I've decided to start the series with one of my favorite muscle groups to workout: Triceps!
Triceps is latin for "three headed muscle". It is composed of three different major bundles of muscle fibers (long head, medial head, and the lateral head). When talking about the triceps as it relates to the arms, we are referencing the triceps brachii. The principal role of the triceps brachii is to aid in extention of the elbow joint to help straigten the arm (wikipedia).
Source: arthursclipart.org
If you want big arms, you need to hit the triceps hard. A common misconception is that focusing on bicep workouts and working out the biceps is the key to huge arms. In fact, it's triceps growth that results in the aesthetic of huge arms. I'm not sure if this is the correct ratio, but as a general rule of thumb, it's said that triceps make up "two-thirds" of your arm. Whatever the true value is, the take-home message is that triceps make up most of your arm size, and so working them out is very important if you want massive arms.
Triceps exercises can be loads of fun, and in working them out you can actually workout a bunch of other muscle groups as well. Conversely, many exercises for other muscle groups work the triceps in as well.
All of the exercises I spotlight in this series are done with the mindset of lifting until failure, lifting a weight that makes you attain failure at 6-15 repetitions, and doing 3-4 sets of each exercise.
My five favorite triceps exercises include:
1. DIPS
Triceps exercises can be loads of fun, and in working them out you can actually workout a bunch of other muscle groups as well. Conversely, many exercises for other muscle groups work the triceps in as well.
All of the exercises I spotlight in this series are done with the mindset of lifting until failure, lifting a weight that makes you attain failure at 6-15 repetitions, and doing 3-4 sets of each exercise.
My five favorite triceps exercises include:
1. DIPS
I remember waiting about a year to a year and a half before I first started doing dips. I'll always remember doing them for the first time in my apartment complex in Florida and then having my mind blown at just how much of a pump in my triceps I received and how sore I felt the next day. Ever since that day, I made sure that dips were part of every triceps routine I did. They are fantastic for putting on triceps mass, as well as providing other muscle group involvement as well, all while giving you a nice isolation in the triceps as you go up and down.
How to do them:
How to do them:
I'm not really sure what the apparatus is called (I'll provide a picture), but I call it a power tower. It's the machine you use for leg lifts when you're working abs. Often times, they will have two little knobs sticking out in front where you can place your hands to push your body upward. If your power tower does not have this feature, then it will not work. Often times you'll see these knobs on pullup machines, and often times they'll even be called dip machines.
Step onto the machine on the designated foot pads and face towards the machine. Grab the knobs with each hand and push yourself up. Bend in your knees so that you will not touch the floor on your way down as you come back down to the negative end range of motion of the exercise.
To do a successful rep, start out with your elbows bent at almost 90 degree angles (your shoulders should not feel strained....if they do, you are too far down). Lift your body up in the air, being mindful to only use your arms (in particular the triceps) to complete this motion. Once you've reached the top / end range of motion, flex your triceps. Your elbows might lock when you do this to get a good pump. I've heard that's a bad thing. I say just don't lock your elbows so hard that they would snap or whatever. To come back down, slowly lower yourself back to the starting position and repeat this motion.
If you're able to do 15-20 with your bodyweight easily, try using a "dipping belt". It's that belt that has the nice long chrome chain at one end and a loop at the other. Use it to wrap some weighted plates (by placing the chain through the weighted plate holes) around and lock to the other loop. You should now have a weighted plate hanging from your waist, adding resistance to your dips. These are also called "weighted dips".
To do a successful rep, start out with your elbows bent at almost 90 degree angles (your shoulders should not feel strained....if they do, you are too far down). Lift your body up in the air, being mindful to only use your arms (in particular the triceps) to complete this motion. Once you've reached the top / end range of motion, flex your triceps. Your elbows might lock when you do this to get a good pump. I've heard that's a bad thing. I say just don't lock your elbows so hard that they would snap or whatever. To come back down, slowly lower yourself back to the starting position and repeat this motion.
If you're able to do 15-20 with your bodyweight easily, try using a "dipping belt". It's that belt that has the nice long chrome chain at one end and a loop at the other. Use it to wrap some weighted plates (by placing the chain through the weighted plate holes) around and lock to the other loop. You should now have a weighted plate hanging from your waist, adding resistance to your dips. These are also called "weighted dips".
Source; workoutlabs.com
2. TRICEP PUSHDOWNS
Triceps pulldowns are probably my favorite of the triceps exercises. They really isolate the triceps as you go through the ranges of motion, and also make you feel like a boss from all the weight you're lifting as you get better at them.
How to do them:
Using a tricep pushdown apparatus (picture shown below), choose a two-handled rope or "v-bar" handle and attach it to the apparatus. Select the weight that makes you fail at 6-15 repetitions.
While squaring your stance and jutting your butt out a bit, "pin" your elbows to your sides and pull down the rope / v-bar. Make sure to flex your triceps and try to use only your triceps to complete the motion. Pull the weight until your arm is completely straight, and slowly come back up to the starting position where your elbows are bent. Continue until failure.
While squaring your stance and jutting your butt out a bit, "pin" your elbows to your sides and pull down the rope / v-bar. Make sure to flex your triceps and try to use only your triceps to complete the motion. Pull the weight until your arm is completely straight, and slowly come back up to the starting position where your elbows are bent. Continue until failure.
Typical looking triceps pulldown apparatus
Source: discountonlinefitness.com
As stated earlier, you need to choose a handle that works for you for tricep pushdown exercises (metal v-bar, rope, straight bar, etc). No one handle works best, and you can figure out which one you like the best. You could also use different handles each time you work out to mix it up. Personally, I enjoy using the solid metal v-bar as it isolates my arms and makes it so that I don't have to concentrate on stabilizing any other part of my body.
