Tricep Exercises for Three Heads: A Comprehensive Guide to Bigger Arms – Fitness Volt (2024)

Are you looking to maximize your tricep workouts but struggle to effectively target each muscle head? Here’s an interesting fact: the triceps brachii muscleis made up ofthree distinct heads– thelong, lateral, and medial heads.

This article will focus on some highly effective exercises that specifically aim at these areas for a more comprehensive workout routine. Get ready to give your triceps the training they deserve!

Anatomy of the Triceps

The triceps are a major muscle group in the upper arm, comprised ofthree heads: the long head, lateral head, and medial head, each playing a significant role in extending the elbow and determining our arm’s overall shape and strength.

Long Head

The long head is one part of the tricep muscle. Big moves likeoverhead dumbbell extensionswork this area well. Theskull crusher movealso helps to make this part stronger. But, we need more than these exercises.

Another way to train this part is withclose grip barbell bench pressorincline dumbbell tricep kickbacks. Mixing up exercises like these will boost your strength in no time!

Lateral Head

The lateral head is one part of your tricep muscle. It sits on theouter side of your upper arm. By working this area, you can get stronger. A bigger lateral head also makes your arms look wider.

One common exercise for this part istriangle push-ups. For these, put your hands together to make a shape like a diamond or triangle under your chest. Then do push-ups as usual. This works mainly the outer part of your triceps.

Another good work out for the lateral head isparallel bar dips. Get yourself up and between two bars that are at waist height using just your arms strength, then lower and raise back again with care not to rush steps in order not injure yourself.

You can also trybench dipsandoverhead tricep extensionsto build up this area in a smooth way possible without affecting other parts too much which increases efficiency while excising since we target more one specific area instead several at once which leads overall better results by time.

Weights help make other exercises such as dumbbell floor presses harder if required based on how strong we feel today or our plan itself being set that way beforehand by ourselves or coach.

Medial Head

Themedial head is a part of your tricep muscle. This partruns along the back of your arm. Ithelps you push and pull things. To make this part strong, tryreverse grip tricep pushdownsandskull crushers.

You can also do abench press with a backward hand hold or dumbbell Tate pressfor more power in the medial head. The French Press exercise also works this area well.

Best Tricep Exercises for Long Head

To effectively target the long head of your triceps, some of the best exercises include overhead dumbbell extensions, dumbbell triceps kickbacks, close-grip push-ups, cable triceps pushdowns and weighted dips.

These concentrated workouts provide a well-rounded training experience for maximum muscle engagement and growth.

Overhead Dumbbell Extensions

You need adumbbellto do overhead dumbbell extensions. Hold the weight with both hands over your head. Your arms should be straight. Then,bend your elbowsand let theweight go down behind your head.

You will feel a pull in thelong head tricep musclesat theback of your upper arm. Now lift it again! This exerciseworks out this part of your tricep musclevery well.

Benefits:

• Targets the long head of the triceps effectively.
• Enhances the overall size and definition of the upper arm.
• Improves shoulder and elbow joint flexibility.

Execution:

1. Stand or sit with a dumbbell held with both hands over your head, arms fully extended.
2. Bend your elbows, lowering the weight behind your head.
3. Extend your arms, raising the dumbbell back to the starting position.
4. Ensure your elbows remain close to your head throughout the movement.

Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks

Dumbbell triceps kickbacks are great for your arms. They help make thelong head of your tricepstrong. For this workout, you need adumbbell in one hand.

Start by standing up straight and putting one foot ahead of the other. Tip forward from your hips until your body is almost parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and pull up the elbow of the arm holding the dumbbell to be level with your torso.

Next,push or “kick back” the weightbehind you while keeping your upper arm still. Make sure not to drop it down after kicking back but rather lower it slowly. This helps make every part of each rep count!

Doing dumbbell tricep kickbacks will work all three parts, or heads, of this muscle at once! So add them into any upper body or full body day forextra gains in size and strength.

Benefits:

• Strengthens all three heads of the tricep muscle simultaneously.
• Promotes better posture and scapular stability.
• Offers effective isolation of the triceps.

Execution:

1. Hold a dumbbell in one hand while leaning forward slightly from your hips.
2. Pull up the elbow of the arm holding the dumbbell to be level with your torso.
3. Extend your forearm back until the arm is fully straightened.
4. Slowly return to the initial bent-elbow position.

Close-Grip Push-ups

Close-grip push-upswork your triceps hard. Place your hands under your chest. Make a diamond shape with your hands to make it tough. Your body should be in a straight line from head to toes when you do this move.

