Floor Tricep Dips Overview
Floor tricep dips are a bodyweight arm move. They work your triceps, the muscles on the back of your arms. Your chest and shoulders help too. You sit on the floor and place your hands behind you. Then you lift your hips and bend your elbows. Your own body weight is the resistance. You need no equipment. You just need floor space. Floor tricep dips build stronger arms with no gear. They are easy to do at home or anywhere. They are a good move for beginners. They teach you to control your own body weight. Do them near the end of an arm or push workout. You can also use them as a quick burnout for your triceps.
What Is The Point of the Floor Tricep Dips?
Floor tricep dips build strong triceps and improve pushing power. They're perfect for home workouts since you only need floor space.
How To Do The Floor Tricep Dips
- Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you and your hands planted behind your hips, fingers pointing forward toward your feet. Set your hands about shoulder-width apart.
- Press into your hands and lift your hips off the floor, supporting your weight on your hands and heels. Keep your chest up and your shoulders down away from your ears.
- Brace your core lightly and keep your hips lifted so your body forms a straight line from shoulders to heels. This is your starting position.
- Bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor, keeping your elbows pointing straight back and close to your sides. Aim for a two to three second descent.
- Lower until your elbows reach about 90 degrees and you feel a stretch in your triceps. Do not let your elbows flare out to the sides.
- Keep your hips up and close to your hands rather than letting them drift forward. This keeps the load on your triceps instead of your shoulders.
- Press back up by straightening your arms, driving through your palms and squeezing your triceps. Push until your arms are nearly locked out.
- Squeeze your triceps at the top for a beat, keeping your shoulders down. Do not shrug up toward your ears.
- Keep every rep controlled and your elbows tracking back. Floor tricep dips work well in the 12 to 20 rep range, and you can bend your knees to make them easier or elevate your feet to make them harder.
Floor Tricep Dips Form Tips
- Place your hands behind you with fingers facing forward. This is easy on your wrists.
- Keep your elbows close to your sides. Do not let them flare out.
- Keep your hips up the whole set. Do not let them sag.
- Lower slow until your elbows bend to about 90 degrees.
- Push up by straightening your arms. Squeeze your triceps.
- Keep your chest up and shoulders back. Do not slump.
- Keep your neck relaxed and in line with your back.
- Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you push.
- Move smooth and controlled. No bouncing at the bottom.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Floor Tricep Dips
- Letting your elbows flare out to the sides. When your elbows drift wide, the tension leaks off the triceps and onto your shoulders. Keep your elbows pointing straight back and close to your body so the triceps do the work.
- Letting your hips drift forward away from your hands. If your hips slide out, the load shifts off your triceps and onto your shoulders. Keep your hips lifted and close to your hands throughout the movement.
- Not lowering under control. Dropping fast wastes the eccentric, which builds triceps size, and can strain your elbows or shoulders. Lower for two to three seconds and stay in control.
- Cutting the range of motion short. Doing tiny dips near the top only trains a slice of the movement. Lower until your elbows reach about 90 degrees to load the triceps fully.
- Shrugging your shoulders up to your ears. Letting your shoulders ride up strains your neck and traps instead of loading the triceps. Keep your shoulders pulled down and away from your ears.
- Going too deep and straining your shoulders. Dropping way past 90 degrees can crank the shoulder joint into a risky position. Stop at a depth where you feel your triceps stretch without shoulder pain.
- Bouncing at the bottom of each rep. Using a rebound off the bottom takes tension off the triceps and can stress the joint. Control the descent and press up smoothly from a controlled bottom.
- Not squeezing at the top. Blasting through the lockout skips the peak contraction. Extend your arms nearly straight and squeeze your triceps for a beat at the top.
- Keeping your legs in a position that makes it too hard. Extended legs make floor dips tough, so struggling with terrible form helps no one. Bend your knees to reduce the load until you build the strength.
- Bending your wrists into a painful angle. Some wrist positions strain the joint, especially under bodyweight. Set your hands so your wrists feel comfortable and keep them firm.
- Holding your breath through the set. Grinding reps without breathing spikes your blood pressure and drains you. Exhale as you press up and inhale as you lower.
Floor Tricep Dips Workout Tips
- Warm up your elbows, shoulders, and triceps with a light set. Priming the joints keeps them healthy and helps you feel the triceps from the first rep.
- Keep your elbows pointing straight back and close to your body. This tracking is what keeps the load on your triceps instead of your shoulders.
- Chase the mind-muscle connection by squeezing your triceps to press. Feeling the muscle drive the movement rather than just moving your body is what builds it.
- Use a slow two to three second lowering phase. That controlled eccentric keeps tension on the triceps and builds more muscle than dropping.
- Keep your hips lifted and close to your hands. This position keeps the triceps loaded and protects your shoulders.
- Bend your knees to make the exercise easier as you learn. Reducing the load lets you build strength with clean form before progressing.
- Elevate your feet on a bench or step to make it harder. Raising your feet adds load to the triceps as you get stronger.
- Program floor dips as a bodyweight triceps builder anywhere. They need no equipment, so they are perfect for home or travel workouts.
- Aim for 12 to 20 reps for 3 to 4 sets. Bodyweight triceps work responds well to moderate to higher reps chasing a strong contraction.
- Squeeze your triceps at the top of each rep. A short pause in the locked-out position teaches you to fully use the muscle.
- Keep your shoulders pulled down away from your ears. This protects your neck and keeps the effort on your triceps.
- Add a weight plate on your lap once bodyweight feels easy. Extra load is a simple way to keep overloading the triceps.
- Do not go so deep that your shoulders complain. Stop at a comfortable stretch to keep the joint healthy for the long run.
- Film a set from the side to check your elbows and hips. Video shows whether your elbows flare or your hips drift forward.
- Superset floor dips with pushups for a full triceps and chest burn. Both are bodyweight moves you can chain together easily.
- Keep your reps smooth and controlled. Quality reps under tension beat a big count of loose, bouncy ones for building the triceps.
- Be patient and consistent. Bodyweight strength builds steadily, so keep at it and you will progress to harder variations over time.
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