When people desire to have a strong upper body that is really important to work to have strong arms, especially your triceps as these muscles are used when a person is pushing something. People tend to ignore the tricep muscles as they are posteriorly placed unlike the biceps, but it is really important to remember that the triceps make up 2/3rd of the arms.
By training your triceps you’ll be able to do a whole lot more as compared to when you just train your biceps. The triceps consist of 3 heads, the medial head, the long head, and the lateral head. It is possible to train all the 3 heads separately. But the best way to build strong triceps is to choose an exercise that concentrates on all three muscle fibers.
Not only do they make your arms much stronger they also give an aesthetic appearance to your arms. It is really important to warm up your triceps like any other strength training, it gives blood flow to your muscles helping them lift more and receive faster after the workout and thus preventing injury.
Exercises done for the triceps are quite different compared to the workouts done for other muscle groups. Many exercises help you isolate the triceps. There are some specific muscle groups that you should train that also help isolate the triceps.
Training the shoulders and the chest can help isolate the triceps as they also are involved in the same movements. Remember to rest muscles for 2 to 3 days after you have worked them before working them again.
While exercising you need to focus on targeting all three heads of the triceps. If you have just started out, try to do 12 to 15 reps, 3 sets of each exercise. The more variety of exercises the better. Try and lift about 3/4th the weight you can actually lift and as your level increases either add more reps, sets, or weights to make it just as challenging.
Best workouts for the triceps
Diamond push-ups
This type of pushup focuses on the three heads of the triceps muscle. It is probably the hardest exercise to do on this list, as it requires strength in your shoulder and forearms, and if you are a beginner you might need to do it with your knees.
How to do the diamond push-ups
- Begin by first sitting on your knees.
- Next, position your hands straight underneath your chest.
- extend your legs till you balance your body on your hands and toe, similar to getting into the plank position.
- Make sure your thumbs and firefighters of both hands touch making a diamond shape.
- It is important you make sure your back is flat and your core is engaged when you perform the pushup.
- Try to go as low as you can, muster up the strength to get back up, and repeat this over and over again.
- Perform 3 sets of 12 reps each.
Kickbacks
The kickbacks also target all the three heads of the triceps like the diamond pushups but are not as effective as them. It is easier and beginner-friendly as most people who start are unaware and unable to perform pushups.
It is considered to be the second most effective exercise to train the triceps just behind the diamond pushups. It is beneficial as it makes you work against gravity. It is advised you you use a lighter weight in case you are unable to handle it.
How to perform the tricep kickbacks:
- Place one of your feet on a platform that is stable and just higher than your other foot.
- Hold weights in both your arms.
- Pull the elbow of the opposite hand up to the trunk until you make a 90-degree angle with the floor.
- Repeat for 3 sets and 10 to 12 reps each.
Make sure your spine is arched upwards or at least straight, your neck is straight, and try to focus and keep the upper body stationary.
Close grip bench presses
This exercise is good but not as good as the diamond push-ups as they only cause activation of 50% to 60% of the triceps. It is also helpful in training the chest and thus people perform this exercise when they want to train both their chest and triceps.
How to perform the close grip bench press:
- Lay down on a bench holding a barbell just shoulders width apart.
- Start bench pressing.
- Make sure you are contracting your triceps.
- Repeat 3 seats for 10 reps.
Overhead tricep extensions
This exercise emphasizes more on the long head of the triceps, this exercise also complements other exercises. It is one of the most effective exercises. It is important to keep your arms beside your ears when you lower your hands to perform the exercise.
It is possible to do this exercise while standing or sitting whichever is convenient.
How to perform overhead tricep extension.
- Either sit on a chair, stand up or sit on an exercise ball.
- Hold weights in both your hands.
- Extend your hands over your head.
- Focus on keeping your arms beside your ears.
- Make sure your arms are fully extended out.
- Repeat for 2 sets 8 reps each.
Another form of triceps extension is the
skull crushers
This variant is easier to perform.
How to perform the skull crushers.
- Lay down on a bench with your hands shoulder-width apart.
- Start extending your arm over the head.
- Bend your elbows and lower the weights towards your head and hence call a skull crusher.
- Make sure your triceps are engaged.
- Repeat for 5 sets, 10 to 15 reps each.
Tricep pushdowns
This emphasizes the lateral head and is also complementary to other exercises.
How to perform tricep pushdowns
- Make sure you are facing the machine.
- Hold the horizontal bar with an overhand grip.
- adjust the grip to the level of your chest.
- Pull in your abdominal muscles and place your elbows on the side close to your body.
- Push the bar down making sure your elbows are fully extended downwards.
- Avoid bending forward.
- Return to the starting point as you exhale.
Perform 4 sets of 8 reps. You can increase the weight or the sets as your fitness increases.
Bench dips
It is a basic exercise performed on a bench while you push yourself up and down. Avoid this exercise if you have shoulder pain.
How to perform:
- Face away from the bench.
- Place both your hand on the bench.
- Extend your legs out in front.
- Lower your body with your hands still on the bench while creating a 90-degree angle between your forearms and biceps.
- Come back to the starting position and repeat.
It is a relatively easy workout, the only equipment needed is the bench. It works on your chest, triceps, and shoulders.
You have begun working out and you still can not see your triceps budge, here are a few reasons why?
You solely depend on compound exercises
It is important to note that the compound exercises do not engage the long head of the triceps. In this case, your tricep growth reaches a plateau. To avoid this begin your workout session with some heavy presses followed by isolation exercises like pushdowns and extension this way you can still keep your triceps growing.
You are unable to train the long head of the triceps
It should be noted that people usually miss out on training the long head of the triceps, as it is attached to the shoulder joint training it while the shoulder muscle is either in flexion or extension can show great results. The most common exercise of this type is the overhead extension.
You are overdoing it
There is a high chance that your triceps aren’t growing because you are training them too much. If you do not let your triceps recover after a session they are unable to produce force the next day and this makes them weaker.
It is important to rest your muscles for 2 to 3 days after a session.
You are underdoing it
One of the other obvious reasons your triceps aren’t growing is that you just aren’t training them enough. Make sure you train your triceps twice a week.
You are not progressively overloading the weights
This is really simple if you want to grow a muscle and make it stronger it is really important to increase the load as it gets easier to lift due to muscle growth.
If your triceps aren’t growing it is important you look at changing your training and focus on concentrating on the long arm. Try consulting a trainer in case you need help, If it still doesn’t change it might just be your genetics or your diet.
Conclusion
There are plenty of exercises to train your triceps, though it might be hard to perfectly isolate the muscle. Any movement that causes you to straighten your arms will help train your triceps. Changing the angle in relation to your arm can cause emphasis on different phases of the contraction of the three heads of the triceps.