The Problem:
Most women, correctly or incorrectly, believe their arms are too 'flabby' in particularly the back of the upper arm i.e. the Triceps! This area does tend to lose firmness with time due to the fact that during everyday life we don't do many activities that specifically exercise this muscle group!
The Solution:
The Triceps Dip can be a very effective exercise to zone in on this problem area! The best part is that you don't need any special equipment - a simple chair, stairs or even just the floor is more than enough!
The Technique:
- Find a sturdy chair
- Put you back to the chair and place your hands on the edge, shoulder distance apart
- For beginners the knees should be kept at a right-angle which keeps the feet close to the body - the further the feet away the more body weight use so the more advanced the exercise!
- Lower the hips down to the floor keep the hips as close to the chair as possible. Take care to stay within your range of motion - at your maximum the elbow angle should be approx. 90 degrees
- Make sure to keep the arms tight to the body and point the elbows backwards in order to target the Triceps!
- Once at the 'bottom' of the dip push down on the chair to lift yourself back to the starting position
- This counts as one rep
How Many?
- Beginner: 3 Sets of 10 Reps
- Intermediate: 3 Sets os 15 Reps
- Advanced: 3 Sets of 20 Reps
Important: don't go beyond 90 degrees on the downward portion of the exercise as this will (i) result in loss of form and not hit the target area & (ii) runs the risk of inuring the shoulder!
- Paul O'Callaghan from evofitness.ie
Image Credit: Conor Merriman