Whether you work out at a gym, a nearby park, or your home, a dip belt is one of the best investments that you can make to speed up the process of your upper body development. Dip belts allow you to add more weight while doing bodyweight exercises, such as pull-ups, chin-ups, and dips. While it is almost similar to a traditional weightlifting belt, it has a chain attached to the front that helps you add additional weights.
Before you decide to buy a dip belt, let's understand what a dip belt is and how it works.
What is a Weighted Dip Belt?
A dip belt, also known as "hip belt," is a thick belt with a chain attached to it that allows you to hang weight plates, dumbbells, or kettlebells. Weighted dip belts are specifically designed to fit around your waist and hold weights to help you increase your resistance levels while performing resistance exercises, such as pull-ups.
Using a weighted belt allows you to gain muscle mass within a limited period compared to a traditional weightlifting belt. Dip belts are available in various materials, such as neoprene, nylon, and high-quality leather. However, choosing a comfortable and durable dip belt will help you enhance your workout capacity. The features that you must consider while choosing a dip belt are discussed later in this article.
Are Dip Belts Worth Your Money?
While weighted belts for dips are around for a while, they still are among the most underrated gym equipment. Despite several advantages, you won’t find a lot of people performing dips using a dip belt. One of the major reasons is that hardcore strength-building equipment puts many weight lifters out of their comfort zone.
However, if you wish to maximize your gains from powerlifting or weightlifting, a dip belt is the perfect gym equipment that you must invest in. Allowing you to push yourself harder will significantly maximize your workout capacity and help you build unparalleled upper body strength.
To make up your mind about whether or not you should invest in a dip belt, you must have a clearer understanding of its benefits, limitations, and usage for you as a beginner, an advanced lifter, or calisthenics, all of which are discussed below.
Benefits of a Dip Belt
A weighted belt is an ideal tool for enhancing your muscle strength, building your chest, shoulders, triceps, upper back, and lower back. Some of its major benefits are discussed below:
A Highly Versatile Gym Equipment
If you want to invest in single gym equipment that ensures multiple benefits, a dip belt is all you need! As highly versatile equipment, a dip belt allows you to maximize your gains by the end of a back training session, chest training day, or leg training session. Its versatility and multi-purpose features make it budget-friendly gym equipment.
Highly Affordable and Portable Training Equipment
A dip belt is a highly affordable exercise tool that helps improve your overall body strength. It is not a $1000 gym equipment that allows you to target a specific muscle only and makes you think twice before investing your money.
You can easily buy a dip belt within a range of $20 to $40, which is quite affordable and reasonable since it helps you gain multiple benefits. Moreover, you can easily carry a dip belt to any place where you want to work out. It takes minimal space and can easily be packed in a backpack, making it a highly convenient exercise tool.
Helps You Gain Bigger and Stronger Triceps
A weight dipping belt is an efficiently designed gym equipment that helps you enhance your triceps size and strength. It can be a complete game-changer if you add a few more pounds to your dips. Besides, weighted dip belts allow you to gain a raw strength that you cannot achieve by using any other weightlifting machine.
While using a dip belt can be quite challenging initially, it will prove to be worth every penny once you master the art of using it correctly.
Enhances Your Back Strength
Most of the new generation's weightlifters underestimate the power of chin-ups and pull-ups. The primary reason is that it is difficult to perform it. If you struggle with performing a pull-up, a dip belt is the perfect equipment that can help.
Incorporating a dip belt into your workout routine will do wonders for your back strength. Along with helping you break the plateau, it will also allow you to develop an impressive V-taper and aesthetic upper body.
You can develop wider lats, stronger traps, and extraordinary rear delts by adding weights to your pull-ups and chin-ups through a dip belt.
Helps You Develop a Stronger Chest
A weighted dip belt does not only help you gain triceps, but it also works wonders for your chest. If you cannot afford a barbell and a weight plate for your home gym, a dip bar and a dip belt are the best training equipment that you must invest in.
Allows You to Perform a Belt Squat
If you feel a lot of pressure on your lower back while performing a barbell squat, you should think about investing in a dip belt. Many lifters experience extreme pressure on their lower back before their legs reach extension, and the situation is even worse for those with a back injury. Belt squat is a perfect replacement in such a scenario.
By performing a belt squat, you can easily release the stress from your spine and enhance your lower back movement. A dip belt will help you overcome lower back pain and also improve the conventional squat.
While most gyms have a squat belt machine, you may not have it in your home gym. A dip belt can surely help to perform a perfect belt squat.
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Is Dip Belt Worth for Beginners, Advanced Lifters, and Calisthenics?
If you can easily perform more than 10+ reps of pull-ups, chin-ups, or dips, a dip belt is worth investing in. A dip belt allows beginners to accelerate their strength development process and helps them progress towards more reps within a limited time.
