12 Best Bench Dip Alternatives To Blast Your Triceps

Bench Dips are the most beginner-friendly variation of Dips. Their biggest attribute is that they require minimal equipment. If you have a solid chair in your house, there is a good chance you can use it to do Bench Dips.

However, sometimes you may find yourself wanting an alternative for Bench Dips.

Maybe you want a more challenging exercise or maybe you’re just looking to add some variety to your workouts.

Whatever the reason, if you’re looking for an exercise to substitute for Bench Dips then you’re in the right place. I’m about to share with you 10 of my favorite Bench Dip alternatives.

Alternatives to Bench Dips

The first few alternatives I have listed are dip variations, using different pieces of equipment and varying levels of difficulty. If you’re wanting to up your game when it comes to Dips, this is where you want to start.

The next few Bench Dip alternatives are compound movements, like dips, that target the triceps as well as the chest and shoulders. These are all good exercises to incorporate into your workout plan to build a strong upper body.

The last few alternatives are some of my favorite triceps isolation exercises. They’re all great if you’re looking to add some variety to your arm routine at the end of your upper body workout.

Dips

If you need more of a challenge than Bench Dips, then it may be time to transition to regular Dips. Dips are one of the best exercises you can do to develop upper body strength – right alongside Bench Press and Pull-ups.

Step By Step Instructions

• Attach your dip rack to your rack. This process will vary based on your rack and dip attachment. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions closely.
• Set your dip rack just above waist height. This will allow enough room for your feet not to hit the ground while doing reps, but not so high you feel you have to jump up into your first rep.
• Starting position is hands on bars, arms extended, knees slightly bent and feet crossed (crossing feet is optional but does help with unwanted swinging in my experience.
• Descend down by bending the elbows and slightly leaning forward.
• Lower yourself under control until the triceps become parallel with the ground and then drive yourself back up to the starting position.

Coaching Points

The biggest mistake I see with Dips is a poor range of motion.

If someone is struggling to be able to do reps, the easiest solution is to simply not lower yourself into a full rep, but this is incorrect. If a lifter cannot perform a full rep they should switch to an easier Dip alternative.

Ring Dips

Ring Dips are a slightly more advanced version of Dips. Incorporating rings adds a ton of stabilization to the movement which can help athletes with keeping their shoulders healthy. If you’re working out at home, Rings can be much more cost-effective than a dip attachment.

Step By Step Instructions

• Set your rings up on your rack. This process will vary based on your rings. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions closely.
• Set your rings just above waist height. This will allow enough room for your feet not to hit the ground while doing reps, but not so high you feel you have to jump up into your first rep.
• Starting position is hands on rings, arms extended, knees slightly bent and feet crossed (crossing feet is optional but does help with unwanted swinging in my experience).
• Descend down by bending the elbows and slightly leaning forward.
• Lower yourself under control until the triceps become parallel with the ground and then drive yourself back up to the starting position.

Coaching Points

*Need some creative options for hanging your gym rings? Here are 5 ways to hang gym rings at home.

The biggest mistake I see with dips is poor range of motion. If someone is struggling to be able to do reps, the easiest solution is to simply not lower yourself into a full rep, but this is incorrect. If a lifter cannot perform a full rep they should switch to an easier Ring Dip alternative.

Weighted Dips

Once you’ve become efficient at regular Dips and sets of 15 to 20 are no longer challenging, it’s time to add some weight to your dips. There are multiple ways to add resistance for Weighted Dips and I’ve given a few examples below under Coaching Points.

Step By Step Instructions

• Position yourself on dip bars, with a weight of your choice*, gripping them firmly with your hands.
• Start with your arms fully extended and your body held straight, ensuring your shoulders aren’t shrugged.
• Slowly lower your body by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides. Descend until your upper arms are about parallel with the ground or as far as your mobility allows.
• Once you’ve reached the bottom of the movement, press back up by extending your arms and returning to the starting position.
• Throughout the movement, maintain a slight forward lean to better engage the chest muscles.

Coaching Points

*There are multiple ways to add weight to Dips. A couple of the most popular are:

• Wear a weighted vest.
• Wrap a lifting chain (used for bench and/or squat) over the shoulders.
• Hold a dumbbell with the feet.
• Using a dip belt with a chain designed to hang weight plates (pictured above).

