Exercise description of the regular dips.  Learn about the regular dips with video and pictures.  Also learn how the regular dips can improve your sports performance.

Primary muscles worked:  Triceps

Synergist Muscles:  Pecs

Mechanics:  Compound

Equipment:  Dip Apparatus or Parallel Bars

How to perform the exercise:  The athlete should grip a dip machine or parallel bars with a neutral grip so that both thumbs are on the inside portion of the apparatus. The athlete should have arms in full extension. Also, the athlete should cross their feet and bend the knees bringing the heels towards the butt until the upper and lower thigh make a 90 degree angle. The athlete will then lower the body down by bending at the elbows. The athlete may lean forward just a bit for comfort purposes during the lift. When the athlete's upper arm becomes parallel to the floor, the athlete may begin pushing themselves back up to full extension. The majority of the work during this ascension will come from the triceps. After the athlete has reached full extension, he/she may begin another rep.

Spotting the exercise:  The spotter for the dips exercise should instruct the athlete on proper form. The spotter should not allow the athlete to let their elbows flare out during the exercise.

Sport specific application:  The actual movement of the tricep dips can easily be seen in a sports such as gymnastics with the parallel bars event. Though very beneficial to these athletes, the tricep dips is a fundamental exercise that almost all athletes can benefit from. It develops strength, balance, and coordination in the triceps which is important for sports that require extension of the arm at the elbow joint. Strong triceps will allow athletes to shoot further, hit harder, and throw faster making the triceps dips a must learn exercise for an athlete. The one exception to this are athletes with shoulder issues. These individuals may be better served utilizing another exercise due to the stress placed on the shoulders during this particular lift.