10 best and most effective triceps exercises for mass

The triceps forms the relief and bulk of the shoulder; it is also an extensor of the arm. Therefore, if you want to improve your athletic performance or just pump up your arms and create relief, triceps exercises should definitely be included in your training program. Let's look at how to pump up triceps at home.

Triceps: photo, structure and functions
How to train triceps at home: Triceps pumping exercises at home
French bench press with weights
Video: Triceps pumping: French dumbbell bench press, nuances of execution
Reverse push-ups
Video: Reverse push-ups from a bench, different difficulty options
Seated one-arm dumbbell French press
Video: One-arm French dumbbell press in a seated position
Bent over arm extension with dumbbell
Video: How to properly perform bent over dumbbell extensions
Close grip push-ups
Video: A woman can also pump up her triceps with this exercise: Narrow-grip push-ups
Triceps exercise program
Video: How to pump up triceps at home
Practical tips on how to pump up your triceps

Triceps: photo, structure and functions

The triceps muscle occupies the entire back of the shoulder and consists of three parts:

lateral or short head, also called the anterior triceps;
long head or posterior tuft;
medial or middle head, otherwise - internal bundle.

Most

Functions of the triceps:

movement of the arm from front to back, mainly due to the long head of the triceps;
extension of the arm at the elbow;
bringing the arm to the body.

The triceps muscles make up 2/3 of all shoulder muscles, so training the triceps is necessary for the harmonious development of the arms.

Classic push-ups with narrow arms

Push-ups are popular among beginner athletes, since not everyone has the opportunity or desire to exercise in the gym. Push-ups train the entire chest, front delts and arms, but you can also focus on the triceps. To do this, you need to place your hands narrowly and press your elbows to your body. This will take the pressure off your shoulders and chest, but will also stress your triceps muscles.

It is better to turn your palms so that they look at each other, and the fingers of one hand can be covered with the fingers of the other. As for straightening the elbow, everything here is also standard for pumping up the triceps: straighten your arms at the top point to engage the target muscle.

As a result of correctly performing classic push-ups with a narrow hand position, you can build up the medial and long triceps.

How to train triceps at home: Triceps pumping exercises at home

Lack of opportunity or desire to go to the gym should not become an obstacle to training. Moreover, you can always use, for example, water bottles as weights, and a bench in some exercises can be replaced by the floor or a regular chair.

French bench press with weights

An excellent isolated load on the triceps will be given by the French dumbbell bench press. You can perform the exercise not only with a barbell, but also with dumbbells. At home, you can lie on the floor (on a rug). If you don't have dumbbells on hand, plastic bottles filled with water or sand will do. If you have not done this exercise before, use light weights, as the French press puts more stress on the elbow joint. The exercise is basic and good for pumping up your triceps.

Technique:

Take a horizontal position, take weights in your hands.
Raise the dumbbells above you. Straight arms are tilted towards the head at a slight angle.
As you inhale, bend your elbows, bringing the dumbbells to approximately ear level. The shoulders remain motionless.
As you exhale, extend your arms to the starting position, straightening them completely. Make sure your shoulders are secure. Do not spread your arms; the distance between the dumbbells in the starting position should be 20–25 centimeters.
Do 10-12 reps in 2-3 sets.

The further your arms move behind your head, the greater the load.

Video: Triceps pumping: French dumbbell bench press, nuances of execution

Reverse push-ups

To perform reverse push-ups at home, you can use a chair or any low furniture that you can lean on. The lower the support, the more load the triceps will receive. This is a basic exercise and you can vary the load. Beginners and women will make the exercise easier for themselves by helping with the process with their feet. Trained athletes can perform reverse push-ups and further increase their weight with the help of a heavy backpack.

The technique is shown in the photo below:

Find something high, such as a chair. Turn your back to him and lower yourself down, resting your hands on the chair slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Feet firmly on the floor. Straight legs will provide more load than bent knees.
Inhale and slowly lower yourself down, bending your elbows. Calculate your strength; you don’t need to sink all the way to the floor if you feel that you won’t be able to get up later.
As you exhale, rise up by straightening your arms.
If your goal is the fastest possible muscle growth, then the negative phase of the exercise should take 2-3 times longer than the positive phase. That is, you need to go down slower than you go up.
Do 8-12 reps in 2-3 sets.

Bent legs make it easier to perform.

