The Best Dip Belts For Adding Weight To Dips and Pullups

Chin-ups, pull-ups, and dips can be a great way to strengthen the muscles in your upper body, but once you reach a certain strength level, these calisthenics exercises don’t offer much in the way of gains.

That’s what a weighted dip belt is for — it allows you to add extra weight to your pull-ups and chin-ups while keeping that weight centered. There are easily dozens of different dip belts available on the market, so to help you get started we’ve found a few of the best.

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Rogue Dip Belt
  • Rated for up to 29,400 lbs
  • Heavy duty Nylon with a 4″ wide back for comfort
  • 2 color options
View on Rogue Fitness

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Harbinger Polypropylene Dip Belt with Steel Chain
  • Adjustable one size fits all belt
  • Single piece leather and reinforced steel grommets
  • 30-inch chain is adjustable for different heights
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Rip Toned Dip Belt with Chain
  • Nylon construction provides high-quality strength
  • Belt can be hand-washed if necessary
  • 34-inch chain is longer than most other belts on the market
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Iron Bull Multifunction Advanced Dip Belt
  • Versatile — can be used for more than just dip workouts
  • High quality 100% nylon with strong, reinforced stitching
  • Adjustable nylon sling for weights which can be replaced with a chain if preferred.
View on Amazon

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Spud Inc Dip Belt
  • Lightweight webbing material is strong but doesn’t add tons of extra weight
  • 35″ overall length, with 2 feet of adjustable chain that can be easily replaced
  • Soft material is comfortable to wear
View on Amazon

The Best Dip Belts

Here are our top choices for the best dip belt to raise your strength level. They range in material, and in options for the different sizes of people. So read our review to see which one best suits your needs.

Related: Top 6 best outdoor pull up bars to maximize your upper body strength

What Is A Dip Belt Used For?

Dipping belt is a tool that is used to add a weight plate during a bodyweight exercise like chin-ups, pull-ups, dips, and squats. If adding weight for your dips to pump up those triceps is your goal, a dip belt is definitely the right answer. However, if you are a calisthenics exercise overlord, you probably should also think about purchasing a weight vest for your exercises.

Related: Weighted Calisthenics – What is it, and Best Workouts

It is a belt, similar to a traditional weightlifting belt, with a chain attached to the front. The chain lets weights hang between your legs while you’re working on arms and chest muscles.

It can be used for squats too if you stand on boxes, benches, or athletic steps that are shoulder width apart.

Traditionally, dip belts are designed to be used with barbell plates but if you don’t have any barbell plates, you can attach anything with a handle to the chain.

Read Also: The Best Power Towers with Pull-Up and Dip Stations

You can use anything from bags of rocks to jugs of water, as long as they can be safely secured to the chain via a carabiner. If you’re not familiar with the term, a carabiner is a clip used to secure ropes for rock climbing.

How Does A Dip Belt Stay On?

Dip belts use the weight of the barbell plates or other items that you have attached to stay in place, spreading the load across your hips.

Most don’t wrap completely around your waist like a traditional weight lifting belt but instead are designed with wide swaths of leather or other material to provide additional support and spread the weight out more evenly.

Thin dip belts may slip off more easily. They will also be more uncomfortable, depending on the amount of weight that you’re lifting, because there isn’t enough material to spread out the weight across your hips and lower back.

If you’ve got small hips or are worried about your belt slipping off during your workout, look for a model that wraps completely around your waist and buckles. This is why the best dip belt is the one that meets all your needs, not because it has a set of features.

Read Also: How to develop tree trunk legs with this Calisthenics Leg Workout Routine

How Can I Adjust My Dip Belt?

If your weights are hanging too low, most dip belts can be easily adjusted by shortening the chain that holds your weights.

If your chain has a clip at one end, wrapping it around your weight more than once can help to shorten it so your weights hang properly. If that fails, you can run the chain through the clip point on the belt and clip it to itself.

Some dip belt models might have an adjustable waist strap, but you would have to look for that in the belts specifications.

Other options include belts that have multiple clip points for the chain.

