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Bench Dip

The bench dip is a bodyweight triceps exercise performed by placing your hands on a bench behind you and lowering your body by bending your elbows. It suits lifters at any level who want to build triceps strength and size with minimal equipment.

Muscle group
Triceps
Primary muscles
triceps, chest
Equipment
Bodyweight
Bench Dip demonstration
Bench Dip demonstration

How to do the Bench Dip

  1. Sit on the edge of a bench and place your hands beside your hips with fingers pointing forward, then slide your hips off the bench.
  2. Position your feet flat on the floor with knees bent at 90 degrees for a standard variation, or extend your legs straight for increased difficulty.
  3. Lower your body by bending your elbows to approximately 90 degrees, keeping your back close to the bench.
  4. Press through your palms to straighten your arms and return to the starting position.

Form tips

  • Keep your elbows pointing directly behind you rather than flaring out to the sides to maximize triceps engagement and reduce shoulder strain.
  • Maintain your shoulders down and back throughout the movement rather than allowing them to roll forward at the bottom.
  • Lower yourself until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor rather than going deeper, which can place excessive stress on the shoulder joint.

Common mistakes

  • Flaring elbows out to the sides reduces triceps activation and increases stress on the shoulder joints.
  • Descending too deep past 90 degrees of elbow flexion places the shoulder in a compromised position under load.
  • Moving the hips too far forward from the bench turns the exercise into more of a shoulder movement and reduces triceps involvement.

Sets and reps

For strength, perform 3 to 4 sets of 6 to 10 reps with added weight if needed, while hypertrophy work typically uses 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps.

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Frequently asked questions

Should my feet be bent or straight during bench dips?
Bent knees make the exercise easier by reducing the load on your triceps, making this suitable for beginners. Straight legs increase difficulty by placing more of your bodyweight on your arms, which is appropriate once you can perform 15 or more reps with bent knees.
How do bench dips compare to parallel bar dips for triceps?
Bench dips allow you to adjust difficulty more easily through leg position and are less demanding on shoulder mobility. Parallel bar dips load the triceps more heavily and require greater overall strength, making bench dips a good progression step toward full dips.
How can I make bench dips harder without equipment?
Elevate your feet on another bench or platform to increase the percentage of bodyweight your arms must support. You can also slow down the lowering phase to 3 to 4 seconds to increase time under tension.

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