Triceps Exercises: Various Techniques and Secrets

To form a beautiful shape of the hands, more attention should be paid to triceps, and not to pump the biceps endlessly. And this is quite logical, because this muscle occupies more than 60% of the total arm volume and is responsible for drawing the back and side profile. However, in the gyms, the picture is somewhat different: all athletes continue to swing biceps, and exercises for the triceps remain on the sidelines. Do not join the ranks of these poor fellows. If your goal is large and raised arms, then a set of triceps exercises is what you need.

Triceps anatomy

Triceps is the final part of the triceps muscle of the shoulder, it occupies the lateral and posterior parts of our hands above the elbow. Consists of those isolated beams:

• long;
• external;
• medial;

The main function of this muscle is to extend the elbow and bring the shoulder of the arm to the body.

Set the right priorities.

There is a rule: "The more time spent pumping the target muscle group, the better the result." It would seem that nothing complicated, if you want big hands, then just swing them in the gym! This is what most people do, but why is it so rare to meet a person with well-developed arm muscles? Maybe it's the wrong training? There are three most popular patterns that include a set of exercises for triceps:

• finishing hands after pumping biceps ;
• triceps pumping after training on the chest or back;
• triceps work after a cycle of exercises on the shoulders;

This is a completely logical option for building a training program, but an absolutely wrong way to work on the mass, especially when viewed from the point of view of setting goals. Do you still remember the rule? If you want a big and developed triceps - just do exercises for triceps! In this case, it is worth paying special attention to the target muscle, and not acting on the residual principle. There are two most effective ways to train your hands, after which weight gain will be several times faster:

• The principle of priority. Training can last as long as you like, but your strength and energy supply are far from unlimited. With every minute, with every strength exercise, you become more and more tired, which means that each subsequent approach will not be as effective as the previous one. Use your energy wisely, if you set a goal to pump up your hands, then the training should start with basic exercises for triceps, and not waste energy on other exercises. However, do not focus only on this muscle, do not forget that the remaining 40% of the arm is occupied by biceps. So, you need to alternate training days with a priority of one or another muscle group. This will allow you to quickly develop, and most importantly, harmoniously and correctly develop the muscles of the hands.
• The principle of specialization. If you are not a fullbody program, but prefer isolated splits, then this method is suitable for you. The bottom line is simple: you need to devote a whole workout to basic triceps exercises. This will be the ultimate and shock load for the target muscle and it will take at least a week to recover. To use this method too often is not worth it, just two or even one workout per month is enough. The effect of this training can be strengthened in yet another way: for this you need to enter the triceps into a state of deconstruction. To achieve this, simply eliminate any muscle strain 7-10 days before the shock training.

Reverse Grip Exercises

There are a great many exercises for the isolated pumping of each triceps head, and there are only three of them. On the one hand, these are quite useful studies, because you will know which part of the muscle is involved in the work. But in practice, everything is much more complicated. In any exercise, whether it is a narrow grip on the triceps or a block pull in the crossover, all three beams will always be involved, just one of them will take most of the load.

But let's dig deeper into the anatomy. The largest and most prominent part of the triceps is the lateral (external) head. It is easy to recognize by its specific shape in the form of a horseshoe. Other parts of the muscle do not have such a pronounced shape and are mostly located in the inter-articular space. The conclusion suggests itself, if you want to finally see your triceps, then focus on exercises that affect its outer part to a greater extent. This is absolutely all exercises with a back grip, because it is this technique that will separate the target muscle from the biceps and brachialis, which visually will make it more voluminous and detailed.

Separately, it is worth mentioning that triceps exercises for women do not have much difference with men's training. If a lady wants to make her hands more embossed, then she should also pay attention to the reverse grip.

Important details: elbows and grip

In the training process, any, even the most insignificant at first glance details can affect progress. A special role in building mass, including on the hands, has a working weight. If in the case of such huge muscle groups as the back, buttocks or legs, minor weight fluctuations will not play a special role, then every kilogram is important in pumping triceps. Two details worth paying special attention to:

• Enough. When performing the bench press with a narrow grip on the triceps or the French bench press, many athletes put their hands too close to each other. This can significantly overload the wrist joint, which when working with a decent weight can lead to serious injury. In addition, a too narrow grip creates a certain discomfort when performing the exercise, which means that the effectiveness of the lesson decreases. To avoid this, use a triceps simulator or do bench presses only in the Smith machine, this will unload your joints and concentrate the load on the muscle being worked out.
• Elbows. If the weight is picked up incorrectly, then the hands begin to treacherously tremble, and the elbows literally "walk and dance." This is especially noticeable in exercises for triceps with a barbell. Total control and control again! Remember that the wrong technique will not give you high results, but can only lead to injuries and even injuries.

