I consider dips one of the top 4 mass and strength builders (especially for chest, shoulders, and triceps) because anyone can work their way up to using body weight plus additional weights strapped onto a weight belt in various rep ranges. Dips are the equivalent of the upper body squat as it requires you to lift your entire body weight by pressing up without any cheating leverage (though it is easy to cheat, swing, or use momentum and that's why you're going to learn how to dip the correct way).
A dip is a vertical pushing exercise that allows the body to move through space without any back or standing support (unlike the bench press, squat, and deadlift) so you can recruit more muscle fibers for building functional strength and gaining more muscle mass. You also stress the stabilizers in the arms/grip and shoulders in a healthy way. The dip is one of the most effective and convenient body weight exercise for bodyweight conditioning and training.
Here's the brief 8-steps instruction guide to perform parallel bar dips with body weight:
1) Grab the parallel bar with arms locked and extended in the starting position. Have your eyes look slightly down.
2) You may cross your ankles together and flex the knees/bend your legs back and keep head slightly down/eyes slightly looking down as well.
3) Tuck your chin inwards to your neck.
4) The upper body should be erect. Keep a slight lower back arch.
5) Slowly bend the arms with elbows pointing slowly outward away from the body. As you go down, lean the torso slightly forward to put more emphasis on the chest muscles. Keep torso erect if you want to focus more on the triceps. Also, keep a nice tight grip because you don't want to injure the wrists or slip off the bar.
6) Lower your body to a point where a comfortable stretch is achieved. The upper arms (triceps) should be parallel or near parallel to the floor at the bottom position of the movement. The upper arm should also form a perpendicular angle to the forearms, a right angle on the bottom position. Have a friend or training partner monitor your form when you dip down.
This is the eccentric phase and should last 2-3 seconds. As you go down, remember to keep the movement controlled and steady. Don't let the weight of your body drag you down fast or you'll risk injuring your shoulders and rotator cuffs.
7) At the bottom position, push the body up and straighten out until arms are locked again, back to the starting position. This is the positive contraction phase and should last 1-2 seconds. This is one repetition.
8 ) Begin your second repetition by pausing at the top starting position for a second. Then bend your arms down to begin the next rep. Repeat until desired reps are completed.
Throughout the movement, make sure you’re using a controlled tempo to avoid any major swinging or momentum. Excessive swinging takes the work out of the chest and triceps resulting in less desirable results.
You may strap on a weight belt and add additional weight plates to make the movement harder and more progressive. Progressive overload is the name of the game here. If you can do more than 12 reps with body weight, it’s time to increase the load of the movement by adding weight.
Here's a video of the dip in action,
There are several variations of the dip,
Weighted dips with weight/hip belt or weight vest
Wear either a weight vest (can be adjusted to 40 lbs of additional plate resistance; I like the xvest weight vest and MiR short weight vest) or a weight belt for extra resistance, especially if regular body weight dips become too easy. Weight vests are more expensive (you'll have to spend anywhere from $40-300 depending on the brand) so if your budget is limited, get a weight belt. A weight belt will only set you back $20-30.
Pictured below is the Altus Athletic Nylon Dip Belt for $22; a good entry-level belt to work with. However if you ever get up to dipping body weight + 100 lbs of additional resistance with weight plates, then I recommend the weight dip belt from ironmind.com as its tensile strength capacity holds up to 1000 lbs!
If you can do more than 15 body weight dips with ease with good form, it's time to add weight and use a vest or belt (do weighted dips and get eve stronger! 
). Remember, progression is the game here for strength training/muscle building purposes. You have everything to gain with weighted dips.
You can alternatively wear a loaded backpack, curl a dumbbell between your feet, use a chain or 2″ manilla rope to strap the additional weight plates. Just make sure all weights attached to your body are secure or you risk injury from unsecured weights crashing onto your feet…ouch!
V-bar dips
V-bar dips can be done on a v-bar station instead of a parallel bar station. V-bar dips generally places more emphasis on the triceps. If your gym has a v-bar dip station, try them out. It's a nice addition to your strength training arsenal.
Triceps dips
The triceps dip is performed in pretty much the same way as regular dips except the body/torso stays as erect and upright as possible on the eccentric and concentric phase (keep a straight body at an angle perpendicular to the floor throughout the exercise). Don't lean forward too much throughout the movement.
Assisted dips on dip machine
A dip/chinup assistance machine will help you adapt to the movement if you cannot complete a full rep with your body weight, over time you’ll be able to use body weight plus additional loading. Most gyms will have an assisted dip machine.
Ring dips
You can also do body weight or weighted dips on rings (ringtraining.com); specifically the elite rings available over at ringtraining.com . Gymnastics rings offers a new challenge while minimizing cheating and swinging. In addition, performing any body weight exercise on rings (pushups/elevated pushups, iron cross, L-sit, plank hold, chinups/pullups, etc.) further works the underlying stabilizer muscles, which are often neglected by using machines. You also build tremendous shoulder strength and stability by using rings.
Check out this instructional video of the proper ring dip form,
Bench dips
If you still have trouble with regular body weight dips or assisted dips, then start with bench dips. With bench dips, your lower body and feet are supported by the ground and the range of motion is shortened to help you adapt to this type of training. You'll need a sturdy chair or bench. Start by facing away from the bench, place your hands on the support and perform the movement with feet on the ground. Here's a great instructional video for bench dipping,
Once you get the ability to do 20 + bench dips, it's time to move onto regular dips on the parallel bar or start with assisted machine dips.
Now, here's Coach Schreck talking about how different body positions for the dip emphasizes different upper body musculature,
Take those pointers and file it into your strength training knowledge bank for future use.
So get going and practice the body weight dip for more muscle and strength!
Train Hard. Train Safely. Train Smart.
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