Building huge arms is a main priority for many gym-goers, but everyone approaches it differently. Some people head straight to the cable machines and do countless sets of pushdowns, while others do a 60 minute circuit of every arm exercise known to man. The bad news is that both these types of training approaches will bring back uninspired results in terms of growth.
Your triceps are made up of three muscular heads known as: the lateral, medial and long heads. The triceps are responsible for extending the elbow. The multiple heads provide leverage in the variety of positions the upper arm can take comparative your shoulder. The medial and lateral heads cross only the elbow joint, while the long head crosses both the elbow and the shoulder.
In order to achieve great results, one must train smarter, not harder. The truth of the matter is that some exercises are just better than others when it comes to building muscle. If you want to build huge triceps, which make up roughly make up two-thirds of your arms, then you should check out the 5 exercises below. They're the best for building solid rear arm (triceps) mass. So let's get to it!
#1 Skullcrushers: While this exercise, also known as a French press or lying triceps extension, doesn't necessarily isolate the lateral or long head of the triceps more than the other exercises, the arm position perpendicular to your body combines the activity of the two heads to catapult this movement to the top of the list.
How to do the Skullcrusher:
Using a close grip, lift the EZ bar and hold it with your elbows in as you lie on the bench. Your arms should be perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position.
Keeping the upper arms stationary, lower the bar by allowing the elbows to flex. Inhale as you perform this portion of the movement. Pause once the bar is directly above the forehead.
Lift the bar back to the starting position by extending the elbow and exhaling.
Repeat.
#2 Close Grip Bench Press: The Close Grip Bench Press is a great compound movement that really torches the triceps. You can really lift some heavy weight with this exercise since you get assistance from your chest and shoulders as well. EMG (the electrical activity of working muscles) studies show that muscle activation was greatest when utilizing a flat bench with a narrow grip (about 8-10 inches, or shoulder width apart) activates the long head of the triceps to a greater extent than an inclined bench.
How to do the Close Grip Bench Press:
Lie back on a flat bench. Using a close grip (around shoulder width), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your middle chest. Tip: Make sure that - as opposed to a regular bench press - you keep the elbows close to the torso at all times in order to maximize triceps involvement.
After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your triceps muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
Caution: If you are new at this exercise, it is advised that you use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be conservative with the amount of weight used. Also, beware of letting the bar drift too far forward. You want the bar to fall on your middle chest and nowhere else.
Variations: This exercise can also be performed with an e-z bar using the inner handle as well as dumbbells, in which case the palms of the hands will be facing each other.
#3 Dips: This is another great compound movement to really hit those triceps, along with your chest and shoulders as well. To focus your dips on the triceps, keep your body as vertical as possible—don't lean forward, which hits your chest—and keep those elbows tight to your sides.
How to do Dips:
To get into the starting position, hold your body at arm's length with your arms nearly locked above the bars.
Now, inhale and slowly lower yourself downward. Your torso should remain upright and your elbows should stay close to your body. This helps to better focus on tricep involvement. Lower yourself until there is a 90 degree angle formed between the upper arm and forearm.
Then, exhale and push your torso back up using your triceps to bring your body back to the starting position.
Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Variations: If you are new at this exercise and do not have the strength to perform it, use a dip assist machine if available. These machines use weight to help you push your bodyweight.Otherwise, a spotter holding your legs can help. More advanced lifters can add weight to the exercise by using a weight belt that allows the addition of weighted plates.
#4 Overhead Tricep Extension: Now that we have our big compound movements out of the way, let's focus on some isolation (single joint) movements to strictly concentrate on the triceps. Once your arms go overhead, the long head becomes the target, so it's always a good idea to include some kind of arms-overhead exercise in your triceps routine. This is but one of many good options, and it's probably the easiest to get into the start position, especially when seated.
How to do the Overhead Tricep Extension:
To begin, stand up with a dumbbell held by both hands. Your feet should be about shoulder width apart from each other. Slowly use both hands to grab the dumbbell and lift it over your head until both arms are fully extended.
The resistance should be resting in the palms of your hands with your thumbs around it. The palm of the hands should be facing up towards the ceiling. This will be your starting position.
Keeping your upper arms close to your head with elbows in and perpendicular to the floor, lower the resistance in a semicircular motion behind your head until your forearms touch your biceps. Tip: The upper arms should remain stationary and only the forearms should move. Breathe in as you perform this step.
Go back to the starting position by using the triceps to raise the dumbbell. Breathe out as you perform this step.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations:
Another way to perform this exercise is to use an e-z bar or straight bar instead in which case you will be holding the bar from the inside (around 5 inches between both hands) with the palms facing forward (pronated grip).
There is also a bar that has parallel bars inside (often referred to as a triceps blaster) and this can also be used for this exercise.
Finally, a low pulley cable with a rope attachment or bar (straight or e-z) attachment at the end can be used as well for variety purposes as well.
#5 Cable Tricep Pushdown: For some reason, this is the exercise everyone runs to in the gym. It's a great isolation exercise to really focus on the squeeze, and studies showed that cable push-downs actually activated the lateral head of the triceps greater than skullcrushers, kick-backs, or any other major triceps exercise. If you're not doing this movement already, it's a fairly good single-joint lateral-head movement as long as you don't let your elbows drift from your sides.
How to do the Cable Triceps Pushdown:
Attach a straight or angled bar to a high pulley and grab with an overhand grip (palms facing down) at shoulder width.
Standing upright with the torso straight and a very small inclination forward, bring the upper arms close to your body and perpendicular to the floor. The forearms should be pointing up towards the pulley as they hold the bar. This is your starting position.
Using the triceps, bring the bar down until it touches the front of your thighs and the arms are fully extended perpendicular to the floor. The upper arms should always remain stationary next to your torso and only the forearms should move. Exhale as you perform this movement.
After a second hold at the contracted position, bring the bar slowly up to the starting point. Breathe in as you perform this step.
Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
Variations: There are many variations to this movement. For instance you can use an E-Z bar attachment as well as a V-angled bar that allows the thumb to be higher than the small finger. Also, you can attach a rope to the pulley as well as using a reverse grip on the bar exercises.