There's no doubt that the triceps must be prioritized if you want to create big, impressive-looking arms.
This is especially true because they account for the majority of the size of your arms, thus if you want big arms, big triceps should be your top priority.
And, in order to expand your triceps to their full potential, you must pay great attention to the tricep workouts you do.
However, before you can figure out the ideal approach to work your triceps, you must first grasp their anatomy.
What Are Tricep Muscles & What Do They Do?
Understanding the structure of the triceps is essential for getting the most out of your workouts and reaching peak beast mode.
There are three types of heads on the triceps: lateral, long, and medial.
You'll get the best results if you work on all three. While it is impossible to entirely isolate one head when exercising, you can choose routines that accentuate one over the other. The goal is to proportionally grow all three heads to obtain the distinctive horseshoe form of beautiful triceps.
The triceps help stabilize and promote healthy shoulder joints, and you need strong triceps whether you're playing sports or just going about your regular routines.
Not only do they help with power moves like shooting a basketball or tossing a ball, but they also help with everyday tasks like holding a pencil or maintaining excellent posture at a desk.
6 Best Triceps Workouts
There are numerous exercises that can be used to increase triceps muscle. The best benefits come from a combination of exercises that target the complete muscle rather than just one head. You want to make sure you're hitting the triceps from a variety of angles.
1. Classic Push-up
Push-ups are commonly thought of as an upper-body exercise, but they truly engage the entire body. Arms, chest, and back muscles, as well as stomach and quadriceps muscles, will be enhanced.
Here's a video on how to do the perfect push-up:
- Get on the floor with hands directly beneath shoulders and feet slightly wider than hip-width apart.
- Step back with your knees together and your toes tucked under, lift your hips & keep your chest in front of your hands.
- Tense every muscle in your body to make a straight line from head to heel, and keep it straight the entire time.
- Lower your chest to the ground.
- To return to the starting posture, press your hands into the floor and extend your arms.
2. Tricep Dips
Triceps dips are great bodyweight exercises for building arm and shoulder strength.
Watch this video before you perform tricep dips
Sit on the edge of a stable chair, weight bench, or step with your hands on the edge adjacent to your hips. Your legs should be extended & your feet should be roughly hip-width apart, with your heels contacting the ground. Maintain a straight posture and look straight ahead.
- Press your palms together to elevate your torso and slide forward just far enough so that your back clears the chair's edge.
- Lower yourself to the point where your elbows are bent at 45 to 90 degrees. Try & maintain control of the movement.
- Repeat by carefully pushing yourself back up until your arms are almost straight.
3. Tricep press downs
One of the best workouts for triceps growth is the triceps press down. While most people perform this flexible upper-body workout on a cable machine (found in most gyms), you can easily do it at home or on the go with a resistance band.
Take a look at this video on how to do the tricep press down
- Set up the cable machine and ensure that the bar is at your eye level.
- Take hold of the bar and stand tall with your back straight and elbows tucked into your sides.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
- Pull the cable down until the bar reaches your thighs, and then pause for the action to compress your triceps.
- Then slowly return to the beginning position with the bar.
4. Tricep Extensions
Tricep extensions help in improving shoulder and arm stability, as well as flexibility and range of motion.
Here's a video on how to do the correct form of tricep extensions
- With a dumbbell in each hand(or a single dumbbell), sit or stand.
- Straighten your arms overhead, bend your elbows, and lower the dumbbells behind your head.
- Return to the beginning posture by straightening your arms overhead.
5. Skull crusher
Compared to standing triceps extensions or other exercises where your upper arm is at your side, the skull crusher is a good exercise for activating the medial head of the triceps.
Take a look at this quick skull crusher workout
- Lie faceup on a weight bench.
- Grasp one dumbbell with both hands and extend your arms above your chest, elbows at shoulder width.
- Lower the weight behind your head as far as you comfortably can while keeping your elbows from locking.
- Reverse until the weight is above your chest and repeat.
6. Narrow chest press
The pectorals (chest muscles) and triceps are primarily targeted by the narrow or close grip push. When you squeeze your pectorals while squeezing the dumbbells together, it efficiently activates your chest.
Here's how to do the narrow chest press
- Face up on the floor, bend your knees and place your hands flat on the ground.
- Extend your arms above your chest, with your wrists directly above your shoulders and your palms facing each other, while holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Bring the weights together until they are in contact.
- Lower the dumbbells to your chest slowly, keeping your elbows tucked down at your sides.
- Repeat by extending your arms back to the starting position.
Takeaway
The most important factor in building your triceps is consistency.
Yes, there are some exercises that are more effective than others, but you won’t see results unless you get to the gym 3-4 times per week.
If you want your triceps to grow and continue to look great, consistency is the key.