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If I could only do two upper body exercises for the rest of my life, I would (without a doubt) choose a pullup and dip workout every day of the week.
Why?
Because both of these exercises have stood the test of time when it comes to building insane strength…
…explosive power
…And huge slabs of lean sexy muscle that the gods themselves would envy.
Better still, they’re adaptable. Meaning you can design practically any type of workout to hit every damn muscle in your upper body.
How do I know this?
Because I’ve spent most of my adult life practicing pullups and dips.
And in that time, I’ve tested, tweaked, and pretty much experimented with every possible way to make this workout more effective and time-efficient.
Which is why in today’s blog post, I’m going to be revealing everything I’ve learned along the way that will not only help you maximize your results. But will help you raise your pullups and dips to an entirely new level.
So with that said, let’s put the pedal to the metal and crack on…
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Build Huge Slabs Of Muscle, Extreme Power, And The Ripped Body Of A Spartan Warrior Using Nothing More Than A Bar And Your Own Bodyweight…
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Table of Contents
The Awesome Benefits Of Pullups And Dips
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to program an effective pullup and dip workout. I feel it’s only fair to give you at least a basic level of knowledge of what makes these exercises so great.
Because once you understand how to correctly implement these exercises in your routine, the better you’ll be at creating a killer workout combination that works for you.
Now, as I’ve already mentioned, both of these exercises are very adaptable. And you can structure them pretty much any way you like depending on your workout goals.
For instance, if building strength is your goal, then weighted pullups and dips are almost always going to be your go-to option.
But if you want to learn cool new calisthenics skills like the muscle-up, front lever, or (dare I say) the planche. Then alternatively, you can practice progressive calisthenics and work you way up to these impossible feats of strength.
Want a quick 10-minute upper body workout that hammers your body into submission?
Again, this can be done using only pullups and dips.
I’ll be going into more detail on implementing these types of workouts a little further down the page. But for now, just remember that whatever your goal be in strenth, size, or a combination of the two…
…Pullups and dips have pretty much got you covered.
Muscles Worked
Now, the reason pullups and dips work so well together is because they work opposing muscle groups.
See, while pullups focus on working the biceps, lats, rear delts, and pretty much every muscle in the upper back.
Dips rely heavily on the chest, triceps, and the front delts.
The only thing lacking in these two exercises is the side delts and upper traps. But to be honest, this is only a minor concern that I wouldn’t worry about too much.
If it’s an issue though, you could always throw in a few sets of lateral raises for good measure.
What Makes An Effective Pullup And Dip Workout?
Now, the problem most people face when performing pullups and dips is a lack of variety and consistency in their routine.
Because let’s face facts. If you’re going to make these exercises the core of your workout. Then you need to make damn sure that you’re working them consistently and from every possible angle.
This is a mistake I see a lot of people make when they first start practicing this style of training.
They’ll hammer out maybe 3 or 4 sets of each exercise once or twice a week and think it’s enough.
And while I’ll agree that it is better than nothing, you still need to make sure you’re training with enough volume to see any real results.
So instead of just doing a few sets and calling it a day. You need to mix things up by…
…Altering your hand position
…Leveraging your bodyweight
And ultimately switching up rep ranges if you want to see any lasting benefit.
For example, whenever I’m performing one of my famous progressive calisthenics workouts. I’ll often do pullups in a kind of drop set style by starting with a challenging exercise like archer pullups…
…Then, slowly regress the exercise with each set until I’m performing an easier variation like narrow grip chinups.
It might look a little something like this…
…Set 1: Archer Pullups
…Set 2: Wide Grip Pullups
…Set 3: Archer Chinups
…Set 4: Wide Grip Chinups
…Set 5: Narrow Grip Pullups
…Set 6: Narrow Grip Chinups
If you wanted to, you could even adopt this style of training into a strength workout by utilizing weighted pullups and a dip belt.
Like this…
…Set 1: 30kg Wide Pullups
…Set 2: 20kg Wide Pullups
…Set 3: 10kg Wide Pullups
…Set 4: Wide Pullups (bodyweight only)
…Set 5: Medium Grip Pullups
…Set 6: Narrow Grip Pullups
Should You Use Supersets?
Now, this is an interesting question that sparks a lot of debate but let me give you my opinion.
I almost always (and I’m talking 95% of the time here) superset pullups and dip regardless of whether I’m training for strength, size, or even using them as a quick finisher.
And the reason I do this is simple…
…It saves time.
But also, it keeps the intensity level high. Which, in turn, elevates your heart rate and promotes a greater fat-burning effect.
Now, this probably isn’t ideal if new to pullup and dips because when you’re first starting out. You’ll want to focus your efforts on practicing good form and increasing your total number of reps.
But if you’ve been doing pullups and dips for a while and you’ve got your form nailed. Then I see no reason not to include this style of training into your workout.
My No-Nonsense Pullup And Dip Workout For Epic Gains
Now for the good stuff…
My ultimate, no-nonsense pullup and dip workouts for getting impressive results fast.
So basically, I have two specific workouts that I like to include in my training.
Each one has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. But I promise that if you add each of these workouts into your routine, then there’ll be no limits on what you can accomplish over time.
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Build Huge Slabs Of Muscle, Extreme Power, And The Ripped Body Of A Spartan Warrior Using Nothing More Than A Bar And Your Own Bodyweight…
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Workout 1: Progressive Regression
So this first workout’s pretty similar to the dropset style workout I talked about earlier.
Only now, you’re gonna be performing a superset version that involves both pullups and dips.
Just to be clear, this is just an example of what works for me based on my current fitness level.
