Machine Dip
The machine dip is a seated dip where you press handles down beside your hips against a weight stack. It trains the triceps hardest, with the chest and front delts assisting. It gives you the pressing pattern of a dip with easy loading and none of the bodyweight balance demands.
Muscles worked
The machine 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 machine dip
- 01Adjust the seat so the handles start at about mid chest height beside your body.
- 02Sit upright with your back on the pad and feet planted or on the footrest.
- 03Grab the handles with a neutral grip and your elbows pointing back.
- 04Press the handles down until your arms are straight beside your hips.
- 05Let the handles rise slowly until your elbows are bent to about 90 degrees, then press again.
Coaching cues
- Elbows back, not out
- Shoulders down away from ears
- Press straight down
Common mistakes
- Letting your shoulders roll forward at the top of the rep strains the front of the shoulder, so stop at about 90 degrees.
- Flaring your elbows wide shifts work to the chest, so keep them close to your sides for triceps focus.
- Lifting your hips off the seat to finish reps adds momentum, so stay seated and lower the weight.
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.
Machine 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 machine dip free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.