Bench Dip
Trains the Triceps.
- Equipment
- A flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Sit on the edge of a flat bench and place your hands beside your hips, fingers pointing forward and gripping the edge.
- Slide your backside off the bench so your weight is on your hands, with your arms straight.
- Extend your legs out in front of you, heels on the floor. Bending the knees and bringing the feet closer makes it easier.
- Keep your back close to the bench throughout — drifting forward away from it puts the shoulder in a poor position.
- Lower yourself by bending your elbows straight back until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor.
- Press back up until your arms are straight.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips travel forward away from the bench. Staying close keeps the movement vertical and the shoulder in a reasonable position; drifting out is where most discomfort with this exercise comes from.
- Going deeper than parallel. Behind-the-body shoulder extension under bodyweight is not a position to chase depth in, and the triceps gain nothing from it.
- Flaring the elbows out to the sides rather than driving them straight back.
- Piling plates on the lap before the movement is comfortable. Extending the legs further out is a simpler way to make it harder.