Triceps Dips Floor

1. Sit on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat, hip-width apart.
2. Place your hands behind you on the floor with fingers pointing toward your feet.
3. Press through your palms to lift your hips slightly off the ground.
4. Brace your core to keep your body supported between your hands and feet.
5. Bend your elbows to lower your hips toward the floor under control.
6. Lower until your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor.
7. Press through your palms to straighten your elbows and lift your body back up.
8. Keep your hips from fully resting on the floor between reps.

Common Mistakes

• Letting the hips sag toward the floor: Allowing your hips to drop during the movement shifts the exercise away from the triceps. Keep your core braced to support your body weight throughout.
• Flaring the elbows out wide: Letting your elbows point outward instead of straight back increases stress on the shoulders. Keep your elbows tracking backward, close to your body.
• Placing the hands too far from the hips: Hands set too far forward or back changes the angle and reduces triceps engagement. Position your hands close to your hips, fingers pointing toward your feet.
• Rushing through the reps: Moving too quickly reduces time under tension and control. Lower and press with a steady, deliberate pace.

Programming Tips

Floor dips are a beginner and home training movement, so put them at the end of an upper body or full body session as a triceps finisher once the harder pressing is done. Perform 3 to 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps with a slow lowering phase; the range of motion is short, so controlled tempo and a hard lockout are what make the exercise useful.

Place the hands about a hand length behind the hips, fingers forward, and keep the shoulders pulled down away from the ears. There is no external load; progress by slowing the eccentric to three seconds, then straightening the legs, then elevating the feet on a step. The single most common fault is the hands drifting too far behind the body, which forces the shoulders into an awkward extension. Fix it by resetting the hands close to the hips before every set.

Common Questions

Do floor dips actually build triceps?

Yes for beginners, but the stimulus fades quickly because only a fraction of body weight is lifted. Once 15 reps are easy, move to bench dips, parallel bar dips or close grip push-ups to keep progressing.

Are floor dips bad for your shoulders?

They are safe for most people when the hands stay close to the hips and the shoulders stay down, but the arms behind the body position can irritate an already sore front shoulder. Keep the depth shallow and stop if you feel pinching rather than triceps work.

How many floor dips should I do?

Three sets of 10 to 15 slow reps is enough for most beginners, two to three times per week. If you can do more than 20 with good form, the exercise is no longer challenging enough.