Moreover, a dip belt is ideal for advanced weightlifters who are constantly looking to try different ways of adding to their strength training methods. Adding weighted dips will help them break the plateau.
Besides, a dip belt is also an effective tool for calisthenics as progressive resistance is essential for developing a stronger body. As bodyweight training does not allow progressive overload, adding a weighted dip to your training routine can help you overcome this limitation.
Related Article: Speed Up Muscle Recovery 10x Faster
Dip Belt Limitations
Despite being highly versatile strength-building equipment, a dip belt has certain limitations that you must be aware of. The biggest limitation of a dip belt is that it does not allow you to perform a weighted pushup. Besides that, unlike weighted vests, you cannot walk or jog while using a dip belt. However, there are some highly beneficial exercises that you can perform using a dip belt that can help you gain maximum advantages, some of which are discussed in the next section.
Top Dip Belt Exercises
A weighted dip belt helps you gain numerous benefits by allowing you to perform various workouts. Some of the top dip belt exercises are listed below:
Weighted Dips
A weighted dip workout is the best workout that allows you to enhance your shoulder and chest strength. As your hands are in a fixed position, dips are usually easier on your joints; therefore, it facilitates your body to propel and do the perfect movement.
Weighted Chin-Ups and Pull-Ups
After purchasing a dip belt, weighted chin-ups or pull-ups are another top exercises that must be on your list. A weighted chin-up will help you build stronger muscle and a bigger back. Gradually adding an adequate amount of weight will ensure a more defined back.
Hip Belt Squats
While a hip belt squat is not a replacement for a traditional barbell squat, it is quite effective if you avoid using any part of your upper body. A hip belt squat will primarily help you focus on your quads.
Choosing a Dip Belt
Material, chain or strap design, chain or belt length, maximum weight limit, and price are the essential features you must explore while purchasing a dip belt.
Material
Dip belts made from various materials are available in the market. Some of the common materials are nylon, high-quality leather, or neoprene. To ensure comfort and durability, you must choose a material that suits you.
If you choose a leather material, you must know that you might experience discomfort, especially during the first two weeks of using a dip belt. However, a neoprene dip belt can be an ideal choice as it does not contain PVCs or lead. If you want to invest in a comfortable and reliable dip belt, the weighted dip belt can be a perfect choice!
The DMoose weighted dip belt is made from neoprene material because of which the belt does not absorb odors and provides a pleasant workout experience.
Chain versus Strap Design
The hanging of weight depends on the design of a weighted belt. A weight can either hang from a metal chain or fabric strap. However, both chains and straps can resist a large quantity of weight. The only difference is in the way they make you feel while lifting.
The DMoose fitness premium dip belt is a perfect weight belt consisting of a chain attachment. The chain is made from heavy-duty steel and is 36 inches long. If you want a chain with a perfect and reliable design, the dip belt can be one of the best choices available in the market.
Chain Length
It is essential to pay close attention to the length of a chain as it holds the weight. The chain length is linked to how much weight it can bear and how perfectly it can distribute that weight.
Maximum Weight Capacity
While some belts can hold up to 200 pounds, others can even hold more than 1000 pounds. If you want to perform intense weightlifting or powerlifting, a higher capacity belt is good for you; otherwise, a belt with moderate weight capacity will also work fine. The dip belt is a perfect fit for you if you want to use it for an everyday workout.
The dip belt is 33 inches long with a 36 inches’ chain and can handle up to 225 pounds, so you can easily use it for an everyday home workout. The fully adjustable and one size fits all design makes it an ideal dip belt for weightlifters.
Price
While you may find a decent belt for $25, most high-quality belts cost around $40 to $50, and some may even cost you $100 or more. If you want to get hold of a premium quality belt at an affordable price, the dip belt is an option you must explore. DMoose dip belts range between $23.10 to $34.99. So you can now enjoy quality at the best market price!
Related Article: Weighted Dips: Your Ultimate Solution to Building Your Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps Muscles
How to Use a Dip Belt?
To make the most out of a dip belt work, you must learn to use it correctly. Follow the steps mentioned below for properly using a dip belt:
- Unclip the chain and wrap the belt around your waist to add weight to the dip belt.
- Slip the chain through the hole in the center of the weight plate. Then re-clip the chain to the belt.
- Make sure that the chain is properly clipped before you begin your training.
- Stand slowly and support the weight and chain.
- Lower the weight plate to the full extension of the chain once you are standing.
- The weight plates should be perfectly suspended on the chain and hanging between your legs.
Takeaway
A dip belt is amazing strength-building equipment that can strengthen your chest, shoulder, triceps, upper and lower back muscles. Besides, a dip belt helps you enhance your overall physical strength and allows you to add more muscle mass to your upper body.
However, you can maximize your gain by choosing a dip belt with a comfortable material, perfect length, and ideal weight capacity.
