One Rep Max Triceps Dips Calculator

The great thing about bodyweight exercises like pull-ups and dips is that you don’t need any extra equipment to do them. Just grab the bars and get to work – simple! But what if your body weight no longer provides much of a challenge? Sure, you COULD do more reps, but that soon gets kinda boring.

Use our one rep max triceps dip calculator to estimate how much extra weight you can use for dips and your dip 1RM.

What Is the One Rep Max Triceps Dips Calculator?

Your one-repetition maximum, or one rep max (1RM for short), is the amount of weight you can lift once, but not twice. It’s basically a measure of your strength.

You can test for your 1RM by lifting progressively heavier weights until you hit failure. However, this can be very tiring and stressful. So, instead of testing your one rep max, you can use our calculator to estimate how much weight you can lift for a single repetition.

Just pick a weight, do as many reps as possible, and then enter your results into the calculator – simple! In return, you’ll discover your estimated 1RM and also find out how many reps you should be able to do with a lower weight.

All this information can be helpful when designing a new workout. For example, you might want to do sets of five reps with 85% of your 1RM or need to know what weight you should use for sets of ten reps. You can also retest your 1RM to see if you are getting stronger.

Using our one rep max weighted triceps dip calculator will take the guesswork out of setting up your next training cycle.

How to Use the One Rep Max Triceps Dips Calculator

Our one-rep max weighted triceps dip calculator is straightforward to use. Just follow these steps:

Option 1: Compute a Specific Result

1- Calculator Mode: Reps to RM

1. Select your units – kilograms or pounds.
2. Enter your body weight.
3. Input the amount of additional weight used.
4. Input the number of reps you performed.
5. Read off your estimated weighted triceps dip 1RM.

2- Calculator Mode: RM to Reps for Specific Weight

1. Select your units – kilograms or pounds.
2. Enter your body weight.
3. Enter your one rep max.  
4. Enter the amount of weight you want to use.
5. Read off the number of reps you should be able to do with your chosen weight.

 3- Calculator Mode: RM to Weight for Specific Reps

1. Select your units – kilograms or pounds.
2. Enter your body weight.
3. Enter the one rep max.
4. Enter the number of reps you want to be able to do.
5. Read off the weight you should be able to lift for the specified number of reps. 

Option 2: Calculate the Table

This option produces a table of your 1RM and various percentages and rep maxes based on that result. Print it out and carry it with you so you can quickly determine how much weight to use or how many reps you should do during your workouts.

1. Select your units – kilograms or pounds
2. Enter your bodyweight
3. Enter your 1RM for the weighted triceps dip
4. View the table (see example below).

How to Improve your Weighted 1RM Dip Score

If you want to know your weighted dip 1RM, you probably also want to know how to improve it, right? Use the following tips and strategies to make your workouts more effective and increase your triceps dip 1RM strength.

1. Do over-weighted negatives

You are stronger eccentrically than you are concentrically. That means you can lower more weight than you can lift. Dips start with an eccentric or lowering phase and end with a concentric phase. It’s only natural that you should fail on the way back up.

Overloading the eccentric phase of your dip will increase your concentric strength and provides a good way to expose your muscles to more weight than you can usually handle.

To do this, load up your dipping belt or weight vest with your weighted dip 1RM or even a little more.

Use your legs to climb up into the starting position of the dip and then lower yourself down slowly. Climb back up and repeat until you can no longer control your descent.

Use this strategy to increase your strength, but beware – eccentric training can cause severe post-workout muscle soreness.

2. Beef up your triceps with close-grip bench presses

Weighted dips are an excellent triceps exercise, but you can have too much of a good thing. Do them often enough, and your workouts will become boring, and you may even hit a progress plateau.

Vary your training by including other triceps-centric exercises in your workouts. Close grip bench presses are an excellent choice because you can use heavy weights and mirror the demands of weighted triceps dips.

3. Train triceps dips twice a week

A lot of bodybuilders train each major muscle group once per week, often using what is called a bro split. While that can work for hypertrophy, it may not be ideal for building brute strength.

Train your triceps twice per week, e.g., Monday and Thursday. Two workouts should produce better results and provides a good balance between training and recovery.

4. Make low reps and long rests the cornerstones of your workouts

When it comes to getting good at weighted triceps dips, you must ensure that every rep you perform is as perfect as possible. Scrappy reps or trying to do reps when you are tired will hurt your progress and performance.

So, keep your reps relatively low, stopping 1-3 reps short of failure, and take long rests between sets to ensure that you are fully recovered. 4-6 reps with 3-5 minutes between sets is a good place to start, but feel free to rest longer if you wish.

