Tricep Exercises For Strength And Size Along With Tricep Exercises For A Mind-blowing Visual Appearance

An area of great concern for a lot of people when it comes to the triceps is the best tricep exercise, which ones should be avoided and how should the exercises be properly performed for optimal results.

Most clothing today, for both men and women, really "spotlight" the development or lack-there-of, of your triceps muscles.

If you are out of shape and have flabby arms you probably won't feel as comfortable as you would if you could develop your arms properly with effective tricep exercises.

As you get older most parts of your body will sag more and more and this is especially true for your triceps muscles.

But it doesn't have to be this way because you can easily increase the size and strength of your triceps muscles and tighten and tone them very easily regardless of your age or current level of fitness by incorporating the most effective tricep exercises into your triceps workout.

When you somebody comments on the development of your arms, what they are actually are talking about is the development of your triceps. Your triceps are more visible than almost any other part of your body.

Your triceps muscles are primarily made up of three separate parts or heads:

• Long head
• Medial head
• Lateral head

The main purpose of all three of them is extension of your elbow, but specific tricep exercises will target each of the heads in a different manner.

The medial and lateral heads perform most movements you make with your triceps muscles. The long head is used when it's pre-stretched. When first starting to develop your triceps muscles you need to a triceps workout that will increase both the lean muscle and the strength in the muscles structure. Basically this means that you need to keep slowly increasing the weight you are using in your triceps workout gradually until the muscle begins to respond.

There are many different types of exercises designed to develop specific areas of the triceps. The unfortunate part of most of these exercises is that you have to work out at a gym or use expensive home gym equipment.

But, any time you straighten your arm against some form of resistance your triceps are involved in doing the work, either as primary or assistor muscles. An example is the basic push-up.

Triceps are involved in a variety of different upper body exercises but it is also necessary to isolate the muscle by using certain tricep exercises to put stress on each part of the triceps directly to ensure that you get full development.

Depending on your proportions and bone structure, it may be easier for some people to develop good triceps than others.

"The Best Tricep Exercises"

Here are some of the more common and more effective tricep exercises you can perform in order to have the triceps you want. The only downfall with these particular exercises is the fact that you need to use equipment at a gym or have some good home gym equipment.

Close grip bench press:

The close grip bench press is possibly the best tricep exercise you can perform. But it will also involve your chest muscles so you need to look at how to maximize tricep involvement.

You will need to use a flat bench and a barbell. Make sure the bench is wide enough. If you have your shoulder blades hanging off the sides, then you lose a critical base of support.

To isolate your triceps as much as you can, put you feet up in the air, bent at the knees and crossed over at the ankles. Grip the bar such that if your thumbs were extended out they could just touch each other.

With a close grip (about 8 – 10 inches apart), wrap your thumbs around the bar. This helps to improve safety.

Use full range of movement. Meaning the bar should touch your chest. And just stop short of full extension (don’t lock your elbows at the top).

What you'll find is that there's a very distinct sticking point, and when your triceps get fatigued you'll struggle to get through this joint angle. The closer the grip, the lower this point may occur.

So don't try and use too much weight at first. Never use a weight you can't handle with the technique you use.

There's no value in even the best tricep exercise if you aren't going to control lowering. Control the weight while lowering it regardless of what speed you use for the rest of the movement. Always use a more slow and controlled movement with the close grip press.

You should always try to use exercises like this first in your triceps workout. The exercises that will put the most stress on the muscles should be worked first, so you don't want to be fatigued when you start it.

Lying triceps extension, (also known as skull crushers):

This is another that some consider to be the best tricep exercise. It also warrants a lot of respect to safeguard your elbows. This one is more of an isolation exercise.

Your best choice for exercises like this one is to use a straight bar but when you're no longer able to do this exercise pain free (in your elbows), then you can start to use the EZ-curl bar.

Be conscious of the need for collars if the plates are sloppy on the bar. There's already enough strain on your elbows with triceps exercises like this one without adding sudden lateral load shift! Put your feet up on the bench (knees bent).

Have your head just off the end of the bench so the axis of the head is about 45 degrees to the ground. Start out with your grip at shoulder width. Start this exercise with the upper arm "behind the vertical" i.e. at about 70 degrees. This keeps tension on your triceps muscles from the start.

Lower the bar to your forehead. You don't want any movement in the elbow at all and this will determine if your starting arm angle was suitable.

Return the bar to the starting angle without any forward or sideways movement of your elbows! The elbows should remain parallel throughout!

When you lower the bar all the way to your forehead, with the head off the end of the bench, this will mean more range of motion. With the return to the "behind the vertical" start position, you should feel tension on your triceps at all times!

It can't be stressed enough: be conservative initially and progress in small jumps from there! If you err in judgment, you run the risk of aggravating your elbows and the soft tissue that runs over it.

Never use a load that you can't handle with good form — elbows in and constant distance apart! Since you're bringing a weighted object in contact with your forehead, control is critical. This is why exercises like this one are known as skull crushers!

Triceps pushdowns:

With tricep exercises like this one the position of your upper arm (by the side of the body) relative to your trunk is different than other exercises. This exercise is easier to perform but triceps pushdowns still have the challenge of maintaining them as an isolated exercise!

Your best choice is to use a short, straight triceps bar.

The base position is to grip with a prone (palms down) grip and your hands shoulder width apart. Place your feet parallel, shoulder width apart for tricep exercises like this one and keep your head with the cable central to your face.

Keep your body upright throughout the entire range of motion. Don't overdo the body lean and don't change the body position during triceps exercises like this!