Bench Press

It’s impossible to have a list of chest and tricep exercises without including Bench Press. Bench Press is still one of the most effective exercises for developing upper body strength and size.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Set the barbell on a bench press rack and load it with the desired weight.
• Lie on the bench with your eyes directly under the bar. Plant your feet flat on the floor.
• Grasp the bar with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width, palms facing away from you.
• Lift the bar off the rack and position it above your chest with arms fully extended.
• Lower the bar to your mid-chest, keeping your elbows at a 75-90 degree angle.
• Push the bar back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.

Coaching Points

Safety Tip: Make sure to always use a spotter when bench pressing with a barbell regardless of the weight being used.

Close Grip Bench Press

Close Grip Bench Press is a variation of the Bench Press that places more emphasis on the triceps due to the narrower grip. Close Grip Bench Press is probably the closest you can get to truly simulating the same muscle involvement as Bench Dips.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Begin by lying flat on a bench with your feet firmly planted on the ground.
• Grasp the barbell with a grip that’s narrower than shoulder-width. For many, this will be around the width of their chest.
• Lift the barbell off the rack, holding it straight over your chest. This is your starting position.
• Slowly lower the bar to the middle of your chest, keeping your elbows close to your body throughout the descent.
• Once the bar is just above your chest, press it back up, extending your arms fully.
• Ensure you maintain a controlled tempo, keeping the movement smooth.

Coaching Points

The two most important aspects of Close Grip Bench to pay attention to are the grip and the elbows. Often, beginners will make their grip too narrow. This can end up being very uncomfortable on the wrists and make the elbows more prone to flaring out.

Find a grip that is just inside shoulder-width and focus on keeping the elbows as tight to the body as possible.

Dumbbell Bench Press

Don’t have a barbell? Dumbbell Bench Press is another excellent Bench Dip alternative that can be done with dumbbells.

Step-by-Step Instruction

• Choose appropriate dumbbells and lie back on a flat bench, holding them above your chest.
• Hold the dumbbells with a neutral or pronated grip, palms facing forward.
• Begin with the dumbbells at chest height, elbows bent at about 90 degrees.
• Press the dumbbells upward, extending your arms fully above your chest.
• Hold for a brief moment at the top, dumbbells almost touching each other.
• Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position, controlling the movement.

Coaching Points

Dumbbell Bench Press is a very shoulder-friendly pressing movement. Because the implement is a dumbbell, the range of motion is increased, the shear force on the shoulder is decreased, and the shoulder stabilizing muscles are engaged.

Floor Press

If you don’t have a dip attachment and you don’t have a bench, Floor Press is the best Bench Dip alternative available to you. It’s essentially Close Grip Bench Press done on the floor. The limited range of motion also puts even more focus on the triceps.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Set your barbell up in the rack at the proper height to be able to rack and unrack the bar safely*.
• Lay on your back with knees bent, feet flat on the floor.
• Engage your lats and set yourself up basically the same as you would for Bench Press.
• Grab the bar using a close grip**, hands right about on the edge of the knurling.
• Unrack the bar, lower it down until the triceps lightly tap the floor and then press it back to extension.

Coaching Points

*Always test your barbell height with an empty bar. I’ve been doing Floor Presses for twenty years now and can still struggle with nailing the best height on my first try.

**Floor Press is generally done using a close grip to emphasize the demand on the triceps. However, you can go with a wider grip if you choose to.

Med Ball Pushups

Med Ball Pushups are another great chest and triceps-focused alternative to Bench Dips. They’re uniquely versatile because all the equipment that is needed is a medicine ball.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Grab a medicine ball and find an open spot on the ground.
• Start on your knees and secure your hand placement on the ball first.
• Use a neutral grip hand position with palms facing one another on each outer edge of the ball.
• Now, lift the knees off the ground and raise up into a pushup starting position.
• Lower yourself down, keeping the elbows tight to the body as you descend.
• Lower down until the top of your abdomen (just below the sternum) touches the ball.
• Drive back up to the starting position.

