Triceps Dip Machine

How to do it

1. Set the seat so the handles sit level with the middle of your torso when you sit down.
2. Sit with your back against the pad and take the handles with your palms facing in.
3. Set your shoulders down away from your ears.
4. Press the handles down until your arms are straight, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
5. Squeeze briefly at the bottom.
6. Let the handles rise under control until your upper arms are roughly level with your torso.

Common mistakes

• Letting the shoulders shrug up as the handles rise. The shoulders start down and stay down; shrugging at the top of each repetition is the load being taken by the neck and traps rather than resisted by the arms.
• Coming up further than the shoulders are comfortable with. The machine's range is fixed and generous, and the top of it is where the shoulder is most stretched under load.
• Leaning forward off the pad. Leaning brings the chest in and turns it into a machine chest dip, which is a legitimate exercise and a different one from the upright version.
• Choosing it over parallel-bar dips because it is easier. It is easier because it removes the balance and lets you use less than bodyweight, and both of those are exactly why it is useful while working toward the unassisted version.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Triceps

Secondary

• Pecs
• Shoulders