Tricep Dip

What is the Tricep Dip?

The triceps dip is a bodyweight compound performed on parallel bars, lowering and pressing your body up by extending the elbows. Keeping the torso upright biases the triceps (a more forward lean shifts work to the chest). Because it moves your full bodyweight, it loads the triceps heavily and scales up with added weight.

Muscles worked

Primary: Triceps

The triceps extends the elbows to press your bodyweight back up to lockout, the main driver when the torso is kept upright.

Secondary: Chest, Shoulders

The chest and the front shoulders assist through the bottom of the press, taking more of the load the further you lean forward.

How to perform the Tricep Dip

1. Grip the dip bars with a neutral grip, arms extended, and a slight forward lean; the torso angle determines triceps vs chest emphasis (more vertical = more triceps).
2. Set the shoulder blades down and back, brace the core, and cross or bend the legs to prevent swinging.
3. Lower yourself by bending the elbows and letting them track back along the torso (for triceps emphasis) or flare moderately (for chest emphasis).
4. Descend until the shoulders are roughly level with or slightly below the elbows; deeper than that loads the shoulder capsule heavily without adding triceps stimulus.
5. Press back up by extending the elbows, finishing with the arms fully extended but the shoulders still depressed (not shrugging up into the bars).
6. If bodyweight is too easy, add load with a dip belt; if it is too hard, use a band or assisted dip machine before allowing form breakdown.

Suggested working range: 8–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A bilateral bodyweight press on dip bars: the elbows and shoulders both move under load, making it a compound. An upright torso keeps the emphasis on elbow extension and the triceps, while leaning forward recruits more chest and shoulder.

Form cues

• •Keep the torso tall and upright to bias the triceps rather than the chest.
• •Lower until the upper arms are about parallel to the floor, elbows tracking back.
• •Press up by extending the elbows and lock out without shrugging the shoulders.
• •Keep the shoulders down and back. Don’t let them roll forward at the bottom.

Common mistakes

• •Letting the shoulders shrug up to the ears at the bottom of each rep instead of keeping the shoulder blades down and back.
• •Descending well past the point where the shoulders drop below the elbows, which loads the joint capsule rather than the muscle.
• •Bouncing out of the bottom by piking the hips forward instead of pressing back up under control.
• •Adding load before the bodyweight version is clean, since extra plates magnify any technical breakdown.

Variations & alternatives

• •Bench dip: feet on the floor, an easier bodyweight regression.
• •Machine dip, a guided, assistable version to scale the load precisely.
• •Weighted dip, a belt or vest to add load once bodyweight reps are easy.
• •Close-grip bench press, a barbell triceps compound alternative.

Tricep Pushdown

Triceps · Cable

Overhead Tricep Extension

Triceps · Dumbbell

Skull Crusher

Triceps · Barbell

Close-Grip Bench Press

Triceps · Barbell

Diamond Push-Up

Triceps · Bodyweight

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

Program the dip in the library’s 8–15 rep range as a triceps compound. If you can’t yet do reps in that range, use a machine or band assist; once bodyweight gets easy, add weight to keep progressing. Keep the torso upright for triceps emphasis. Two to four sets after pressing works well.

Frequently asked questions