My Favorite Triceps Exercises

Everyone always equates big arms with biceps, but what really creates size in the upper arm is how big your triceps are.

Triceps gets its name from the fact that it is composed of three muscles, the lateral, medial and long triceps brachii.

The biceps are the muscles that pull towards the body. The triceps have the opposite function of pushing away from the body.

A fully developed set of triceps create what is called a horseshoe appearance in the arm when they are flexed.

You will use your triceps whenever you workout your chest muscle because they are both pushing motions. Exercises such as bench presses and pushups generally work the triceps.

You can also do exercises that will isolate the triceps specifically. I have listed four of my favorite exercises for the triceps. At the present time I do two of these exercises for 4 sets each per workout.

Also, I use what is described as a push/pull type of workout. One day I do exercises that involve pulling and the next day I do pushing exercise such as chest, triceps and quads.

Since I work my chest and my triceps at the same time it gives my triceps a double workout because both the general workout of chest exercises and isolated triceps exercises are in the same workout.

So here are my four favorite exercises.

Seated Dumbbell Extensions

This is my go to exercise when I work my triceps. I do this one pretty much every time I work this muscle group.

The best way to do this exercise is to sit on a bench which has an upright back. This way you can keep your back straight and isolate the triceps better.

Take one dumbbell in both hands and raise it above your head.

With the dumbbell hanging vertically and your hands wrapped around the weights at one end of the dumbbell, lower the weight behind your head.

Be sure to only bend at the elbow so the work is focused on the triceps and not on other muscles.

Also, depending on the height of the bench, you may need to lean back a little so you don’t bang the bench with the dumbbell.

I like doing about 4 sets of ten repetitions when I do this exercise.

Skull crushers (Lying Triceps Extensions)

This exercise is a similar movement to the first one, except you are lying down. Sometimes I will alternate between the two so that I give myself some variety and work my muscles at slightly different angles.

I like using my e-z curl bar for this exercise because it gives you a more natural hold for your wrists.

You can do either a wide grip or a narrow grip with the bar which will hit the triceps at different angles.

To do this exercise, lay flat on the bench and place your feet firmly on the floor for stability.

Hold the e-z curl bar straight above your chest, actually with a little lean in the arms so that the bar is near eye level.

Bend at the elbow only, just like the previous exercise and bring the bar down to your forehead.

This is why the exercise is nicknamed skull crushers, because if you aren’t careful or you have too much weight on the bar, you might end up with a really bad headache if you don’t stop the bar before it reaches your forehead.

After you reach your forehead with the bar return to the starting position with your arms straight once again.

Like the previous exercise I will do 4 sets of 10 repetitions.

Pulldowns with Resistance Bands

When working out at the gym I love doing cable pulldowns, but that is not something that you can easily copy at home with just dumbbells and barbells.

Thankfully I learned the value of resistance bands and the options they provide. Pulldowns with resistance bands gives you a very similar workout to the cable pulldowns at the gym.

Attach the resistance bands to the top of a sturdy door in your home with the attachment that comes with the bands.

Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.

Hold the handles of the resistance bands with your elbows at a ninety degree angle.

Push down the handles, keeping the upper arm steady and moving only at the elbows.

Once your arms are straight, pause and then return to the starting position.

I tend to do more reps with the resistance bands so for this exercise do 12 to 14 reps for 4 sets.

Kickbacks

This was the first triceps exercise I learned. Back in the 80’s this had to be the most popular triceps exercise. Every bodybuilding magazine would include this in their workout routine.

It is a very good isolation exercise. What I mean by isolation is the movement specifically targets a specific muscle. Kickbacks are great for isolating the triceps.

The best way to do this exercise is to bend over until your back is parallel with the floor.

Support your weight by putting on left hand on the bench in front of you.

With your legs staggered, hold a dumbbell in your right hand. Hold your arm so that the upper arm is parallel with your body and your elbow is bent at 90 degrees.

Lift the weight in your right hand, until your arm is straight, pause, then return to the bent position.

Do not move the upper arm, it need to be stationary for this exercise to work properly throughout this motion.

Once you have done ten repetitions with your right hand, move the dumbbell to your left hand and repeat for another ten repetitions. That completes one set.

Do 4 sets of this exercises.

There is a slight variation to this exercise that I saw once that adds a bit to this exercise. It was on a Rachel Mclish exercise vhs tape I use to own. Rachel Mclish was the first Ms. Olympia.

Her suggestion was when you straightened the arm and reached the point where you paused, then lift the whole arm from the shoulder up just an inch or two.

I didn’t think it would do much, until I tried it myself and to my surprise it was tougher than you might think. There is an extra contraction that occurs in the triceps when you do that.

Well there are my favorite triceps exercises. I hope the explanation helps you understand how to do them correctly so you can benefit from them during your future workouts.

Have a wonderful and blessed day.