Best Triceps Exercises

Developed triceps are the key to successful training of the chest and shoulder muscles, because all pressing movements largely depend on the strength of the triceps. Also, do not forget that the triceps are 2/3 of the entire arm, and therefore large pumped triceps muscles of the shoulder dramatically improve the appearance of the arms. In pursuit of muscular arms, beginners miss this nuance of physiology.

In this article, we will not consider various training schemes and specialized programs for triceps development. All of these are solid individual factors that a personal trainer should take into account before creating a scheme. Instead, we will analyze all the exercises that currently exist and highlight the most effective ones.

Choose exercises yourself, based on your individual preferences. Note that there is no best triceps exercise. It will be different for each person. To determine which one is right for you, you need to analyze it as follows:

· Performing the basic movement does not cause discomfort;
· You can easily perform it throughout the entire amplitude, without accelerating or slowing down the lowering or lifting of the working weight;
· The movement does not cause pain in the elbows, at any point along the projectile’s trajectory;
· Psychologically, the exercise does not cause negative emotions;
· You gradually increase the working weight from workout to workout, while maintaining the same technique.

The best triceps exercises:

French press

One of the best exercises due to its biomechanics. It stands out noticeably from other movements due to the starting position. The version of this press with a barbell creates ideal conditions for targeted loading of the triceps. The peculiarity of the movement is the position of the elbows. They are located far from the plane of the body. The further the arms are from the body, the less the involvement of the back muscles, therefore, the entire load will fall on the triceps. Therefore, in the correct French press with an identical working weight, the load seems more significant.

We recommend doing it with an EZ bar, lying on a horizontal bench. Use a minimal working weight in order to emphasize the correct technique. An important nuance: in the starting position, move your elbows slightly towards your head. It is widely believed that at the beginning of the movement, the triceps should be perpendicular to the body, but this is not entirely true. If you move your elbows further - towards the head, the activation of the triceps will be much greater.

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Press

The technique of this exercise is familiar to absolutely everyone. It is not difficult to master, but there are a number of nuances. First of all, this is the position of the elbow during flexion and extension of the arm. Your task is to keep the triceps almost parallel to the body. Do not deviate the arm and elbow to the side during the main movement. In this case, you actively work the shoulder muscles.

Imagine trying to touch the dumbbell to your other shoulder while bending your arm. In this case, it will be easier to keep your arm straight. The extension should be done without jerking, strictly along the same trajectory.

The key to proper technique is choosing the right working weight. This is not exactly a strength exercise in the classic sense of the term. It is more important to take a small dumbbell and perform the movement perfectly.

Lifehack: Don't sit on a bench with a back. This relaxes your abdominal muscles, which will involuntarily force you to move your elbow forward.

Tate Press

A rare exercise in modern fitness centers. Ideal for beginners who train triceps and chest muscles on the same day. Visually resembles crossing dumbbell presses on an inclined bench with dumbbell extensions.

The exercise's special feature is a full amplitude without static load at the end of the trajectory. Due to the fact that the dumbbells rest on your chest muscles at the bottom, your elbows will not be overloaded. The exercise is relevant for people with elbow pain who cannot fully perform classic pressing movements, such as the French press.

Don't let your elbows drop down toward your torso. Try to keep your triceps strictly perpendicular to your torso. Your arms and body should resemble a cross, not the top of a triangle.

Push-ups

An unfairly neglected exercise, which, unlike the barbell press, has more natural biomechanics. The width and placement of the hands do not play such a big role as they write on the Internet. The triceps will always work 100%. The only difference is in individual comfort.

If you can easily do 10-15 push-ups with your own weight, don’t rush to add weights. Remember, the exercise’s peculiarity is natural biomechanics, which will be destroyed by adding weights.

Our advice is simple: do any strength exercise for the triceps, be it a French press or any curl, and immediately after that start doing push-ups. You can do them as a superset (immediately after the approach, without rest), or in the usual mode - after finishing the main exercise. The triceps will noticeably get tired, and your body weight will be quite enough for effective push-ups. Another advantage of such "final" push-ups is the lack of risk of injury. In professional fitness, this principle formed the basis of a technique called preliminary fatigue.

Style summary

Of course, in addition to the above exercises, we should pay tribute to various barbell presses, lying, sitting, etc., where in addition to the triceps, the chest and shoulders work. But still, they should be considered the main exercises for the triceps.

All kinds of bending and unbending of arms in block simulators are only an addition to the main exercises. Do not rely on them, since it is extremely difficult to increase the working weight in such movements.

Finally, let's note the importance of minimalism and dosed loads. Do not try to do 3-4 exercises each workout. Try each one, choose the most effective for you, and focus on it.