If you are looking for the best exercise to build stronger arms? Tricep dips may be your best option that you can do at home.
The triceps are made up of three heads, the medial, lateral, and long head and if you want to increase the strength and size of your upper arms you need to work all three. Fortunately, you can do just that with one exercise – the triceps dip.
Although this bodyweight exercise mainly targets the triceps, it also hits your chest, anterior deltoid, (front part of your shoulder), back and core.
This simple dip exercise can be done almost anywhere and has many variations to match your fitness level. Use it as part of an upper-body strength workout.
What Is Tricep Dip
Tricep dips are one of the best exercises to increase your arm strength, and also build lean muscle in your upper arms.
They will work all three tricep muscles, and simply must be part of any effective tricep workout or bodyweight workout.
Triceps are a big muscle with three heads, and the tricep dip hits all three heads of the triceps.
In fact, many people believe dips are the king of tricep exercises, which means everyone should do some form of a tricep dip for muscle mass and strength gains.
The dip simply gives you an extra push to complete the movement, and it’s a great addition to a workout.
Read on for everything you need to know about this fundamental bodyweight exercise, including a range of variations you can use to increase the difficulty involved once you’ve mastered the standard dip.
What Are The Benefits Of Tricep Dips?
Tricep dips work the muscles in the upper arm, specifically the triceps, and are one of the best exercises for toning the arms.
It also helps strengthen the muscles in your: chest, shoulders, back and core.
When done correctly, weighted dips can add muscle mass to your upper body. This exercise can also help build your strength for other exercises like bench presses.
In addition, it’s an exercise that uses plenty of stabilizing muscles, which will result in a more developed upper body. With stronger joints and developed stabilizing muscles, you will be less susceptible to injury when doing other exercises.
How To Do Tricep Dips Correctly
Knowing how to do them correctly is important in ensuring you are working the right muscles and not putting strain on the neck or shoulders.
Avoid these common mistakes and errors, so you get the most from this triceps dips exercise and avoid injury.
- Not doing complete reps: Completing partial reps instead of a full rep won’t fully engage the triceps, negating some benefits of the exercise. Make sure you lower down until your upper arm is parallel to the ground and your elbow forms a 90-degree angle.
- Flaring Elbows out: When you let your elbows flare out, you move the tension from your triceps to your shoulders, which can cause injury. Ensure that your elbows stay tucked into your body throughout the dip.
- Leaning too far forward. Take care that you are always using proper form by keeping your chest high and open, and head looking straight ahead, making sure to avoid rounding the front of your shoulders.
- Going too Low: If you drop too low into the dip, you’ll put too much pressure on your shoulder. Stop when your upper arms are parallel to the floor and rise back up.
- Locking Elbows: Don’t lock your elbows at the top of the movement. Keeping them slightly soft maintains tension on the triceps.
- Doing Reps too Quick: If you rely on momentum to complete each rep, you miss out on some of the move’s many benefits. Move slowly and with control for maximum results.
Tricep Bench Dip
Tricep dips are the perfect move for anyone who wants to work on their arm and shoulder strength, while tightening the back of the arms. Plus, there are tons of variations, so you can find a way to perform them that matches your strength level.
How To Do Tricep Dip
- Place your hands on the side of a flat bench so that your body is perpendicular to the bench when you place your feet out in front of you.
- Only your heels should be on the floor, and your legs should be straight.
- Your arms should be fully extended with just your palms on the bench.
- Bend your elbows to lower your body down until your elbows reach 90 degrees.
- Now extend your arms to lift your body back to the starting position, flexing your triceps hard at the top.
6 Best Triceps Dips Variations
The dip’s accessibility makes it a versatile exercise, but you need to be careful about form to stay safe and get the best results. Try tricep dips at home, on a bench, on the floor, and using a dip machine at the gym to see which method works best for you.
1. Knee Bent Bench Dip
Knee Bent bench dip is a medium-intensity exercise that uses your body weight to strengthen your triceps.
Bench dips are fairly simple to learn and can be done almost anywhere, making them a great exercise for home-workout.
How To Do Knee Bent Bench Dip
- Sit on the side of a bench and place your hands on the edge of the bench facing laterally away from your body.
- Slide your butt off the bench and move your legs forward with knees bent, so your arms are supporting your body weight.
- Your arms should be fully extended with just your palms on the bench.
- Bend your elbows to lower your body down until your elbows reach 90 degrees.
- Now extend your arms to lift your body back to the starting position.
2. Bench Dip With Elevated Legs
The Tricep bench dip exercise is one of the basic and best workouts for building the triceps and bigger arms.
The feet-elevated bench dip is a popular bodyweight exercise for building the triceps, chest, and shoulders.