Training intensity

Many people know that muscle growth is directly proportional to the growth of working weight. But not many people think that this story is good only for those who regularly use doping and pharmacy. But what should ordinary mortals do? Indeed, huge weights are a direct way to tearing tendons and dislocations. Natural athletes must understand the progression of working weight in a slightly different way: it is important not to increase the weight of dumbbells, it is important to increase the number of working approaches and repetitions, as well as reduce the time of rest. It is necessary to increase the intensity of training, and not chase unnecessary records. There are two ways to do this:

1. Reverse load progression. Pick up some of your favorite triceps exercises and do it one by one, observing several conditions. The load with each approach should be reduced and include: pumping, stretching and insulation. Exercises are performed in a circle and preferably without rest.
2. Isolated study. The basis is taken from the triceps exercises for triceps. Why triset? Well, we still remember that our target muscle has three heads, and it is important to pay attention to each.

Trajectory

Triceps is one of the few muscles that do not like working inside the amplitude, on the contrary, the longer the trajectory of movement, the more shocked the muscle. There are several effective exercises that stretch the working muscle to its maximum amplitude:

• French bench press in a roman chair. To modify a traditional exercise, simply tilt the bench down and lower the dumbbells not for the head, but for it.
• Push-ups for triceps. Performed on the bar. In its mechanics, it is similar to the first exercise, only your body acts as the weight, which you hold with your hands at the bar located behind your head.

Forcing, cheating, pronation - what is it?

They say sports do not like cheating. This expression is quite true, but not in building muscle mass. If we are chasing a decent result, then here all the means will be good:

• Forced exercises - a training method based on the assistance of a partner in the positive phase of the exercise. In this case, it will be various lifts, since the triceps works in the lowering phase of the barbell. There is nothing wrong with that, you just save useful energy that you can spend on the negative phase of the exercise, because it is it that counts for the result. This is especially true when working with large weights. It is also a pretty good training technique for women. Exercises for triceps are sometimes too difficult from a technical point of view and the weaker sex can not do without help.
• Cheating - giving acceleration to the movement of the hands after passing the peak point of the load. Roughly speaking, we make a small push at the bottom point and give additional movement to the working muscle due to the weight in the hands. Remember physics - Grade 8. Thus, the positive phase passes by inertia, receiving acceleration due to a jerk.
• Pronation - rotation of the hands around the axis to the bottom. This little trick allows you to feel the point of peak contraction of muscles as much as possible and involves more muscle fibers.

Now consider the top five best triceps exercises. Each of them deserves special attention.

Best exercise

The most effective triceps exercise is to extend your arms in a crossover using ropes. Only you need to work here not in light mode, but give everything up to 120% as when executing the base. So, the weight is selected for 6-7 repetitions and no more than 5 approaches. Moreover, there is one more chip that will make this exercise even more effective: at the bottom point, try to spread the brushes to the maximum and stand still. This will put such a strain on your triceps that the next day your hands will simply not listen to you.

A set of exercises on the uneven bars

Good old push-ups for triceps, which are performed on the uneven bars. This is a classic pumping hands and the best exercise to increase the basic strength indicators. In addition, the bars develop good flexibility and dexterity. One continuous pluses - and triceps swing, and indicators of general physical fitness are growing. The main thing is to keep the body upright, so you will remove the load from the deltas and concentrate the weight of your body on the muscle being worked out.

Extending your arms in front of you

This exercise is similar to the first, adjusted for the choice of handle, here we take a short bar. Many consider this method of pumping isolated and most often leave it for finishing. However, if you approach this exercise in a slightly different way, you can safely transfer it to the basic group:

• Mandatory warm-up with low weight, literally three approaches.
• Pyramid of working scales - we add load to each approach.
• You have nowhere to rush, concentrate on a pause at the bottom.
• Ask your partner for help, forcing the last two three repetitions - there is nothing shameful.
• Try to get around 6-7 reps.

Extension of arms behind the head

Any triceps training program should include this awesome exercise. This is a kind of analogue of the obsolete bench press in a standing position. Here, by the way, the old and kind pronation will be necessary. Without turning the brushes and the longest pause at the bottom, this exercise simply does not make sense. This is the case when technology decides everything. Extend your elbows as much as possible, part your hands and lock yourself for at least a couple of seconds, and you will literally feel how your muscles are bleeding.

French bench press

Classics always remain classics. But if you make some modifications, the efficiency of the study increases significantly. Here are some sophisticated versions of the French bench press:

• Using a Roman chair. If you perform a bench press on an incline bench, you can significantly increase the amplitude.
• Running at a partial amplitude. You start the bar back and no longer raise it to eye level. All movements are performed behind the head, which means that the maximum tension of the triceps.
• Using the Smith machine. Everything is simple here: the racks take on the role of stabilizing muscles, which means that the load falls point and in isolation.