yourself too hard.

 

Standard Tricep Dips

If weighted dips aren’t what you’re looking for, but you want a more specialized take on dips, why not try standard tricep dips?

As the name suggests, these are dips that have benefits for your triceps brachii muscles, which are at the back of your upper arm. These dips are also called box dips or chair dips, as they require you to have something stable behind you to perform the dip.

To do a standard triceps dip, sit in front of the chair or box you’re using for the dip. Grab onto it with an overhand grip, elbows bent. Lift yourself so that your lower body is above the floor, and then lower again. Repeat as many as possible.

As with regular dips, aim for 10 at first, and gradually increase this until you can do around 40 – 50; this is a good number to aim for to be comfortable with triceps dips.

It’s important to strengthen your triceps, especially if you’re going to be doing dips frequently, as they will make your dips easier, more effective, and make injury less likely.

How Many Dips Should I Do a Day?

To get better at most exercises, you need to do them for at least 1 set per day, or as part of your WOD. With that in mind, you might be asking yourself “how many dips should I do in a day?” However, this is a flawed question to ask.

The truth is you shouldn’t be doing dips daily. Weighted and regular dips are both important for building upper arm and upper body strength, that much is true…but they’re also one of the fastest ways to burn yourself out.

If you’re instead asking how many reps you should be doing per time you train, then you can look at the dip standards for weighted dips or regular dips based on your age or weight and follow that while making sure to alternate your exercises and take rest days.

 

Weighted Dip Standards – Closing Thoughts

In conclusion, weighted dip standards can be confusing at first, but there has been research done to find the average and expected weighted dips, as well as regular dip standards. It’s best to follow this advice at first so that you can measure your progress.

Want to get better at dips and gain upper body strength? We have tons of upper body exercise guides, tips, tricks, WODs, and more to help!