Your elbows are to be placed beside your body and are not to move at all during the movement, like other tricep exercises. That means at the top you're going to have to avoid full range or else your elbows will move forward. Press the bar as far down as your range.

If you feel the need to allow the elbows forward to complete the extension, that's okay as long as they come back immediately upon lowering the weight!

At the top of the movement you're going to have to avoid full range or else your elbows will move forward. So limit the degree of flexion.

If you use too much weight you'll find yourself changing the movement up by doing things like leaning into it more, allowing the elbows to move, etc. From the start select a conservative load, and stick to it! There's always the next set or the next workout if you want to use more weight.

Dips:

Exercises such as close grip bench press, the California press (further down on the page) and now dips are by far the best for over-all tricep development. No other tricep exercises can compare to their effectiveness.

Tricep exercises such as these will effectively develop all heads of the tricep!

Because dips aren't an isolated movement, you can vary the way you do them to increase the reliance on and development of the triceps. Dips will also work your chest muscles, but that's ok.

Most gyms will have a dip station or parallel bars. Dip stations or parallel bars can be parallel or v-shaped. The dip bars should just be outside shoulder width.

Your body position on tricep exercises like this will result in your triceps being closer to your body during the exercise meaning you will feel a big stretch on your muscles.

This will also reduce the amount of work done by your chest resulting in an increase in the amount of work your triceps will do. Be aware not to let your elbows flare out too much.

Lower your body down until your shoulder joint is below the elbow joint and try to avoid locking your arms at the top.

Of course with tricep exercises like this you will just be using your own body weight as resistance, but once you can do ten full-range dips you need to add weight.

You can use a weight plate on a rope or chain or a dip belt that you can find in almost any gym. Always increase the weight in the smallest increments possible. Never take too big a jump in weight in any of the tricep exercises.

Always control the speed of the tricep exercises you do.

California Press:

Tricep exercises like the California press are a combination exercise, and in this case is actually a cross between a close-grip bench press and a lying triceps extension.

It's a very popular assistance movement used mostly by power-lifters and by those who need to increase triceps mass and strength to bring their bench press strength up.

For this oen you will use a narrow grip on a barbell and get in the same start position as the close-grip bench and lower the barbell.

But instead of lowering to the lower part of your chest like you would with other tricep exercises, lower it to the upper chest by allowing the elbows to pivot forward as you lower the bar.

At this point, your forearms will come into contact with your biceps, the bar will touch your upper chest, and you'll experience a great stretch in your triceps.

From this position you basically perform a triceps extension and push the bar back up to the starting position. A good starting weight would be about halfway between what you use in the lying tricep extensions and the close-grip bench press.

"Additional Tricep Exercises"

Here are a couple of tricep exercises that are not as effective as the ones mentioned above but they do work the same muscles, are easy to perform with little to no equipment and can be done anywhere.

Dumbbell triceps kickbacks:

For tricep exercises like this you will need to use either a bench or a low bed and a dumbbell.

Place one knee on the bench and the hand from the same side leans on the bench. Your other arm is the workout arm.

Bend forward so that your upper body/trunk is parallel or just above parallel to the ground.

Take your arm up until the elbow is just higher than your shoulder. This relationship shouldn't change during tricep exercises like this. Your elbow shouldn't move during the movement.

Grip the dumbbell with a neutral grip (palm facing in).

Extend your lower arm to full extension. Do this without the elbow moving. Remember, the finishing position with tricep exercises like this should be slightly higher than parallel to the ground. Keep your elbows still.

In the lowering, allow your lower arm to come down until it's vertical; that's the end of the movement.

This is definitely not the best tricep exercise so take it easy. You can always slow the movement down further or increase the pause and squeeze at the end of extension should you feel you used too light a weight!

Just make sure you can perform the range described above with tricep exercises like this with you getting to full extension without the elbow moving.

As you'll find, getting to full extension when fatigued may be a greater challenge than you anticipated!

L-seat:

You will be using a chair or a bench of some sort for this. If you use the proper technique, tricep exercises like this will work the triceps muscles through the entire range of motion.

Sit on the ground with your back against the bench or chair and keep your legs together and straight out in front of you on the ground. Now place your hands behind your body in a dip position.

This means your palms will be facing down and be resting on the bench or chair. Your hands should be about shoulder width apart. Position your upper arms so that they are parallel to the floor.

Push down with your hands raising your body up (while keeping your body in the "L" position and your heels touching the ground) locking your arms to the point where you feel your triceps fully contract.

Push ups:

Most people know how to properly perform a push up. Keep your hands shoulder-width and your elbows close to your body. If the tension is not enough for you, you can have someone place a little weight on your upper back or you can place your feet up on an elevation such as a chair or bed. Using a slower, controlled tempo will help too.

"Summary Of Tricep Exercises"

This should give you some new choices & ideas for a very good triceps workout to develop the massive, strong and visually appealing triceps you've always wanted.

Or, if you already knew some or all of the exercises here, perhaps now you'll know how to make your triceps workout a little better!

You should pick 2 – 3 of the tricep exercises mentioned above and work them hard 1 – 2 times per week. If you choose once a week then use 5 sets per exercise and 6 – 8 reps per set. If you choose 2 times a week then use 3 sets per exercise at 8 to 10 reps per set.

What Exercises Do You Use
In Your Fitness Routine?

Do you use any unique and effective exercises or in your fitness program? What was your experience with these exercises? What results did you notice? Do you have a good or a bad story to tell about your own experience with certain exercises? Or do you have some good information that we may have missed? Let others know!

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