How to do the Bench Dip (Knees Bent)
TricepsBodyweightIntermediate
The bench dip with knees bent is a deceptively powerful bodyweight move that places direct, sustained tension on all three heads of the triceps. Master the mechanics here and you build the pressing strength that carries over to every push movement you train.
Add this to my personalized plan →Muscles worked
Primary
Triceps
Secondary
Front deltsChest
Step-by-step
- Sit on the edge of a bench, hands gripping the edge just outside your hips with fingers forward.
- Walk your feet out until your knees are bent at roughly 90 degrees and your hips are clear of the bench.
- Lower your body by bending your elbows straight back, keeping them tracking narrow until your upper arms are close to parallel with the floor.
- Drive through your palms to press fully back to the start, locking out the elbows completely at the top.
Common mistakes
- Flaring the elbows out to the sides shifts stress onto the shoulder joint and off the triceps, so actively squeeze your elbows in toward each other throughout the entire rep.
- Letting the hips drift far away from the bench turns the move into a shoulder exercise and increases impingement risk, so keep your hips close to the bench edge on every descent.
- Stopping short of full lockout at the top cheats the triceps out of their peak contraction, so consciously squeeze and extend completely before beginning the next rep.
Pro tip — At the bottom of each rep, pause for one full second before pressing up. This eliminates momentum, kills the stretch reflex, and forces your triceps to generate force from a dead stop, accelerating strength and muscle development significantly faster than bouncing through reps.
Sets & reps by goal
Build muscle3–4 sets × 10–15 reps
Get stronger3–4 sets × 6–8 reps
Lose fat / tone3 sets × 12–20 reps
Rest: 60–90 sec between sets.
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