Metal v-bar
Source: auctiva.com
Triceps pushdown rope handle
Source: i.ebayimg.com
Triceps pushdown straight bar handle
Source: incredibody.com
3. SKULL-CRUSHERS
Skull-crushers are another great triceps exercise, but be careful. As the name implies, it can be a very dangerous exercise if you don't know what you're doing. Be sure to start off with light weight or use a spotter the first time you attempt to do this exercise.
How to do them:
Laying down on a free bench, take a barbell and hold it above your head. Without moving anything below your elbows, lower the weight, aiming just above your head (above your head as if your were standing. Behind your head if you're laying on your back). Come back up and squeeze the triceps at the end range of motion. The way you angle you your elbows is important here. Be sure to try to bring your elbows in and point the tips of them forward. If you do it right, you should feel a nice pump and squeeze in your triceps.
Skull-crushers are another great triceps exercise, but be careful. As the name implies, it can be a very dangerous exercise if you don't know what you're doing. Be sure to start off with light weight or use a spotter the first time you attempt to do this exercise.
How to do them:
Laying down on a free bench, take a barbell and hold it above your head. Without moving anything below your elbows, lower the weight, aiming just above your head (above your head as if your were standing. Behind your head if you're laying on your back). Come back up and squeeze the triceps at the end range of motion. The way you angle you your elbows is important here. Be sure to try to bring your elbows in and point the tips of them forward. If you do it right, you should feel a nice pump and squeeze in your triceps.
Source: workoutlabs.com
4. TRICEP KICK BACKS
Tricep kickbacks are a VERY good exercise for triceps isolation. It's an exercise that doesn't need a lot of weight to perform effectively either. This would be a good exercise to do sets that have high repetitions for endurance training and increased hypertrophy.
How to do them:
You might find that it doesn't matter, but to effectively do these, I find it important to use a free bench.
Using a free bench, place the knee opposite of the side of the arm where you want to work one of your triceps. Place the leg that's on the same side of the tricep you are trying to work on the ground to stabilize yourself. Bend over and place the opposite arm on the free bench. Create a right angle with your arm while holding a pretty light dumbbell down at your side. Pinning your elbow to your side, raise the dumbbell backward until you can't go any further. You should feel a nice squeeze in your tricep. Keep going until failure and repeat on the opposite side.
Tricep kickbacks are a VERY good exercise for triceps isolation. It's an exercise that doesn't need a lot of weight to perform effectively either. This would be a good exercise to do sets that have high repetitions for endurance training and increased hypertrophy.
How to do them:
You might find that it doesn't matter, but to effectively do these, I find it important to use a free bench.
Using a free bench, place the knee opposite of the side of the arm where you want to work one of your triceps. Place the leg that's on the same side of the tricep you are trying to work on the ground to stabilize yourself. Bend over and place the opposite arm on the free bench. Create a right angle with your arm while holding a pretty light dumbbell down at your side. Pinning your elbow to your side, raise the dumbbell backward until you can't go any further. You should feel a nice squeeze in your tricep. Keep going until failure and repeat on the opposite side.
Source: workoutlabs.com
5. SUPERSETTED CLOSE GRIP PUSHUPS
Alright, so maybe this isn't TECHNICALLY a tricep exercise in the traditional sense of the word, but I still make sure to incorporate them into my tricep exercises. Often times I'll superset them with any of the above exercises on the 3rd and 4th sets.
I'm assuming you know what a pushup looks like. If not, it's where you place your hands on the ground and lay with your stomach on the floor. You then push yourself straight up and repeat until you can't do any more. It sounds simple, but there are many different ways you can position your body and perform a line of drive that can activate specific muscle groups more intensely. It can get a lot more intricate than you think!
My pushups for tricep days are different than on my chest days. And yes, depending on how you perform the pushup, you can absolutely target your triceps more. So how do you do this? Let me explain:
First, do not start out in a wide stance with your arms. Use a close stance. Place your hands slightly inside the width of your shoulders.
Now comes the "complicated part". When you go down during the repetition of this pushup, kind of push your weight forward. When you go up, try to almost push your weight back towards your butt and make a conscious effort to use only your triceps, or the back of your arms, to lift yourself up. If you do it right, you should feel a nice pump and explosive sensation resonate throughout your triceps. I know it sounds kind of weird, and it may take practice, but just keep at it until you get it right.
Alright, so maybe this isn't TECHNICALLY a tricep exercise in the traditional sense of the word, but I still make sure to incorporate them into my tricep exercises. Often times I'll superset them with any of the above exercises on the 3rd and 4th sets.
I'm assuming you know what a pushup looks like. If not, it's where you place your hands on the ground and lay with your stomach on the floor. You then push yourself straight up and repeat until you can't do any more. It sounds simple, but there are many different ways you can position your body and perform a line of drive that can activate specific muscle groups more intensely. It can get a lot more intricate than you think!
My pushups for tricep days are different than on my chest days. And yes, depending on how you perform the pushup, you can absolutely target your triceps more. So how do you do this? Let me explain:
First, do not start out in a wide stance with your arms. Use a close stance. Place your hands slightly inside the width of your shoulders.
Kind of like this
Source: wannado.com
So there you go. My top 5 triceps exercises. Incorporate these into your workouts on arm days and I guarantee you you won't be sorry. You'll get an amazing workout, and your arms will feel like you just waged war on them!
Let me know what you think about this list. If you have other ideas / triceps exercises you like better, leave a comment and let me know!
-Jtrain
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Let me know what you think about this list. If you have other ideas / triceps exercises you like better, leave a comment and let me know!
-Jtrain
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