If you have shoulder problems, perform reverse push-ups only with your doctor's approval.

Video: Reverse push-ups from a bench, different difficulty options

Seated one-arm dumbbell French press

The good thing about this exercise is that it can be performed by people of any skill level. You can start doing it with the smallest weights of 1–2 kg. This type of bench press is ideal for doing at home; it does not require much space, and almost any household item that is convenient to hold with one hand can serve as a weight.

Technique:

Sit up straight, place your feet on the floor shoulder-width apart, the position should be stable.
Take the weight in one hand and lift it above your head, perpendicular to the floor.
The position of the working hand is correct when the palm faces forward and the little finger faces the ceiling. The elbow should not be turned either forward or backward.
As you inhale, bend your working arm at the elbow and smoothly lower the dumbbell behind your head until your forearm touches your biceps.
As you exhale, straighten your arm and return the dumbbell to the top, it is very important that the shoulder does not move. If you can't lock your shoulders, use a lighter weight.
Do 10-15 reps in 2-3 sets.

Video: One-arm French dumbbell press in a seated position

Bent over arm extension with dumbbell

This exercise works the triceps in isolation without damaging your shoulders or back. Bent-over arm extensions are suitable for beginners and can be used to begin preparing for the transition to more demanding exercises.

Technique:

Take a suitable weight in your working hand. To support your feet, you can use a chair, leaning on it with one knee, or you can simply stand on the floor, for stability, pushing forward the leg opposite your working hand.
If using a chair, use your non-working hand to grasp the edge of the chair for balance. Place your knee on the chair. If you work without a chair, bend your knees slightly.
Tilt your straight body forward until it is diagonal with the floor. The stronger the slope, the greater the load will be.
Raise your working arm to the starting position: the shoulder is parallel to the body, the elbow joint is bent at a right angle.
As you exhale, gently lift the dumbbell, straightening your arm at the elbow until it is straight.
As you inhale, bend your arm and return it to its original position.
Do 8-12 reps in 2-3 sets for each arm.

The shoulder is fixed, the arm moves in an arc.

Video: How to properly perform bent over dumbbell extensions

Close grip push-ups

Technique:

Take a lying position, the weight should fall on straight arms and toes. Hands should be at a distance narrower than shoulder width, legs and body should form a single straight line.
The palms can be turned with the fingers towards each other at an angle of no more than 30 degrees.
Bend your elbows and inhale as you lower yourself down. Don't lie on the floor, keep tension in your arms.
As you exhale, straighten your arms and rise up.
Perform 10–15 reps in 2–3 sets.

Beginners can change the emphasis by standing on their knees rather than on their feet, and advanced athletes can make push-ups more challenging by wearing a weighted backpack.

Video: A woman can also pump up her triceps with this exercise: Narrow-grip push-ups

Features of training at home

At home there is not such a variety of exercise equipment as in the gym, however, here you can also pump up the triceps brachii muscle. To do this, there are simple classic triceps exercises that can be performed at home or on the street. The following equipment is required: a kettlebell, a bench or chair, a block exercise machine or TPX loops, two pairs of dumbbells of different weights, ideally parallel bars. If you have the right amount of patience and the will to train, you will quickly and easily understand how to tighten this muscle group.

Triceps exercise program

How to get outstanding triceps? Need a training program. Triceps exceeds biceps not only in volume, but also in strength - 2-3 times. Therefore, downloading it is a little easier. If your triceps are not developed, then when you start training, focus on a period of several months.

Training goals vary:

increase in muscle mass;
development of muscle relief;
increased muscle strength;
increase in impact force;
development of endurance.

You need to work on each goal for 8–12 weeks. The deadline may not be limited.

Depending on the goal, you need to build your training:

To grow muscle mass, you need to work with weights, performing fewer repetitions in one approach: 6-10 repetitions in 3-4 approaches with heavy weight.
To develop muscle relief, you need to bring the percentage of body fat to a certain level; interval and cardio training are suitable for this. The number of repetitions in exercises is 12–15.
To increase muscle strength, you can use static exercises, when you don’t just lift weights, but hold in the final position for 5-10 seconds.
To increase striking power, you need to perform plyometric exercises. For example, push-ups become plyometric if, when pushing off the floor, you “bounce” with your arms, that is, you lift off the floor so that only your legs remain below.
To develop endurance, you need to perform as many repetitions as possible in one approach.

