If you workout at a park or at a gym, one of the best investments you could make is getting yourself a Weighted Dip Belt.  Period.  It will accelerate your upper body development like nothing else.  Okay, if you’re working out at home, you’re going to need a doorframe pull up bar and something to do dips on (chair/stool, bench or dip station).  After you have all those, the NEXT best investment you can make is to purchase a weighted dip belt!

What Is A Weighted Dip Belt?

Essentially, a weighted dip belt is a lot like weight lifting belts you see people strap on when they’re about to do heavy dead lifting  (some choose to wear it as an accessory), but the difference is, a weighted dip belt has a chain attached to the front of it.  “For what?” you may be asking. Remember how hard it was doing your first pull-ups growing up?  Well, now we’re going to make it hard again!

What Exercises Can I Do With It?

As I have alluded to, a weighted pull up is one of the best movements you can do for growing a beastly back!  For Arnold Schwarzenegger, the pull up was a required movement when working out his back.  So, it should be for you too!  Another great exercise is a weighted dip.  This exercise alone allowed me to bench press over 300 lbs.  Mix weighted pull-ups with weighted dips and you are hitting every muscle in your upper body!  After mastering these two movements, slowly add more plates to your belt and you are without a doubt going to see some noticeable gains.  There is no better way to develop these muscles more functionally than by doing body weight exercises (but also adding another 100 lbs to yourself doesn’t hurt)!

What To Look For In A Weighted Dip Belt?

As stated earlier, conventionally it’s a weightlifting belt plus a chain draped in front for weights.  You may find tons of these around the internet or at stores, and while they do work, they have their flaws.  Some are too loose around the waist or don’t offer enough padding, others don’t properly support the added weight.  Regarding the chains, for me, I had 135lbs draped around my waist and was doing dips when the chain kinked up and pinched my thigh mid rep.  Yes it hurt, and yes it was close to you know what, so now I’m hesitant on choosing chain link for my dip belt.

So that’s it! I hope I have inspired you to pick up your own and see for yourself how quickly you’ll be developing your upper body.  Have fun and be sure to check out our workouts that include weighted dips, weighted pull-ups, and weighted chin-ups.  You’ll find them under almost every one of our workout types but here are a few: Shoulder Day, Back Day, Chest Day, Arm Day.

Good luck and may the gains be ever in your favor, we are advocates of your goals!

-Brian