An Awesome Tricep Workout To Try Now - Check It Out Below
If you want an awesome tricep workout then you have definitely come to the right place. A lot of guys think that to build big arms that you need big biceps, but the truth of the matter is that's the wrong way to think about it. The biceps only makes up about 1/3 of your upper arm mass while the triceps make up 2/3 of your upper arm mass. The biceps are a puny muscle compared to the triceps and a lot weaker so it makes sense to really hit the triceps hard if you want a set of big guns. Luckily, there are plenty of exercises to get this done so your options are limitless. But if you're going for purely athestics, you must have a balanced training program.
Best Tricep Exercises
In my opinion the best tricep exercises are any of the heavy pressing movements. The triceps are generally a fast twitch muscle meaning that they best respond to heavy weights and short duration. That's why guys with heavy bench presses also have big and huge triceps. It's not the chest muscles that primarily move the weight, it's the triceps.
The first exercise is the close grip bench press. This is a favorite among body builders and power lifters all over the world. The reason it's so popular is because it flat out works to add slabs of mass to the back of your upper arm. The traditional bench press with elbows flared out places the stress of the movement mostly on your pectoralis major, your shoulder and then your triceps. But with the close grip bench press, the weight gets shifted mostly to the triceps. It forces your elbows to be tucked into your sides or a t a 45 degree angle depending on your body mechanics. Make sure to go heavy with this exercise, especially if you have a spotter. I would shoot for 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps per set. Make sure the reps that you perform during each set is explosive and to lock out to really engage the triceps. Also leave 1 rep in the tank at the end of each set to preserve strength on subsequent sets.
The second exercise that you're going to do is dips. Now since you did close grip bench presses first, you are going to naturally be a little bit weaker for this exercise so don't expect to be able to pile on the weights. Again I would shoot for around 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps. During each rep, explode from the bottom position all the way up to engage the triceps. If you want to add a little twist to this exercise; on the last rep of the last set, drop the weights and do strictly body weight dips until complete failure. Once you hit failure, hold it at lockout and slowly lower yourself down. I want you to lower yourself so slow that it would take around 30 seconds to get to the bottom of the movement. Your triceps and upper body will feel like they're on fire, but its well worth the gains that you are going to get.
The third exercise you'll be doing are lying triceps ez curl bar extensions. But this is just not some regular extension exercise. You're of course going to do them with a little twist. Since the whole purpose of this exercise to primarily hit the long head of the triceps muscle, you're going to do a pull over with the bar while keeping your arms slightly bent the entire time. Once the bar passes over your face, press the weight up like you would normally do for a triceps extension. Slowly lower the bar back down and perform a pull over again with the arms bent. Try and get a deep stretch when you perform this part of the movement because this will heavily engage the long head. For this exercise, I would go for 3-4 sets of 12 repetitions. You don't want to go to heavy with these since extensions can really beat up your elbows in the long run.
The fourth exercise will be diamond pushups to failure. I added this exercise in the later part of the workout simply because if they were first, you would be repping out the movement without a problem, but since your triceps are not extremely fatigued at this point, you might only be able to get at the most 15 reps. In fact, I would venture to say you'll probably get around 10 reps. Do this for 3 sets till failure.
And the last exercises you're going to perform are band press downs. I normally don't prescribe a lot of press downs because your triceps will respond better to the heavy and weighted compound movements, but with band press downs, holding them off at the end will help to flush a ton of blood into the muscle belly providing nutrients for growth and repair. For this exercise, I want you to do just 1 set per arm for 100 repetitions. If you can't get 100 reps, rest and go again until you hit that total number. It's going to be painful but worth it in the long run. This exercise will also help elbow health in the long run. Also, the reason why I want you to do bands as opposed to the cable machine is because of the accommodating resistance of the exercise. As you press down into a peak contraction, the resistance increases.
All in all, this tricep workout will definitely bring new found growth to your upper arm. It has the perfect combination of sets reps and weight, plus the exercises to give you the biggest bang for your buck. You'll hit all of your major muscle fibers within the triceps muscle which will leave you being sore for days. But in the end, it's all worth it. And besides, I never met a single person who said they didn't like feeling sore the next day.
Best Tricep Exercises
In my opinion the best tricep exercises are any of the heavy pressing movements. The triceps are generally a fast twitch muscle meaning that they best respond to heavy weights and short duration. That's why guys with heavy bench presses also have big and huge triceps. It's not the chest muscles that primarily move the weight, it's the triceps.
The first exercise is the close grip bench press. This is a favorite among body builders and power lifters all over the world. The reason it's so popular is because it flat out works to add slabs of mass to the back of your upper arm. The traditional bench press with elbows flared out places the stress of the movement mostly on your pectoralis major, your shoulder and then your triceps. But with the close grip bench press, the weight gets shifted mostly to the triceps. It forces your elbows to be tucked into your sides or a t a 45 degree angle depending on your body mechanics. Make sure to go heavy with this exercise, especially if you have a spotter. I would shoot for 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps per set. Make sure the reps that you perform during each set is explosive and to lock out to really engage the triceps. Also leave 1 rep in the tank at the end of each set to preserve strength on subsequent sets.
The second exercise that you're going to do is dips. Now since you did close grip bench presses first, you are going to naturally be a little bit weaker for this exercise so don't expect to be able to pile on the weights. Again I would shoot for around 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps. During each rep, explode from the bottom position all the way up to engage the triceps. If you want to add a little twist to this exercise; on the last rep of the last set, drop the weights and do strictly body weight dips until complete failure. Once you hit failure, hold it at lockout and slowly lower yourself down. I want you to lower yourself so slow that it would take around 30 seconds to get to the bottom of the movement. Your triceps and upper body will feel like they're on fire, but its well worth the gains that you are going to get.
The third exercise you'll be doing are lying triceps ez curl bar extensions. But this is just not some regular extension exercise. You're of course going to do them with a little twist. Since the whole purpose of this exercise to primarily hit the long head of the triceps muscle, you're going to do a pull over with the bar while keeping your arms slightly bent the entire time. Once the bar passes over your face, press the weight up like you would normally do for a triceps extension. Slowly lower the bar back down and perform a pull over again with the arms bent. Try and get a deep stretch when you perform this part of the movement because this will heavily engage the long head. For this exercise, I would go for 3-4 sets of 12 repetitions. You don't want to go to heavy with these since extensions can really beat up your elbows in the long run.
The fourth exercise will be diamond pushups to failure. I added this exercise in the later part of the workout simply because if they were first, you would be repping out the movement without a problem, but since your triceps are not extremely fatigued at this point, you might only be able to get at the most 15 reps. In fact, I would venture to say you'll probably get around 10 reps. Do this for 3 sets till failure.
And the last exercises you're going to perform are band press downs. I normally don't prescribe a lot of press downs because your triceps will respond better to the heavy and weighted compound movements, but with band press downs, holding them off at the end will help to flush a ton of blood into the muscle belly providing nutrients for growth and repair. For this exercise, I want you to do just 1 set per arm for 100 repetitions. If you can't get 100 reps, rest and go again until you hit that total number. It's going to be painful but worth it in the long run. This exercise will also help elbow health in the long run. Also, the reason why I want you to do bands as opposed to the cable machine is because of the accommodating resistance of the exercise. As you press down into a peak contraction, the resistance increases.
All in all, this tricep workout will definitely bring new found growth to your upper arm. It has the perfect combination of sets reps and weight, plus the exercises to give you the biggest bang for your buck. You'll hit all of your major muscle fibers within the triceps muscle which will leave you being sore for days. But in the end, it's all worth it. And besides, I never met a single person who said they didn't like feeling sore the next day.