Your level of strength and muscular endurance might be different, so feel free to play around with the variations until you find the sweet spot that works for you.
Anyway, here it is…
Set 1:
- Archer Pullups
- Straight Bar Dips
Set 2:
- Archer Chinups (palms facing towards you)
- Parallel Bar Tuck Dips (tuck your knees towards your chest and perform dips)
Set 3:
- Wide Grip Pullups
- Uneven Dips (distribute your weight on one side and alternate each rep)
Set 4:
- Wide Grip Chinups
- Uneven Dips
Set 5:
- Narrow Grip Pullups
- Parallel Bar Dips
Set 6:
- Narrow Grip Chinups
- Parallel Bar Dips
Now, ideally, you’ll want to start with a progression you can perform 8-10 reps with on your first set.
Again, your fitness level is probably different from mine. And you might be nowhere near capable of performing this many archer pullups or straight bar dips.
On the flip side, these exercises might be way too easy for you. In which case, I’d recommend starting with something a little more complicated.
The idea here is to totally exhaust the muscles by working with progressions that are challenging. But at the same time, allow you to get enough training volume in.
Then as you fatigue. You perform easier variations of the exercise to change the loading on specific muscles while keeping the reps high.
Try to keep the rest period between sets relatively short (90 seconds max) and make sure you’re executing each rep with a full range of motion.
I guarantee that if you practice this workout regularly, you’ll quickly find your current level of progressive calisthenics improving.
Workout 2: The 5×5 Strength Workout
As the name suggests, this is a workout that focuses purely on strength.
It’s a weighted workout, so you’ll need a dip belt and some weight plates to load yourself up with.
But it’s incredible for building raw, brute strength while adding a nice little bit of size to your frame aswell.
Anyway, here it is…
Perform 5 Sets Of 5 Reps…
- Weighted Pullups
- Weighted Parallel Bar Dips
Rest for 3 minutes between sets.
Now, for this workout to be effective, you’ll want to load your dip belt up with a weight you can perform around 7 reps with when you’re fresh.
I find that this is the sweet spot for really pushing yourself on the last couple of sets.
And if you don’t manage to complete all 5 reps on each set, don’t worry. Just take a quick 10-15 second rest and then finish up the set before moving on.
Now, the only problem you might encounter during this workout is the loading of the dips.
See; personally, my pushing strength is a lot better than my pulling strength. And because of this, it becomes a bit of a burden having to load my dip belt up with extra weight after every set of pullups.
This might not be an issue for you, but if it is, what I like to do is load a regular old backpack up with small 5lbs weights.
Then once I’ve completed my set of pullups, I’ll throw it on my back before hammering out my set of dips.
This way, I can transition quickly between each exercise without wasting too much time.
Pullup And Dip Workout Finishers
Just before I wrap things up. I just want briefly touch on a quick workout finisher that I occasionally use when I’m short on time.
Essentially, it’s an “Every Minute On The Minute” (EMOM) workout that has you performing a specific number of pullups and dips in one minute rounds.
Here’s how it works…
So, you’ll set a timer to go off every minute. And within that time, you’ll perform, let’s say, 5 pullups, followed by 10 dips.
You’ll then simply use the remainder of that minute (or round) as recovery before getting ready for the next one.
It whole thing looks something like this…
Minute 1: 5 Pullups, 10 Dips
Minute 2: 5 Pullups, 10 Dips
………..
………..
Minute 10: 5 Pullups, 10 Dips
Now, it looks pretty damn hard, and that’s because, well, it is.
But if you’ve got the stones to try it, then I think you’ll be surprised at how much work you can actually get done in this time.
Obviously, this is just an example, and you should adjust the reps and rounds to suit.
Just don’t make it so hard that you end up passing a kidney stone in the process.
Taking Your Workout To The Next Level
So there you have at folks.
A no-nonsense, yet highly effective pullup and dip workout to get you seriously strong and shredded.
There’s nothing fancy about these workouts. In fact, they’re all very basic in nature, with a few simple things thrown into the mix.
Now, if I’ve done my job correctly, everything I’ve highlighted in this post should give you a solid foundation to work from.
And for most people reading this, it should be a great starting point to start seeing some real progress for your efforts.
But I also understand that everybody’s different. So if you’re the type of guy (or gal) who wants more than just the bare-bones basics of an effective pullup and dip workout.
Then here’s is something that’ll make your take your workout to an entirely new level.
It’s called Bar Brothers The System
Without going into too much detail, ‘Bar Brothers’ is a unique yet very popular calisthenics program design for anybody who wants to learn how to build real muscle and strength.
And since you’ve taken a keen interest in learning how to implement pullups and dips into your workout. This might just be the missing piece of the puzzle to take you to the same level as a calisthenics pro.
I won’t lie; this program is hard, really hard.
But it’s also the program that’s going to give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to getting results.
Now I’m not going to keep grinding on about how awesome this program is because it’s not really my style.
But if you’re looking for something that’s going to build…
- Insane functional strength
- Huge slabs of powerful lean muscle
- And a body that’s the envy of the entire gym
Then this is exactly what you’ve been looking for.
Anyway, hit the video link below to check it out…
WATCH VIDEO: Discover How To Build Huge Slabs Of Muscle, Extreme Power, And The Ripped Body Of A Spartan Warrior Using Nothing More Than A Bar And Your Own Bodyweight…
(Video Will Open In A New Window)
Like what you’ve read? If you have any thoughts or comments on what makes an effective pullup and dip workout and want to share them with the world. Go ahead and have your say by dropping a quick comment below…
