Bench Dips
(Triceps)
BENEFITS & MUSCLES WORKED: Triceps, front shoulders
START POSITION: Sit on the side of a bench. Straighten your legs so that your heels are on the floor and your toes point upwards. Grip the bench edge, either side of your hips, with fingers pointing outwards. Slowly shuffle your heels forward until your bum is off the bench and is clear of the edge by at least 6 cm.
Slowly lower yourself down by bending your elbows and keeping your head pointing forward. If your back touches the bench, shuffle forward a little more and try again.
When your back is as close to the bench as possible (without touching it), then you are ready to start the exercise.
NOTES: Difficulty Rating: 47%
Keep your legs as straight as possible with no bend in the knees. Heels and hands supporting your weight. Bend your elbows until your arms both form at least a 90° angle. Breathe out and push up with your hands until your arms are straight. Then lower yourself back down slowly and smoothly, before repeating a more energetic push upwards again.
The bench dip is a bodyweight exercise and is therefore ideal for use as a ‘starter’ exercise to engage and warm up your triceps, ready for the single dumbbell isolation exercises that follow. It also engages your Chest. There is some evidence to suggest that using the side-pointing grip (shown in the image on the right) reduces negative pressure on the shoulders and provides better triceps activation. The above photo shows me performing the bench dip with the traditional (forward-pointing) grip. I suspect that this anomaly is dependent on your body type and fitness level. Please try both to see what you think is best.
A common mistake for this exercise is to bend the knees. This encourages cheating. Keep your legs straight out in front of you with heels on the floor and toes pointing upwards.
