maratoolWeighted Bench Dip
How to do the weighted bench dip
- For this exercise you will need to place a bench behind your back and another one in front of you. With the benches perpendicular to your body, hold on to one bench on its edge with the hands close to your body, separated at shoulder width. Your arms should be fully extended.
- The legs will be extended forward on top of the other bench. Your legs should be parallel to the floor while your torso is to be perpendicular to the floor. Have your partner place the dumbbell on your lap. Note: This exercise is best performed with a partner as placing the weight on your lap can be challenging and cause injury without assistance. This will be your starting position.
- Slowly lower your body as you inhale by bending at the elbows until you lower yourself far enough to where there is an angle slightly smaller than 90 degrees between the upper arm and the forearm. Tip: Keep the elbows as close as possible throughout the movement. Forearms should always be pointing down.
- Using your triceps to bring your torso up again, lift yourself back to the starting position while exhaling.
- Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the chest adds pushing force at the shoulder; the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range.
How this movement works
The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
These train the triceps too, using equipment this one does not:
- Band Skull Crusherband
- Bench Dipsbody only
- Bench Press - Powerliftingbarbell
- Bent-Over One Arm Triceps Extension with Dumbbelldumbbell
- Cable Lying Triceps Extensioncable
Difficulty
Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.
Of the 99 triceps exercises in this database, 26 are listed at intermediate level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.