Coaching Points

Perhaps the most important part of the entire lift is getting the proper hand placement on the ball. Don’t be afraid to experiment slightly with what hand position feels best as it may change slightly depending on the type and size of the medicine ball you are using.

Keeping the elbows tight to the body is key here to make sure that the focus stays on the triceps.

Bonus Exercise: Close Grip Pushups are very similar to Med Ball Pushups and don’t require any equipment at all. You’ll lose some of the stabilization benefits of Med Ball Pushups, but if you’re restricted on access to equipment they can be an extremely effective alternative.

Diamond Push-ups

Diamond Push-ups are an excellent Bench Dip alternative that is also a bodyweight exercise and doesn’t require any equipment at all.

How To

• Start by positioning yourself in a plank position on the floor, with your hands placed close together and forming a diamond shape with your index fingers and thumbs.
• Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and your body should be straight and in a straight line from head to ankles.
• Lower your body down toward the floor by bending your elbows and keeping them close to your body.
• Once your chest nearly touches the floor, push back up to the starting position.

Coaching Points

To make the exercise easier, you can perform the push-ups with your knees on the floor. To make it more challenging, you can try placing your feet on an elevated surface or adding weight (like a weight vest) to your upper body.

Keep your elbows close to your body. As you lower down and push back up, make sure to keep your elbows close to your body to maximize the triceps activation.

Triceps Pushdowns

Triceps Pushdowns are the first of three of my favorite triceps isolation exercises. You’re not going to get the same chest and shoulders involvement, but if you’re looking for alternative triceps movements, Triceps Pushdowns are a tried and true hall-of-fame exercise.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Step up a cable machine by sliding the pin all the way to the top of the beam.
• Attach the rack attachment of your choice.
• Grab the attachment and pull the attachment down until your elbows are next to your sides (arms should still be bent).
• Now, extend the arms down by flexing the triceps and driving the attachment toward the floor.
• Squeeze the triceps at full extension for one second and then slowly allow the attachment to raise back to the starting position.
• Keep elbows tucked into the sides throughout the movement.

Coaching Points

Do not swing and use momentum at the top of the movement in an attempt to use more weight. Stay in control of the weight at all times and use proper form.

If using a heavy weight, you can lean slightly forward at the waist to give yourself more stability and to help keep yourself anchored to the floor.

Band Triceps Pushdowns

If you’re working out in your garage like me, chances are you don’t have a thousand-plus dollar cable machine. However, a resistance band is something that most of us do have and if you do, Band Triceps Pushdowns are an excellent option for working your triceps.

Step-by-Step Instructions

First, loop a band around the top of a rack or any other piece of equipment that can solidly hold the band.

• Stand tall, head up.
• Hold the band with hands eight inches apart, palms down.
• Bring upper arms to the sides and keep them there.
• Start with forearms and biceps touching.
• Press the band down to arm’s length.
• Return slowly and under control to starting position.

Coaching Points

To make the exercise more challenging, either use a thicker band or choke up on the band.

If you’re unable to get full range of motion, lower your hands on the band, use a thinner band or stand on something to make the movement easier.

Barbell Skull Crushers

My final Bench Dip alternative is Barbell Skull Crushers. They are yet another great movement for building triceps strength and size.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Grab a bar with an overhand grip, lie flat on a bench with head down, chin up. If you don’t have a bench, you can simply lay on the floor.
• Press the bar to arm’s length above the shoulder.
• Lower the bar until it almost touches the top of the forehead, bending arms at the elbows, keeping upper arm vertical and elbows in.
• Drive the bar back up to the starting position and repeat.

Coaching Points

Keep the elbows high throughout. When Skull Crushers start to become difficult, the natural tendency of the lifter is to drop the elbows. Keep the elbows high and tight (try not to let them flare out to the side either).

*You can use a straight barbell or an EZ Curl Bar although most lifters prefer a Curl Bar because of the angle it allows the wrist to turn.

Final Thoughts

Bench Dips are a great exercise, but sometimes you may want to replace Bench Dips in your workout plan. You may not have the proper equipment available to you or at other times you might just be looking to add some variety to your training program.

In these situations, you’ll need a Bench Dips alternative and I hope that at least one of the exercises I’ve listed here fits what you were looking for.

Share This