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triceps

Bench Dips

Hands on a bench behind you, feet out in front, you lower your body by bending your elbows and push back up. Needs only a bench.

beginnerflat bench

Bench Dips, start position
START
Bench Dips, end position
END
BEFORE YOU START2
  1. Place a sturdy bench behind you.
  2. For a harder version, put a second bench in front for your feet.
HOW TO DO IT

Get into position

  1. Sit on the edge of the bench with your hands beside your hips, fingers pointing forward.
  2. Walk your feet out and slide your hips off the front of the bench.
  3. Straighten your arms so you are holding yourself up with your legs out in front.

Check: Your hands grip the bench edge beside your hips, your arms are straight, and your hips are just in front of the bench.

Lower

  1. Bend your elbows and lower your hips straight down.
  2. Stop when your upper arms are about level with the floor.

Check: Your elbows are bent to about a right angle, pointing straight back, and your hips are still close to the bench.

Push up

  1. Push the bench away to straighten your arms again.

Check: Your arms are straight again and your hips are back up level with the bench.

That is one rep. Repeat for your set.

Breathe out as you straighten in about 1 second; breathe in as you bend over 2 to 3 seconds.

MUSCLES WORKED
Bench Dips: muscles worked, front view
Bench Dips: muscles worked, back view

tricepsfront delts

Red marks the muscles doing the work; amber the assisting ones. Same body for every exercise, so guides compare at a glance.

COMMON MISTAKES3
  • Going too low. Fix: Stop with the upper arms level; lower strains the front of the shoulder.
  • Hips drifting far away from the bench. Fix: Keep your hips close to the bench edge and slide straight down.
  • Elbows flaring out to the sides. Fix: Point them straight back.
SAFETY3
  • Keep your wrists straight.
  • Stop if you feel pinching in the front of the shoulder.
  • Keep your feet closer to the bench to make it easier; farther away or raised to make it harder.
RELATED EXERCISES

harder: parallel dip bar, close grip bench press

variants: push ups

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