Triceps brachii Archives - Muscle Motivation

Parallel Bar Dips

Hang from the parallel bars with arms extended and legs suspended:
• Inhale and bend the elbows to bring the chest level with the bars.

Return to the extended arm position.
Exhale at the end of the effort.

The more the chest is angled forward during the exercise, the more the inferior fibers of the pectorals are used. Conversely, the more vertical the chest, the more the triceps brachii will be used.

This exercise is excellent for stretching the pectoralis major and for working on the flexibility of the shoulder girdle. However, it is not recommended for beginners because it requires a certain amount of initial strength.
If you are a beginner, use a dips machine to familiarize yourself with the movement.
Sets of 10 to 20 repetitions provide the best results.
For developing more strength and also more size, athletes used to this movement may use a weight belt, or hang a weight from their legs.

Variations:

Standard Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves placing your hands on the parallel bars, with your arms straight and your feet off the ground. Lower your body until your elbows are bent to about 90 degrees, then push back up.
Weighted Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves adding weight to your dips by wearing a weighted vest or holding a weight plate between your legs. This is a great way to increase the intensity of the exercise and build more strength.
Narrow Grip Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves placing your hands closer together on the parallel bars. This targets the triceps muscles more than the chest muscles.
Wide Grip Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves placing your hands wider apart on the parallel bars. This targets the chest muscles more than the triceps.
Eccentric Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves focusing on the lowering phase of the dip. Lower your body very slowly, taking at least 5-10 seconds to complete the movement. This can help to build strength and muscle mass.
Assisted Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves using an assisted dip machine or resistance bands to help you perform the exercise. This is a good option for beginners or those who are not yet strong enough to perform the full exercise on their own.
Explosive Parallel Bar Dip: This variation involves exploding up off the parallel bars at the top of the movement, using your upper body strength to generate power. This can help to build explosive power and improve your athletic performance.

Push-Ups

Support yourself facedown on the ground, with arms extended, hands shoulder-width (or more) apart, and feet touching or slightly apart:

Inhale and bend the elbows to bring the rib cage close to the ground without arching the low back excessively.
Push back up to complete arm extension.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

This movement is excellent for the pectoralis major
and the triceps brachii.
Varying the tilt of the chest focuses the work on different parts of the pectorals:
• Feet higher isolates the the clavicular head of the pectoralis major.
• Chest higher isolates the inferior part of the pectoralis major.
Varying the width of the hands focuses the work on different parts of the pectorals:
• Hands wider isolates the lateral part of the pectoralis major.
• Hands closer together isolates the sternal head of the pectoralis major.

Variations:

Standard Push-Up: This variation involves placing your hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, with your feet together and your body in a straight line. Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the ground, then push back up.
Close-Grip Push-Up: This variation involves placing your hands close together, directly under your shoulders. This targets the triceps muscles more than the chest muscles.
Wide-Grip Push-Up: This variation involves placing your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. This targets the chest muscles more than the triceps.
Plyometric Push-Up: This variation involves exploding up off the ground at the top of the push-up, clapping your hands together in mid-air, and then landing back in the starting position. This is a great way to build explosive power in the chest and upper body.
Incline Push-Up: This variation involves placing your hands on an elevated surface, such as a bench or step. This reduces the amount of weight on your upper body, making the exercise easier. It also targets the upper chest muscles more than the lower chest.
Decline Push-Up: This variation involves placing your feet on an elevated surface, such as a bench or step, and your hands on the floor. This increases the amount of weight on your upper body, making the exercise more challenging. It also targets the lower chest muscles more than the upper chest.
One-Arm Push-Up: This variation involves performing the push-up with one arm. It is a very challenging exercise that requires a lot of upper body strength and stability.

Decline Press

Lie on a decline bench (between 20 and 40 degrees), with the head angled down and feet fixed to prevent sliding and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip shoulder width or more:

Inhale and lower the barbell to the lower pectorals with a controlled movement.
Extend the arms and exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise contracts the pectoralis major (mainly its inferior fibers), triceps brachii, and the anterior deltoid.
This exercise is useful for outlining the inferior groove of the pectorals. Using light weights and lowering the bar to the neck stretches the pectoralis major correctly. The decline press may be performed at a frame that guides the bar.

