Fitness Friday - Tricep Dips

I have spent several Fitness Fridays talking about my new love of yoga and some of the positions that I am trying to learning to get comfortable in.  I am hitting the point where I want to try some of the more intermediate poses but I know that I need to increase both my core strength and my upper arm strength.  This Fitness Friday will focus on helping my improve the strength in my triceps, getting me to the next step in some of the yoga poses that I want to try and improving the look of my upper arms.  One of the trainers at my gym has suggested that I work my way up to Tricep Dips and that will be today's topic.

I have started to do Tricep Dips with a bench on the floor and am working up to being able to do them as pictured here.  They remind me very much of a reverse push up, another move that I am working up to doing the full pose of.  The Pop Sugar website has provided a series of instructions that I will share here for anyone that wishes to work this move into their fitness regime. 

- Position your hands shoulder-width apart on a secured bench or stable chair.
- Slide your butt off the front of the bench with your legs extended out in front of you.
- Straighten your arms, keeping a little bend in your elbows to keep tension on your triceps and off your elbow joints.
- Slowly bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor until your elbows are at about a 90-degree angle. Be sure to keep your back close to the bench.
- Once you reach the bottom of the movement, press down into the bench to straighten your elbows, returning to the starting position. This completes one rep.
- Keep your shoulders down as you lower and raise your body. You can bend your legs to modify this exercise.

A rep is 15 to 20 of these dips and I am working up to doing two or three reps on every arm day at the gym.  I am currently at one full rep and then I try to add as many more as possible.  I can feel it in my biceps and triceps the next day after my workout however I am already seeing improvement in both the number of reps that I can do correctly and the amount of weights that I can lift when doing other exercises.

My goal right now is to work as many of these in as possible at least three or four times a week.  Tricep Dips can be done anywhere as they require no equipment and only a minimal amount of room.  I bet that I could even work these into my work day as long as none of my co workers are around!

I will continue to work on my upper arm and core strength for the next few weeks and then we will head into some of the more intermediate yoga poses at the beginning of the new year.

photo courtesy of Pop Sugar