Assisted Dip
The assisted dip is a parallel bar dip on a machine with a counterweighted pad under your knees or feet. It trains the triceps, with the chest and front delts assisting. Use it to build up to bodyweight dips, or to get more full-range reps while keeping your form clean.
Muscles worked
The assisted dip trains the triceps, with chest, shoulders helping.
Weekly sets for triceps
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for triceps, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the assisted dip
- 01Select the assistance weight; more weight on the stack means more help.
- 02Step up, grab the dip handles, and place your knees or feet on the pad.
- 03Start with your arms straight, shoulders down, and body upright.
- 04Lower yourself until your elbows reach about 90 degrees, keeping them pointed back.
- 05Press back up until your arms are straight, then step off carefully after the set.
Coaching cues
- Stay upright for triceps
- Elbows track straight back
- Smooth press to lockout
Common mistakes
- Sinking too deep can stress the front of your shoulders, so stop when your elbows reach about 90 degrees.
- Leaning far forward turns it into a chest dip, so keep your torso upright if triceps are the goal.
- Choosing too much assistance makes every set easy, so pick help that leaves you near failure in your rep range.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers compound lifts toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Assisted Dip alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your assisted dip free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.