Low hanging weights can make arm exercises more difficult because it throws off your center of balance, so it’s important to make sure that the weights hang correctly to prevent injury during your workout. If you intend to add heavy weight to your belt, make sure you are comfortable with lesser weights and multiple reps first.

Related: How to do dips at home for serious gain

How Much Weight Can A Dip Belt Hold?

The weight limit of a dip belt will depend on the materials used in its construction, as well as the type of stitching. Some professional dip belts have an upper weight limit of 1000 pounds or more.

You would think that a leather dip belt would be the strongest. You’d be right in some cases, but a lot of budget leather dip belts are on the market — great if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on a dip belt, but they won’t hold a ton of weight. Many do come with a steel chain but that does not mean the ones with the nylonstrap are not capable of the same weight capacity.

Some nylon strap belts, on the other hand, have weight ratings of over 30,000 pounds! While you won’t be hanging that many weights on your dip belt when you start working out, it’s useful if you decide to hook your belt up to a small car!

Related: Best Portable dip bars to build upper body strength at home

How To Choose A Dip Belt

There are a few things you should look for when you’re choosing a dip belt for yourself, including:

  • Maximum weight — How much weight can your dipping belt hold, and how much weight are you planning to lift? If you’re just starting to work with a dip belt, you can start with a belt that has a low maximum weight, but if you’re planning to do some serious heavy lifting, invest in a belt with a higher maximum weight limit.
  • Material — Most dip belts are made of leather, nylon, or vinyl, though you might find a few made of materials like neoprene. Some materials are more comfortable than others. Leather belts, especially the heavy duty ones, can be stiff and uncomfortable until they’ve been used for a while.
  • Size — The majority of dip belts are going to be considered one size fits all, they may not fit individuals with small waists or hips. Check out the belt length to see if it is dramatically longer than your waist size — if so, you might want to look for an adjustable belt or one that has an overall shorter length.
  • Chain Length and Attachments — Most dip belt chains will run around 30 inches in length. Depending on where you prefer your weights to hang, a longer or shorter chain might accommodate you better. Adjustable chains will eliminate this problem as well.

Read Also: The wonders that ankle weights can do for your lower body exercises

Most of the information that you need to choose the perfect dip belt for you is available on the product listing, but if you’ve still got questions or concerns, reaching out to the seller or heading to your local fitness product store is also an option.

Top Dip Belts Reviewed

Rogue Dip Belt

  • Rated for up to 29,400 lbs
  • Heavy duty Nylon with a 4″ wide back for comfort
  • 2 color options (Black & Yellow)
Rogue Dip Belt

The Rogue Fitness dip belt is one of the best belts out there, and heavily used by CrossFitters worldwide. It is the perfect design blend of a nylonstrap and a metal chain to achieve the highest strength possible. It is simple in its design and is impossible to break (at least by a human using it as a dip belt).

The weight rating of this belt is the highest of all the dip belts we have reviewed, reaching a max rating of up to 29.4K lbs. So you will not break it.

We will not call it the best dip belt, because a dip belt is more like clothing. There is no such thing as best fit for everyone. However, this belt comes close to being the best from a functional perspective for most users.

The Nylon material and design is simple and elegant because it is functional and comfortable at the same time. The belt is made to be one size fits all. The 4″ back provides support and spreads out the pressure of the weight over a larger surface area.

One additional benefit of the Nylon material is that it is comfortable from day one, unlike belts made with leather, which take multiple uses before they soften up to fit your shape and are comfortable.

As you might expect from Rogue Fitness, this product is made with quality materials – from the D shaped carabiners, to the nylon material, and the 30.5″ long chain. If you purchase this dip belt, it will likely be the last one you will ever need.

Harbinger Polypropylene Dip Belt with Steel Chain

  • Adjustable one size fits all belt
  • Single piece leather and reinforced steel grommets
  • 30-inch chain is adjustable for different heights
harbinger dip belt

The Harbinger Polypropylene Dip Belt is a great budget option if you’re just getting started with dip weight lifting.

Constructed of thick leather reinforced with heavy duty steel grommets, this dip belt is adjustable and designed to be one size fits all. This thick material also provides great back support.

