Bust your Sleeves with Massive Triceps

Ask just about anyone to "show you their muscles" and they will flex their bicep. All over the world people are in gyms doing nothing but bicep curls (and probably overtraining them too) in order to pump up their "beach" muscles. There are a few flaws in this thinking, but the one I want to focus on today has to do with the Triceps. Specifically, the triceps makes up 2/3 of your upper arm mass.

That's right, if you want to stretch your shirt sleeves to impress the ladies, you need big triceps. Not to mention that the triceps is a contributing muscle group in all your upper body "push" exercises - like bench press and shoulder press. So not only will big strong triceps increase your overall upper arm size, but strong triceps will help you increase your bench press and shoulder press weight. Not only that, but if your triceps are weak and fatigue before your chest or shoulders, you could be limiting the development of those muscles as well!

Triceps Exercise Form

Exercise form is important for all muscle groups, but form and a full range of motion become especially critical for triceps development. A large amount of the triceps muscle is at the top of the arm, near the deltoid tie in. In order to really tax these muscles you need to take each rep to it's absolute maximum on the negative portion of the rep. Personally I have always found I "feel" my triceps more than any other muscle (with the exception of chest on the extreme negative portion of a dumbbell fly). But it is this uncomfortable stretch feeling that tells you that you are in the zone you need to be in.

Also, triceps exercises must be performed with strict form. That means you must minimize elbow travel when performing triceps exercises. Whether that means locked to your sides on triceps pull/push-downs, or straight above your shoulders for "skull-crushers", you have to lock your arms in place to achieve maximum development.

Triceps Exercises

I like to think of triceps exercises as belonging to 2 categories: Strength builders and mass builders.

Strength Builders

These exercises will help you build power in your triceps over the middle range of motion. These should be used when you are trying to bring your arm strength up to maximize power on other exercises like bench and shoulder presses.

1. Close Grip bench press

On a flat bench, take a grip on the bar making sure that the outside edge of your hands are no further out then the edge of your rib cage. The closer the thumbs are together the better, but balancing the weight comes into play. Vary your grip from thumbs touching to about 6-8 inches apart over your sets. Make sure to lower the weight until your thumbs touch your pecs. 6-10 reps, 4 or 5 sets.



2. Triceps Push downs
I like to separate a "Push down" from a "Pull-down" based on feel. Basically the exercise is the same but with some subtle differences. For "Push downs" I like to bend at the waist slightly and keep the bar under my chest (cable comes over my shoulder next to my ear). This is typically done with more weight and a looser form. I let my elbows come up and to the side as if I were doing a standing close grip bench press. 6-10 reps, 4 or 5 sets.

Mass builders

1. Triceps Pull downs
For this exercise you stand perfectly straight with the elbows locked into your sides, the cable should be right in front of your nose at all times. Make sure to use a full range of motion - the bar should be under your chin at the top and on your thighs at the bottom of the movement. Make sure to flex hard at the bottom to really fire all the fibres in your triceps. 8-12 reps, 4-5 sets.





2. Lying French Press / Skull Crushers
Lying on a flat or mildly inclined bench, grip the bar with just slightly narrower than shoulder width grip. The grip for skull crushers may take some experimenting, but keep at it until you find a grip that allows you to bring the barbell to your forehead without moving your elbows from their fixed point in space. 8-12 reps, 4-5 sets.





3. Weighted Triceps dips
Place you hands on the edge of a bench and your feet on another bench at the same level or slightly higher. Have your partner place weight plates on your thighs. Dip until your shoulders are in line with your elbows (or lower if you can). Don't let your elbows flare out to the side - try to keep them behind you at all times. 8-12 reps, 4-5 sets.

Pick 2 or 3 of these for your triceps day and rotate your routine every 3-4 months to keep the triceps growing. There are lots of other triceps exercises, perhaps more than any other single body parts, but try to build your routine around these proven strength and mass builders. You'll be busting your t-shirt seems in no time!