Variations:

Decline Barbell Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with a barbell. It allows you to lift heavier weight and build overall chest strength.
Decline Dumbbell Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with dumbbells. It allows for a greater range of motion and helps to work each side of the body individually.
Decline Close-Grip Press: This variation involves performing the exercise with a closer grip on the barbell or dumbbells. It targets the triceps muscles more than the chest muscles.
Decline Flyes: This variation involves performing the exercise with dumbbells, but instead of pressing them up, you bring them out to the side in a fly motion. This targets the chest muscles more than the triceps.
Decline Push-ups: This variation involves performing the exercise with just your bodyweight. It can be a great way to work the chest muscles and build strength, especially for beginners or those who don’t have access to weights. You can also add weight by using a weighted vest or holding a weight plate on your back.

Close-Grip Bench Press

Lie on a horizontal bench with the buttocks on the bench and the feet on the ground, gripping the barbell with an overhand grip and wrists 4 to 15 inches apart, depending on the flexibility of the wrists: Inhale and lower the bar with a controlled movement to the chest, with the elbows out to the side. Extend and exhale at the end of the effort. This exercise develops the pectoral muscles at the sternal notch and the triceps brachii. (With this in mind, it may be included in a program for the arms.) By extending and keeping the elbows next to the body, a greater part of the work is performed by the anterior deltoid. This movement may be performed at a frame that guides the bar.

Attention: Depending on your physical structure, the narrow grip may cause wrist pain. In this case, use a wider grip.

Warning: Bench Presses and Elbow Pain. 
Elbow pain most often develops after bench pressing. This overuse injury is generally related to excessive training with long sets. In bench pressing, locking the extended arms at the end of the movement subjects the elbow to rubbing and microtrauma, which over time may lead to inflammation.

Comment: Occasionally, this condition can lead to intra-articular calcifications, which are particularly crippling. In this case, surgery is often the only solution for regaining complete arm extension.
At the first sign of elbow pain, avoid for several days exercises that involve arm extension in order to prevent serious injury.
When you resume exercises that include arm extension, avoid completely extending the forearms at the end of the movement until the pain has completely disappeared.

Bench Press

Lie faceup on a horizontal bench, with buttocks on the bench and feet flat on the ground:

Grasp the barbell with an overhand grip wider than shoulder width.
Inhale and lower the bar to the chest with a controlled movement.
Extend the arms and exhale at the end of the effort.

This exercise engages the complete pectoralis major muscle, pectoralis minor, anterior deltoid, serratus anterior, and coracobrachialis.

Variations:

1. This movement may be performed while arching the back power-lifter style. This position brings the more powerful lower part of the pectoral muscle into play, allowing you to lift heavier weights.

2. Executing the extension with the elbows next to the body concentrates the work onto the anterior deltoid.

3. Varying the width of the hands isolates different parts of the muscle:

Hands closer together isolates the central part of the pectorals.
Hands wider apart isolates the lateral part of the pectorals.

4. Varying the angle of the barbell isolates different parts of the muscle:

Lowering the bar to the chondrocostal border of the rib cage isolates the lower part of the pectorals.
Lowering the barbell onto the middle part of the pectorals isolates the midline fibers.
Lowering the bar onto the sternal notch isolates the clavicular head of the muscle.

5. If you have back problems or want to isolate the pectorals, perform the extension with the legs raised.

6. Perform the extension at a frame that guides the bar.

Incline Press

Sit on an incline bench angled at 45 to 60 degrees, grasp the barbell with an
overhand grip wider than shoulder width:
Inhale and lower the barbell to the
sternal notch.

Extend the arms.
Exhale at the end of the movement.

This exercise mainly solicits the clavicular head of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, triceps brachii, serratus anterior, and pectoralis minor. This exercise may be done at a frame that guides the bar.

