Triple threat: 3 exercises for the triceps
- By Tony Schwartz
- Published 09/11/2009
- Men's Issues
- Unrated
Triple threat: 3 exercises for the triceps
The triceps are one of the most underrated muscle groups. After all, they contribute significantly more to your overall arm size than your biceps, and they are a key muscle group in all pressing exercises. Is there a lifter out there who doesn't want bigger arms and a better bench press?
With this is in mind it should seem obvious that building your triceps should be your goal if you want to get bigger and stronger. The problem is that most body builders don't know how to train their triceps properly. You will often see bodybuilders using valuable energy on things like pushdowns and kickbacks. Now, there isn't anything bad about these exercises, but the majority of your time would be much better spent on compound exercises which allow for heavy loads to be used.
In fact, you simply can't properly stimulate all of the muscle fibers in the triceps without using some exercises which allow for heavy loads to be used. In general it is best to hit 1 or 2 heavy compound exercises and then move on to an isolation exercise to squeeze the last little bit out of your muscles.
With this in mind let's take a look at three great exercises for your triceps:
Close grip BB Bench Press
If this isn't the undisputed king of the triceps exercises, then it is pretty close. The ability to use heavy loads due to synergy from your pecs and delts allows you to completely overload the triceps and force them to grow. While you want to work on continually getting stronger, you should not sacrifice correct technique for weight. With this exercise it important to keep the elbows tucked into your body throughout the movement in order to keep as much stress as possible on the triceps. Even with a close grip the stress can be taken off of the triceps and onto the elbow joints if you don't keep the elbows tucked in tight. This obviously not only hurts your muscle growth, but can lead to elbow and wrist injuries as well.
Narrow Parallel Bar Dips
This is the classic triceps mass builder. Dips are likely responsible for building more triceps msucle mass than any other movement. This is from the combination of heavy weights and targeted stimulation that they provide to the triceps. When you first begin lifting you may have trouble doing more than a couple of these,
but as you progress it is vital to continue adding weight by using a dumbbell between your feet or a specialized dip belt. The addition of external loading will allow you to continue to progress in this movement once you are capable of easily handling your body weight.
As with most triceps exercises, the key to proper performance is to keep your elbows close to the body. This means using a close grip on the dip bars. It also means that you should use an upright posture without too much forward lean. Leaning forward shifts more of the stress to the deltoids and pecs, which is not what we want for our goal of bigger triceps. Optimally, you should descend into the bottom of the exercise until your upper arms were parallel with the ground. However, this may cause shoulder pain in a good number of lifters, and in this case you should either shorten the range of movement or discard the exercise altogether.
Triceps Skullcrushers
This is probably the lifting movement with the most frigthening name. After all, who wants their head smashed? But the exercise is aptly named because it is performed lying down on your back on a bench with a barbell at arm's length. You will then flex at the elbows and lower the bar until it touches your forehead. Obviously if you do this in an uncontrolled manner it will hurt your skull!
The key to this exercise is to make sure the stress stays on the triceps. To do this you want the elbows tucked in and pointed towards the ceiling. It is essential that you only flex and straighten the elbows and that you do not move them forward or backward, or you will shift the stress off the triceps.
While this exercise is traditionally done by touching the bar to the forehead, you can vary the point at which you touch in order target specific areas of the triceps. In general, shifting lower on the body, such as the chin, will hit the medial head harder, while shifting higher on the body will hit the long head harder.
As you can see perfect technique is critical to your success with triceps exercises, just as it is with all exercises. You can perform exercises with bad technique and still get some of the benefit, but you will never see great results and you may just hurt yourself in the process. Because of this it is suggested that you learn how to do these exercises properly from qualified professional in the field.
See video and get tips on Close Grip Barbell Bench Presses and more of the best triceps building exercises.
With this is in mind it should seem obvious that building your triceps should be your goal if you want to get bigger and stronger. The problem is that most body builders don't know how to train their triceps properly. You will often see bodybuilders using valuable energy on things like pushdowns and kickbacks. Now, there isn't anything bad about these exercises, but the majority of your time would be much better spent on compound exercises which allow for heavy loads to be used.
In fact, you simply can't properly stimulate all of the muscle fibers in the triceps without using some exercises which allow for heavy loads to be used. In general it is best to hit 1 or 2 heavy compound exercises and then move on to an isolation exercise to squeeze the last little bit out of your muscles.
With this in mind let's take a look at three great exercises for your triceps:
Close grip BB Bench Press
If this isn't the undisputed king of the triceps exercises, then it is pretty close. The ability to use heavy loads due to synergy from your pecs and delts allows you to completely overload the triceps and force them to grow. While you want to work on continually getting stronger, you should not sacrifice correct technique for weight. With this exercise it important to keep the elbows tucked into your body throughout the movement in order to keep as much stress as possible on the triceps. Even with a close grip the stress can be taken off of the triceps and onto the elbow joints if you don't keep the elbows tucked in tight. This obviously not only hurts your muscle growth, but can lead to elbow and wrist injuries as well.
Narrow Parallel Bar Dips
This is the classic triceps mass builder. Dips are likely responsible for building more triceps msucle mass than any other movement. This is from the combination of heavy weights and targeted stimulation that they provide to the triceps. When you first begin lifting you may have trouble doing more than a couple of these,
As with most triceps exercises, the key to proper performance is to keep your elbows close to the body. This means using a close grip on the dip bars. It also means that you should use an upright posture without too much forward lean. Leaning forward shifts more of the stress to the deltoids and pecs, which is not what we want for our goal of bigger triceps. Optimally, you should descend into the bottom of the exercise until your upper arms were parallel with the ground. However, this may cause shoulder pain in a good number of lifters, and in this case you should either shorten the range of movement or discard the exercise altogether.
Triceps Skullcrushers
This is probably the lifting movement with the most frigthening name. After all, who wants their head smashed? But the exercise is aptly named because it is performed lying down on your back on a bench with a barbell at arm's length. You will then flex at the elbows and lower the bar until it touches your forehead. Obviously if you do this in an uncontrolled manner it will hurt your skull!
The key to this exercise is to make sure the stress stays on the triceps. To do this you want the elbows tucked in and pointed towards the ceiling. It is essential that you only flex and straighten the elbows and that you do not move them forward or backward, or you will shift the stress off the triceps.
While this exercise is traditionally done by touching the bar to the forehead, you can vary the point at which you touch in order target specific areas of the triceps. In general, shifting lower on the body, such as the chin, will hit the medial head harder, while shifting higher on the body will hit the long head harder.
As you can see perfect technique is critical to your success with triceps exercises, just as it is with all exercises. You can perform exercises with bad technique and still get some of the benefit, but you will never see great results and you may just hurt yourself in the process. Because of this it is suggested that you learn how to do these exercises properly from qualified professional in the field.
See video and get tips on Close Grip Barbell Bench Presses and more of the best triceps building exercises.
Tony Schwartz
Tony Schwartz created the Athletic Muscle System based on extensive research into strength training programs as well as his own work with collegiate and professional athletes. Tony is the Director of Training for Momentum Athletics. He has a B.Sc. in Exercise Science from Indiana University, where he was a research assistant in the areas of biomechanics and exercise physiology. He has authored, edited, and contributed to many books and articles in the field of exercise science.
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