Elevating the feet brings more chest and shoulder into the movement. It also allows for extra weight on the hips.
How To Do Bench Dip With Elevated Legs
- Place your hands on the side of a flat bench so that your body is perpendicular to the bench when you place your feet out in front of you.
- Sit on one bench and place your feet on the edge of the other bench so that your legs are suspended between the two.
- Your arms should be fully extended with your palms on the bench.
- Bend your elbows to lower your body down until your elbows reach 90 degrees.
- Now extend your arms to lift your body back to the starting position, flexing your triceps hard at the top.
3. One-Arm Bench Dip
The one-arm tricep bench dip is a challenging and very effective movement that primarily targets your triceps, but your glutes and quads also get worked secondarily.
However, this is not a beginner’s exercise or for someone who does not have adequate upper body strength.
For an easier variation, you can do a bench dip.
How To Do One-Arm Bench Dip
- Place your hands (palms) on the side of a flat bench with your back straight, knees bent, and feet flat on the floor.
- Slide your buttocks off the bench. Raise your left arm and right leg straight out in front of you. Your bodyweight should be being supported by your right arm and left leg.
- Inhale as you flex your elbow to lower your body until you feel a mild stretch in your shoulder.
- Exhale as you extend your elbow to push your body back up to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions and repeat the exercise with your left arm.
4. Assisted Triceps Dip
Machine assisted tricep dips are a very effective exercise for any lifter with every level of training experience.
Now, body weight dips are very difficult because many people are not able to push up their own body weight. So, the machine-assisted dip machine is a game changer, and it makes doing dips entirely possible.
How To Do Assisted Triceps Dip
- Select a weight with enough resistance to allow you to move up and down on the machine.
- Kneel onto the knee pad of the assisted triceps dip machine and grasp the shoulder-width bars.
- Slowly let yourself down, so your arms are bent at about a 90-degree angle.
- Push yourself back up slowly to the top of the movement, but don’t lock out.
- Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions.
5. Parallel Bar Triceps Dip
Parallel bar triceps dips is one of the most effective compound movements for the upper body pushing muscles in the chest and triceps especially.
When performed on narrow parallel bars with elbows back and your torso upright, the dip becomes one of the best bodyweight exercises for building triceps mass.
How To Do Parallel Bar Triceps Dip
- Grasp the dip bars with your arms extended and locked. Keep your body as vertical as possible to keep the emphasis on the triceps and away from the chest.
- Keep your elbows as close to your sides as possible as you bend them to lower your body down until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor.
- Press your hands forcefully into the bars to extend your arms and raise your body back up.
- Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions.
6. Tricep Floor Dip
This is the best tricep dips that you can do at home on floor.
Tricep dips on the floor are still a good tricep workout, but will require more reps to fatigue the triceps.
This is likely the least effective of the five, but can be used as a variation, or if you have no bench, no chairs, and nothing else to work with.
How To Do Floor Tricep Dip
- Position your hands shoulder width apart on the floor with your back facing down.
- Straighten your arms and Lift your hips off the floor, like a crab
- Slowly bend at your elbows, and lower your upper body toward the floor until your arms are at about a 90-degree angle.
- Push your body up to return to the start position.
- Repeat the desired number of sets and reps.
Tricep Dip Recommendation:
For beginners, perform 3-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions. As you become more comfortable with the exercise, try different set/rep combinations and tempos to challenge your muscles.
FAQs
Train Your Triceps Twice Per Week
Training your triceps twice per week can provide a nice stimulus for greater growth. This muscle group recovers fairly quickly, so 2-3 days between workouts is all you need.
Are Tricep Dips Effective?
Tricep Dip are a great way to hit all three heads simultaneously, as are close-grip bench presses, kickbacks, and tricep pushdowns.
Are Tricep Dips Bad for shoulders?
If you don’t use proper form, triceps dips are a risky exercise for your shoulders. The problem with the bench dip starts with the position of your shoulders during the exercise. The two things you want to avoid is letting your shoulders migrate forward as you do them, or upwards as you go down into the rep.
Are tricep dips a compound exercise?
Yes, Tricep dips are compound exercises, which means that these involve two or more joints that help to develop the muscles on the back of the arm, the tricep brachii. It is one of the most effective exercises for activating the triceps brachii muscle in the back of your upper arm.
Are tricep dips so hard?
Depend on your fitness level and exercise variation you choose to do.
Takeaway
The Tricep dip is a fantastic compound exercise that you can do at home. It’s the perfect option to include in your triceps workouts, and you’ll definitely see a difference in your muscular development. Try out the different variations as well to see which one works best for you, or include them all for variety in your training.
Thanks for reading, enjoy!