Variations:

Incline barbell bench press: This is a classic variation of the incline press, where you use a barbell and an incline bench. It’s a great exercise for building overall upper body strength.
Incline dumbbell bench press: This variation is similar to the barbell bench press, but uses dumbbells instead. It’s a great exercise to help improve your upper body stability.
Incline machine press: This is a machine-based variation of the incline press that can be easier to perform for beginners. It’s also a good option if you want to focus on your chest muscles without using your triceps as much.
Close-grip incline press: This variation involves bringing your hands closer together on the bar or dumbbells. This places more emphasis on your triceps, making it a great exercise for building arm strength.
Single-arm incline press: This variation is performed using one arm at a time, either with dumbbells or a cable machine. This helps to improve balance and stability, as well as targeting each side of your body individually.
Plyometric incline press: This variation involves performing explosive, plyometric movements with the bar or dumbbells. It’s a great way to improve your power and explosiveness.

Seated E-Z Bar Triceps Extensions

Sit or stand and grasp an E-Z bar with an overhand grip and arms vertical:
Inhale and bend the elbows to lower the bar
behind the head.

• Return to the initial position.
• Exhale at the end of the extension.

The vertical position of the arms strongly stretches the long head of the triceps brachii, emphasizing its contraction while working.
An overhand grip isolates the lateral head of the triceps brachii.
Contract the abdominal muscles and avoid arching the low back. If possible use a bench with support for the low back.

Variations:

• Close grip seated E-Z bar triceps extensions – performed with a narrow grip on the E-Z bar to emphasize the outer head of the triceps

• Reverse grip seated E-Z bar triceps extensions – performed with an underhand grip on the E-Z bar to emphasize the inner head of the triceps

• Seated E-Z bar overhead extensions with a twist – performed with a twisting motion of the E-Z bar at the top of the extension to add an extra stretch to the triceps

• Seated E-Z bar skull crushers – performed with a slow and controlled descent of the bar towards the forehead to increase the time under tension of the triceps.

Seated Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

Sit and grasp a dumbbell, holding it behind the neck:

• Inhale, and extend the forearm.
• Exhale at the end of the
movement.

The vertical position of the arm strongly stretches the long head of the triceps brachii, emphasizing its contraction while working. Contract the abdominal core to prevent arching the low back. If possible use a bench with support for the low back.

Triceps Extensions

Lie on a horizontal bench and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip and the arms vertical:

• Inhale and lower the barbell to the forehead or behind the head by bending the elbows.
• Return to the initial position.
• Exhale at the end of the effort.

Comment: Because of individual variations in shoulder width, valgus angle at the elbows, and wrist flexibility, the hands can be closer or farther apart on the bar and the elbow angle more or less open during the exercise.
Using an E-Z bar helps prevent excessive strain at the wrists.

There are several variations for triceps extensions:

Overhead triceps extensions: Done with a dumbbell or barbell, this exercise involves extending your arm overhead to work the triceps from a different angle.
Close-grip bench press: This exercise involves doing a traditional bench press with a narrower grip, which places more emphasis on the triceps.
Lying triceps extensions: This exercise is done lying on a flat bench, using a barbell or dumbbell, and involves extending your arm straight up towards the ceiling.
Diamond pushups: This exercise involves placing your hands close together, forming a diamond shape, and doing pushups to target the triceps.
Kickbacks: This exercise is done using a dumbbell and involves extending your arm straight back behind you to target the triceps.

Push Downs

Stand with the back to the machine and grasp the handle with an overhand grip, keeping the elbows tucked into the body:

• Inhale and extend the forearms, keeping the elbows tucked into the body.
• Exhale at the end of the movement.

Comment: This exercise isolates the triceps and the anconeus.
The variation using a rope rather than a handle engages the lateral head of the triceps more intensely.
Performing the movement with an underhand grip requires more contribution from the medial head of triceps.
Hold an isometric contraction for one or two seconds at the end of the movement to feel the effort more intensely. When using heavy weights, lean forward with the torso. Beginners can use this exercise to develop enough strength to move on to more difficult exercises.