Tricep Dip Meet
Quick Intro
Tricep Dip Meet uses the tricep dip, a bodyweight pushing exercise in which you hold yourself on your arms at the edge of a bench, lower the hips by bending the elbows and press back up by straightening them. You sit on two facing benches or sturdy chairs and dip at the same time, meeting for a high-five at the top of every rep. The high-five is short and the rhythm is shared, so the set feels like a rally you are both keeping alive.
How to place the hands, how deep to lower and how to keep the elbows tracking is explained at Tricep Dip.
What You’ll Need
Two benches or very stable chairs that face each other and cannot slide, set far enough apart for your feet to fit flat in the gap and close enough that your hands can meet at the top. Enough floor room for your feet on your own side of the gap, and a non-slip surface under the legs of the seats. A mat is optional.
How to Do It Together
- Set the gap. Place the benches facing each other so that your feet can sit flat on the floor in the space between and your outstretched hands can just meet in the middle.
- Take your seats. Sit on the front edge of your bench with the hands gripping the edge beside the hips and the knees bent.
- Walk the hips forward. Slide the hips off the edge so your weight rests on your arms, with the elbows soft and the shoulders pulled down away from the ears.
- Lower together. Bend the elbows to roughly ninety degrees, going down on the same slow count as your partner.
- Press up together. Straighten the arms until you reach the top at the same moment.
- Meet at the top. Lift the hand nearest the middle, high-five your partner’s raised hand and put it straight back on the bench before the next rep.
- Repeat. Keep going for the agreed number of reps at a shared pace.
Breathe in as you lower and breathe out as you press up.
Why the High-Five Belongs at the Top
A dip has an exposed bottom and a stable top. At the bottom the elbows are deeply bent and the front of the shoulder is stretched under your weight, which is where this exercise is hardest on the joint. At the top the arms are long and the load travels straight down through the bones. Putting the contact at the top means that neither of you is reaching or twisting at the moment the shoulder is most vulnerable.
Even so, a high-five briefly asks one arm to hold your whole weight. That works because it is brief and because the supporting elbow stays slightly soft and not locked. Keep the shoulder of the supporting arm pulled down. If you feel the shoulder creep toward the ear as you lift the other hand, shift less weight onto it by keeping your feet closer to the bench or pressing more through the feet. The hand comes up, meets and returns. It does not linger in the air.
The two of you need to arrive at the top together, so agree a count before you start. A common choice is two seconds down and two seconds up. The partner who is faster waits at the top with the arms straight until the other arrives, and the high-five happens only when both of you are there. If the rhythm drifts, slow down. A set at a quiet, even pace feels better than one that tries to speed up.
Elbows should track straight back and not out to the sides. Flaring them wide shifts the strain to the front of the shoulder and takes work away from the back of the arm. Picture the elbows pointing at the wall behind you. Fatigue in this exercise usually shows up in the shoulders before the triceps give out, so keep an eye on the shoulders in particular. A rising shoulder is the earliest sign that it is time to stop the set.
Benches matter more than they seem to. A chair that slides back as you push or a bench that tilts will ruin the set, and may hurt someone. Check each seat by pressing down on it before you load it, and place it on a floor that grips. If you use chairs, use ones without wheels and consider putting them against a wall at their back edge. Two stable seats, a good gap and a shared count are all you need.
For other exercises that build a brief touch into every rep, Push-Up Meet touches foreheads at the bottom of every push-up and Diamond Push-Up Kiss Meet shares a kiss there. Bridge Hold & Tricep Dip Work pairs a dip with a hold so that partners work different muscles at the same time.
If You’re at Different Fitness Levels
A shallower dip with the knees bent more and the feet closer to the bench lightens the load for a couple newer to dips, and the high-five at the top stays as it is. Each of you can choose your own depth and leg position, and you time the press back up so you arrive at the top together. The lower, deeper dip only matters to the partner who wants it, and the rep ends in the same place for both of you.
Safety and Consent
Stop for any pain in the shoulder, which is different from ordinary tiredness in the back of the arms. Keep the elbows tracking back, the shoulders down and the supporting elbow slightly soft during the high-five. Check that both seats are stable before loading them, and keep the feet on the floor on your own side of the gap.
Every connection moment in these exercises is something either partner can skip or scale back at any point, including this one, no explanation needed. Dip side by side with no high-five, or only one on the last rep, and the set stays the same.
FAQ
Doesn’t a high-five take a hand off the bench? Yes, briefly. The supporting arm carries your weight for a moment with a soft elbow, then the hand returns to the bench.
How far apart should the benches be? Far enough apart that your feet fit flat in the gap, and close enough that your hands can just meet at the top.
How deep should we go? Roughly ninety degrees at the elbow is plenty. Go shallower if the shoulders complain.
What if we dip at different speeds? Agree a count, and whoever reaches the top first waits until the other arrives.
Can we skip the high-five on some reps? Yes. Doing it on the last rep of each set or every few reps keeps the shoulders fresher.
Can I do tricep dips on my own? Yes. Tricep Dip covers the solo exercise.
Built on Tricep Dip. Push-Up Meet and Diamond Push-Up Kiss Meet are two more exercises that put a brief meeting inside every rep.