Intermediate Workout

Triceps Dips

...

Earlier in the workout we worked your biceps muscles, which are the large muscles on the front of your arm.

When designing a workout you always want to make sure that you work the protagonist and antagonist muscle. A protagonist muscle does one movement, such as bend the arm, and the antagonist muscle does the opposite, which would be extending the arm.

In this case, the protagonist muscle, for example, is the biceps muscle that you worked earlier with the Curls and Delts exercise. To keep your body balanced, you should also work the antagonist muscle, or the muscle on the other side of the bone, which is the triceps muscle.

Always incorporate exercises to work both protagonist and antagonist muscles to prevent a body imbalance from occurring. Let's jump into the Tricep Dips exercise.

For this exercise you will need a sturdy bench, a sturdy table or a sturdy chair.

Sit on the bench with your palms to the side of you, face down, so that your fingers can curl underneath the bottom of the bench or chair.

Hold yourself up in the air, and move your lower body off the chair and walk your feet out so that your buttocks are in front of the bench.

Slowly lower your trunk downward so that your arms are slowly bending. Once your elbows reach about 90 degrees, push yourself back up by extending your arms.

Perform each down and each up movement slowly over a four-second period. Perform three sets of 8 to 12.

Next Intermediate Exercise: One Leg Calf Raise »

 
 

Tips for Triceps Dips

1. Walk your feet out to make the exercise more difficult.

2. Do not overdo triceps exercise because you may cause tendinitis in the tendon that attaches your triceps muscle to your forearm. Tendinitis is tendon damage, or inflammation, that can occur if a tendon is overworked too soon. If you're having pain in the elbow after doing the Triceps Dips, apply ice to the affected area 15 to 20 minutes at a time, throughout the day. If pain does not improve, consult your physician.

3. Perform three sets of 8-12 repetitions.