A 30-inch steel chain is paired with a heavy duty carabiner mechanism to make it easy to add or remove weights, and it’s more than long enough to hold multiple weights. The leather might be stiff to use at first, but it will soften up with use and fit snugly to your back or hips.

One thing to watch out for is that this particular belt is not made for small waists. It can slip off during a dip exercise for those that are less than 30″ waist.

Rip Toned Dip Belt with Chain

  • Nylon construction provides high-quality strength
  • Belt can be hand-washed if necessary
  • 34-inch chain is longer than most other belts on the market
Rip toned dip belt

If you need something a little softer than a leather belt, then the Dip Belt by Rip Toned is a good option. This heavy duty dip belt is made of heavy duty nylon, reinforced with stitching. The 34-inch chain will easily accommodate any barbell plates, kettle bells, or other weights you choose to use.

The nylon strap itself is fully adjustable, making it easier to use for people with smaller waists or hips. For dips, weighted squats, pull ups, or chin ups, this belt is an ideal choice.

This belt has only been tested up to 200lbs, so use a different belt if you are going to add larger weights. Lastly, this dip belt’s chain might be too long for shorter users.

Iron Bull Multifunction Advanced Dip Belt

  • Versatile — can be used for more than just dip workouts
  • High quality 100% nylon with strong, reinforced stitching
  • Adjustable nylon sling for weights which can be replaced with a chain if preferred.
Iron bull dip belt

This nylon belt is a great tool for anyone who wants a heavy duty weight belt without the stiffness of leather, then the Advance Dip Belt for Lifting, should be on your list. This belt is 100% nylon with reinforced stitching and can be used for dips, squats, lifting, and anything in between.

Instead of resting on your hips, this belt secures around the waist with Velcro straps. It also utilizes a nylon band to hold your weights rather than a chain.

This can be a pro or a con, depending on how you’re choosing to use the belt. If you prefer a chain, it the strap could easily be switched out with a one and a couple of strong carbines. Plus, instead of having just two clip points, the Iron Bull Dip Belt has 3, making it infinitely adjustable.

The multiple connection points for the carabiner makes this belt unique in making it a sled harness as well. If this type of versatility is something that you wish for, this belt might be the best fit for you.

Since this belt is made from Nylon, sizing can be tricky — you may need to order a size larger to get the best experience.

Spud Inc Dip Belt

  • Lightweight webbing material is strong but doesn’t add tons of extra weight
  • 35″ overall length, with 2 feet of adjustable chain that can be easily replaced
  • Soft material is comfortable to wear
spud dip belt

A lightweight but strong dip belt is sometimes all you need, so a soft belt made from strong webbing might just fit that bill. The Spud Inc Dip Belt is made of webbing, though there is no information available on the actual construction material, however a “webbed” material is generally a high strength fabric material similar to those in ropes. In general the reinforced stitching increases overall strength of the material.

It has a 10’’ x 6’’ back pad and two thinner straps that lead to two feet of chain attached by two carabiners. The chain that it comes with might be too short for some users (comes with 2 ft. of chain). If the chain is too short, it can be easily replaced with a longer piece of chain.

Also, for the smaller or shorter users, the straps might cut uncomfortably into the hips or legs.

Wrapping It Up

Whether you use one of these dip belts as a squatbelt, or for a weighted pull ups or for tricep dips, we hope you achieve your goals. If you are looking for such an exercise equipment, that in itself is a sign that you have advanced above others. Hopefully, we’ve answered your questions and helped you decide which belt is best for your needs. If you need to add additional resistance to your bodyweight exercises, a dip belt is one of the best ways to do that.

So, which one is the best dip belt?

Overall, the Rogue Dip belt and the Advanced Dip Belt for Lifting are our favorites. Rogue provides simplicity, and strength from a trusted brand in fitness equipment space used by a wide group of people. The Ironbull multifunction advanced dip belt has features that make it unique and useful for other exercises like the sled pull. Both are made with reinforced nylon stitching and can hold up to hundreds of pounds of weight and can be adjusted to fit nearly any waist.

Enjoy your dip belt and leave us comment if you ended up choosing one of these and share your experience with others.