Triceps Dip Floor

How to do the Triceps Dip Floor

1. 1Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat, roughly hip-width apart. Place your hands on the floor directly behind your hips, fingers pointing forward toward your feet, hands shoulder-width apart.
2. 2Press through your palms to lift your hips off the floor until your arms are nearly extended and your torso is upright.
3. 3Brace your core, keep your chest up, and maintain a neutral gaze throughout the movement.
4. 4Slowly bend your elbows to lower your hips toward the floor, driving the elbows straight back behind you rather than letting them flare out to the sides.
5. 5Lower until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor or until you feel a strong stretch in the triceps — stop before your hips touch the ground.
6. 6Press through your palms to fully extend your elbows and return to the top position, squeezing the triceps at lockout.
7. 7Repeat for the desired number of reps, then lower your hips to the floor with control to finish the set.

Form tips

• Point your fingers toward your feet or slightly outward — pointing them straight behind you forces extreme wrist extension and is a common source of discomfort.
• Keep your elbows tracking straight back on every rep; elbows that drift outward shift load away from the triceps and toward the shoulders.
• To increase difficulty without equipment, straighten your legs fully so only your heels contact the floor — this raises your center of mass and increases the demand on the triceps.
• Pause for one count at the bottom of each rep to eliminate momentum and maintain constant tension on the triceps.
• If your shoulders feel unstable at the bottom, reduce your range of motion until you build the necessary shoulder and scapular control.

Common mistakes

• Flaring the elbows out to the sides during the descent, which reduces triceps activation and places unnecessary stress on the shoulder joint.
• Letting the hips touch the floor between reps, which releases tension from the triceps and turns a controlled set into a series of disjointed single efforts.
• Rushing the lowering phase and dropping under gravity rather than controlling the descent, which reduces time under tension and increases the risk of shoulder strain.
• Placing the hands too far behind the hips, which puts the shoulder in an impinged position and limits safe range of motion.
• Shrugging the shoulders up toward the ears during the press, which shifts load into the upper traps and away from the triceps.

Frequently asked questions