Training plan for pumping triceps, perform 12 repetitions in 3 approaches:

French bench press.
Seated one-arm French press, work each arm.
Bent over arm extensions with dumbbells.
Close grip push-ups.

To develop mass, use medium weights. But you need to remember that to use scales you need to be physically fit.

Before completing the program, you need to strengthen your joints and tone your triceps. To do this, perform all the described exercises with the lightest weights and concentrate primarily on technique. If your muscles are not at all prepared, then reverse push-ups from a chair or even from the floor will help with this perfectly.

It is recommended to switch to heavier weights no earlier than after 1.5 months. To achieve results, you need to include such a program in your training twice a week.

Video: How to pump up triceps at home

Practical tips on how to pump up your triceps

To pump up your triceps correctly, you need to follow certain rules:

Muscles must be properly nourished. There are no universal nutritional standards. The general norms for gaining muscle mass with a weight of 70 kg are as follows: 260–300 grams of carbohydrates and 180–200 grams of protein and 65–75 grams of fat per day.
Muscles need to rest and recover. It is recommended to train triceps no more than twice a week. If your muscles are sore, it will be more beneficial to postpone training until they recover.
Before working with weights, warm up well, do not start training right away, this is dangerous not only for the triceps, but also for the arm joints. If you experience joint pain, do not continue exercising and be prepared that the pain may not go away on its own and you may need to see a doctor.
Focus on basic exercises: French press, reverse and narrow push-ups with weights. They will help your arms gain weight, and additional exercises are needed more in order to diversify the load.
During the exercise, do not straighten your arm completely. This is fraught with joint injury and reduces the useful load on the triceps. A straight arm in triceps exercises is always a very slightly bent arm.
Perform flexion and extension of your arms to the full amplitude; if you lower your arm, then lower it all the way. Prefer full range of motion over reps. Frequent repetition increases the risk of joint injuries.
There should be no jerking or sudden movements in the exercises, especially when working with additional weight. Muscles and joints develop better with a smooth, stable load. If your goal is striking power, then sudden movements are possible in the exercises, but they are part of proper technique.
You can vary the load on different triceps heads simply by rotating your hand. By rotating your arms in the joints, you can load different parts of the triceps and diversify your workouts.
If you use heavy weights, try pyramid sets. This is a type of training where you increase the weight and decrease the number of repetitions with each set. Start with 15 reps and medium to light weights, the second set will be 12 reps, and the third will be 8-10 reps and the heaviest weight for you. Calculate the load correctly; even the heaviest weight should not cause pain in the joints.

Developed triceps can be obtained not only in the gym, but also at home. For training, you will need knowledge of several basic exercises, improvised weights and a chair. To keep your pumping in full swing, work on your triceps twice a week, stick to the correct technique and be patient - you're on the right track.

Scheme of full triceps training

Triset 1: basic development
French incline dumbbell press

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Dumbbells

Arm extension while standing on the lower block

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Triceps extension down on a block using a rope handle

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Triset 2: working on the long head

Triceps extension on a block

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Close grip bench press

3 sets of 8-12 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Barbell

French incline dumbbell press

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Dumbbells

Triset 3: working out the lateral head

Triceps extension down on a block using a rope handle

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Dips

3 sets of 8-12 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight

Arm extension on a block with a v-shaped attachment

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Triset 4: joint work

Close grip bench press (incline)

3 sets of 8-12 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Barbell

Dips

3 sets of 8-12 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight

Push-ups on a bench

3 sets of 10-20 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight

Triset 5: cable exercises

Arm extension on a block with a v-shaped attachment

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Arm extension while standing on the lower block

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Triceps extension on a block

3 sets of 10-15 reps
Body Part: Triceps Equipment: Block

Triset 6: strength and power

Close grip bench press (incline)

5 sets of 4-8 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Barbell

Dips (with weights)

4-5 sets of 4-8 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight

Push-ups on a bench (with weights)

2 sets of 5-10 reps
Body part: Triceps Equipment: Body weight

Add to Calendar * Add to My Workouts * Print Workout

* — The service is in beta testing

Sports nutrition will help speed up the process of gaining muscle mass - protein, creatine, gainer, arginine, BCAA, amino acids. These supplements are specially designed for athletes and fitness-active people of different fitness levels. Such drugs are completely safe, and their effectiveness has already been proven.