5. Don’t neglect your body’s need for rest, recovery, and food

Training with heavy weights to build strength and muscle mass takes a lot out of your body. Therefore, you need to make sure your diet and lifestyle put back in what your workouts take out.

Make sure you:

• Get 7-9 hours of sleep per night – weekends as well as weekends.
• Eat healthy, nutritious foods.
• Consume around one gram of protein per pound of body weight.
• Avoid consuming too much junk food, refined sugar, soda, processed food, etc.
• Create a small calorie surplus to fuel your workouts, recovery, and muscle growth.
• Go easy on the alcohol.
• Have 1-2 days off from training per week.

6. Be consistent and persistent

It takes a lot of time, energy, and effort to build strength and increase your 1RM. Missing workouts won’t get it done. So, you need to commit to training hard and consistently for many weeks, months, and even years if you want to reach your goals.

Motivation and willpower are required, as are persistence and patience. You need to develop the exercise habit and avoid missing workouts unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.

Read more about how to be more consistent in your workouts here.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How often should I retest my weighted triceps dip one rep max?

One of the best things about our weighted triceps dip 1RM calculator is that you can retest your dip max whenever you want. Just input your current bodyweight weight, added weight, and the number of reps completed to determine your current 1RM. So, in theory, you can retest your weighted dip 1RM whenever you perform them.

In contrast, “real” repetition maximum testing is so strenuous that you should only do it once every couple of months, and beginners should probably avoid it altogether. 

2. How many reps should I do to estimate my weighted triceps dip 1RM?

All one-rep max calculators use equations to estimate your 1RM. While most allow you to input ten or more reps, you’ll get the most accurate results if you stick to the 3-5 rep range. The lower your rep count, the less of an “educated guess” your one rep max result will be.

3. Are weighted triceps dips safe?

Some people feel weighted triceps dips in their shoulders. This is probably because they’re descending too far, which puts a lot of stress on the shoulder joint. Avoid shoulder pain by descending until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Really, there is no benefit to going deeper.

4. Are weighted dips more of a chest or triceps exercise?

Weighted dips work your chest AND your triceps. However, it is possible to emphasize your chest or triceps depending on how you perform the exercise. For example, leaning forward and flaring your elbows outward increases chest activation. In contrast, keeping your torso upright and driving your elbows backward hits your triceps more.

So, do the type of weighted dip that best matches your training goal.

Read more about chest vs. triceps dips here.

5. Are weighted triceps dips better than bench presses?

Despite looking very different, bench presses and weighted triceps dips share several similarities. Both are compound upper body pressing exercises, both work your chest, and both train your triceps. The main difference is that, in dips, your body moves while your hands remain stationary, and the reverse happens during bench presses.

These differences aside, the bench press and dips are somewhat interchangeable, and both can help build your chest, arms, and shoulders.

Read more about these two exercises and how to choose between them here.

6. What is the best way to add weight to dips?

There are a few different ways you can add weight to your triceps dips. The best options are:

• Dipping belts – these have wide backs and are fitted with chains so you can suspend dumbbells or weight plates from your hips. They’re comfortable and easy to adjust.
• Weighted vest – worn like a set of body armor, weighted vests are comfortable and widely available. You can also wear one for many other exercises, including pull-ups, push-ups, and cardio. On the downside, they can be expensive and are often fiddly to adjust.
• Backpack – if you’ve got a backpack, you can fill it with weights or books and wear it for dips. While this is a convenient and cost-effective option, it may not be the most comfortable, as all the weight will be on your back.
• Yoga strap – you can put a yoga strap around your hips and hang weights from it for dips and pull-ups. However, there is no padding, so heavy weights will be uncomfortable. But, on the plus side, this is a very cheap option, and yoga straps are light and portable.

Finally, you can just clamp and hold a dumbbell between your knees or crossed ankles. Unfortunately, this is not comfortable or practical with anything other than very light weights.

7. Are weighted triceps dips good for building muscle?

Weighed dips are an excellent exercise for increasing muscle size. Bodyweight dips are good, but adding extra weight makes this exercise even more effective. Dips are just as effective as bench presses for building muscle mass, and every bodybuilder knows how important bench presses are!

So, yes, dips ARE good for building muscle, and they deserve a place in your upper body workouts.

Wrapping Up

Knowing your weighted triceps dip 1RM can be helpful when planning your workout cycles or measuring your strength training progress. Unlike a “real” 1RM test, using our weighted triceps dip calculator is easy and safe, and you can retest your one rep max whenever you want.

You can also use this one-rep max weighted dip calculator to estimate how many reps you should be able to do with a specific weight. This is very useful when deciding what loads to use in your workouts.

Take the uncertainty out of programming weighted triceps dips with our accurate and easy-to-use one-rep max calculator.

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