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Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone is arguably the greatest action star with biggest triceps of all time, up there with his buddy, actor and bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. The duo has created some of the most memorable action flicks of all time and have cemented themselves as legends of cinema.
Stallone is renowned for going the extra mile and taking his body to the extreme limits. Whether it's getting punched in the face by Dolph Lundgren for a scene or training in the frigid zone for his fight scenes in Rocky IV, Stallone has put his body through the wringer.
His impeccable physique is the result of years of hardcore training and discipline, something he has incorporated into his characters and lifestyle. If you want triceps like Rocky Balboa, here are seven tricep workouts with dumbbells you can do:
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Best dumbbell exercises for triceps like Stallone's
1) Standing Tricep Extensions
To build big triceps, put as much load as you can on them. Standing tricep extensions are a simple, convenient exercise you can perform to blow up your triceps.
This exercise allows you to stretch your triceps over your head, creating a deep range of motion, allowing for superior muscle contraction. It also helps build shoulder stability and is fairly versatile.
That means you can do this as a unilateral motion with just one arm at a time, or use both arms to lift a single, heavier dumbbell, inching you closer to achieving triceps like Sylvester Stallone's.
2) Tricep Kickbacks
Tricep kickbacks are another great and underrated way to blow up your triceps. This is a unilateral exercise that trains a single tricep at a time.
It can help, especially if you're dealing with muscle imbalances, and can even out the differences in your arms. To build big triceps like Stallone's, you'll need to overload your muscles and perform slow controlled reps. Kickbacks are perfect for that, as they allow you to be in total control of the weight.
3) Incline Kickbacks
To build triceps like Stallone's, you'll need to target each head of your tricep. That means, to achieve optimal growth, you'll need to hit all three heads of your triceps - the long head, lateral head and medial head.
Incline kickbacks are great in targeting all three heads, resulting in optimal overall growth of your triceps. This is a great exercise to add to your routine to grow your triceps evenly.
4) Dumbbell Skull Crushers
While the name suggests something rather horrifying, don't let the vivid picture it paints in your head scare you away from this exercise.
To look like an action movie star, you must do exercises that aren't in your comfort zone, much like Rambo himself. For those Sly Stallone triceps, skull crushers are key. They fully extend your triceps over your head, helping you achieve a very deep range of motion.
You can perform this exercise with both arms or just one arm. As this exercise puts the weight directly above you, with nothing but your fingers holding it, it places you in a vulnerable position and susceptible to injury.
If you've never done this exercise before, start light, as it burns tremendously. The form is a little difficult to nail, but it's smooth sailing from there. Ensure that your reps are safe and slow and that your shoulders are locked.
5) Dumbbell Close-Grip Bench Press
While it may seem odd to do a bench press to target your triceps, the close-grip bench press is incredible for hitting your triceps, and is one of Stallone's favourites.
The close grip bench press allows the load to be placed on your triceps, which powers the movement, rather than the chest or shoulders, which are primarily engaged in a standard bench press.
This is a compound exercise that trains not just your triceps but also your chest and shoulders, making it optimal to fit into any schedule. It helps with your overall strength and even helps boost your standard bench press, all while blowing up your triceps.
6) Seated Tricep Extensions
Seated dumbbell tricep extensions are like the big brother of the standing variant.
Standing while doing tricep extensions leaves a lot of room for bobbing back and forth. That can not only throw you off your balance but also use other parts of the body to power the movement, resulting in a lack of isolation of your triceps.
The seated variant allows your back to be stable and locked, making for a tougher exercise.
7) Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Bench dips are a popular compound exercise choice on tricep day for many people, but you can elevate your dip game by incorporating dumbbells.
To perform this exercise, simply use the dumbbells for your palms to rest on, and perform the dips on the floor instead of the bench. This added inclination between your triceps and your lower body gives you an extra range of motion to capitalise on. That results in much better contraction than standard bench dips, eventually helping you build triceps like Sylvester Stallone's.
Sylvester Stallone has triceps to behold, but they weren't built overnight. His years of hard work in the gym, training hard day and night, as well as his endeavours in boxing, have all resulted in his success as a fitness and acting legend over the last four decades.
His longevity is a testament to the strict regime he has followed for a long time, which is the sole reason why he is in such incredible shape even today.
