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Dips for Triceps Mass

Are Dips a Good Tricep Exercise

Q. I've been told that dips really help you add girth and help shape the triceps. I'm currently doing push downs, skull crushers and kickbacks, but don't know what else to do. If I want to change the shape of my triceps, what exercises can I do?

A. Plenty! It sounds like you got off to a good start, but I do have some suggestions. First, if all you're doing is these three exercises, you'll want to expand your workouts a bit. It's not that you have to do 6 exercises per workout - in fact quite the contrary. You really only want to select about 3 exercises per workout for either bis or tris. However, you want to mix things up and have some kind of plan as to what you do and when. I always say to people that "why" you're doing something is probably most important because it means you have a plan in place and a "method to your madness". First off, if you train your tris twice a week like most people, you'll want to have a heavy day and a day that is devoted to more shaping exercises. I personally like to start off the week with the power workout and finish off with the shaping workout. You're strongest after a few days off in succession. Choose three exercises for power... such as Close grip bench press, Skull crushers and Push downs. This is a great workout for heavier weights. Just make sure to have a spotter on hand, since the tris exhaust faster than almost any muscle group. And when they fail, they fail big time! For the second one, try doing Overhead Triceps Rope Extensions to start, then do Kick backs and finish off with sets to failure of Dips. Dips are a great shaper, by the way. The second thing I'd tell you to do is to experiment with angles. Change grips often and see what happens. Use false grip at times and true grip when doing Close grip bench. Use different attachments for the Overhead Triceps extensions and widen and narrow your grip during Dips. You'd be surprised how much variation there is within one exercise. Pay attention to which triceps head gets more pumped, how long you stay pumped after an exercise, and how many reps you can do with that movement before failing. The main thing to know is, you were born with a certain triceps configuration. It shouldn't differ too much from others, but sometimes it does and heads can be longer on some people and shorter on others, etc. This is something no amount of training can help. However, you can really increase the density of any muscle and correct training practices are the only way to do that. Good luck!

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