Push up by using only the power of your arms, not your body weight. Thistargets the long head part of the tricep musclesandadds size and strength to them.

Benefits:

• Intensely activates the triceps, especially the long head.
• Engages core muscles for stability.
• Requires no equipment, making it a versatile bodyweight exercise.

Execution:

1. Start in a plank position with hands placed under your chest forming a diamond shape.
2. Lower your body until your chest is just above the ground.
3. Push back up using your triceps and chest muscles, ensuring your elbows stay close to your body.

Cable Triceps Pushdowns

Do your tricep exercises. Use theCable Triceps Pushdowns. Thisworkout uses a cable machine. You pull down on it with both hands. Keep your elbows by your sides as you do this exercise.

Itworks out all three heads of the tricep musclesat once! This is because of how you must move and use your arms topush down on the cord from the machine.

Benefits:

• Provides consistent resistance throughout the movement using the cable machine.
• Activates all three heads of the tricep muscle.
• Improves forearm strength and grip.

Execution:

1. Stand in front of a cable machine with a bar attachment at a high setting.
2. Grip the bar with palms facing down, keeping your elbows close to your body.
3. Push the bar down until your arms are fully extended.
4. Slowly return the bar to the starting position, controlling the resistance.

Weighted Dips

Weighted Dips are atop exerciseforlong head triceps. They make your arms strong and big. With this exercise, youadd weightto your body. You can use a belt or hold a dumbbell between your legs for that.

Your own body weight is not enough over time because as you get stronger, the dips become easier. Step up onto parallel bars, lean forward slightly and lower your body down until elbows form around 90-degree angle then push back up till fully extended but without locking out the elbow joints completely or else it will hurt eventually! Do remember thatproper formneeds to be maintained always while doing weighted dips.

Benefits:

• Majorly targets the long head of the triceps.
• Strengthens the shoulder and chest muscles.
• Boosts overall upper body power.

Execution:

1. Position yourself between parallel bars, holding your body up.
2. If adding weight, use a belt or hold a dumbbell between your legs.
3. Lower your body until your elbows form a 90-degree angle.
4. Push yourself back up to the starting position without locking your elbows.

Find more of the best tricep exercises for the long head.

Best Tricep Exercises for Lateral Head

If you’re aiming to define and strengthen the lateral head of your triceps, exercises such as triangle push-ups, parallel bar dips, bench dips, overhead triceps extensions, and dumbbell floor presses are highly effective.

These movements not only help in sculpting a defined arm silhouette but also improve upper body strength. Remember to maintain proper form throughout each exercise for optimal muscle stimulation and injury prevention.

Whether you are working out at home or at the gym, these exercises can be easily incorporated into your routine for comprehensive lateral head tricep training. Consider adding varying weights across sessions utilizingprogressive overload principlesfor continual advancement towards your fitness goals.

Triangle Push-ups

Your tricep exercises need Triangle Push-ups. This move works both thelateral head and long headof your three-part tricep muscle, as stated in Important Facts. Put your hands close together on the ground, pointing inward to make atriangle shape with your fingers and thumbs.

Keep your body straight while youbend at the elbowsto go down. Then push back up until your arms are straight again. This is one rep. Try doingsets of tenfor a start!

Benefits:

• Focuses on the lateral and long heads of the tricep.
• Enhances core stability.
• Boosts shoulder strength.

Execution:

1. Start in a plank position with hands close together forming a triangle shape under your chest.
2. Lower your body, keeping your elbows close to your sides.
3. Push back up, ensuring you use your tricep muscles primarily.

Parallel bar dips

Parallel bar dips work thelateral head of your triceps. You grab two bars set apart at about shoulder-width. Then youraise yourself up and down using your arms. This movement makes your triceps do a lot of work.

Itadds size to them fast. Like most gym exercises, it’s not easy when you get started with parallel bar dips. At first,try doing them without added weightbefore moving on to weighted versions for a major muscle burn.

Benefits:

• Prioritizes the lateral head of the tricep.
• Increases chest and front shoulder activation.
• Builds overall upper body strength.

Execution:

1. Grip two parallel bars and lift your body up.
2. Lower yourself slowly until your arms reach a 90-degree bend.
3. Push up until your arms are fully extended.

Bench dips

Bench dips deserve a spot in your workout plan. This exercise helps make theupper arm musclesstronger. You need a bench to do this exercise. Here’s how it works: sit at the edge of a bench and set your hands on either side of you.

Slide off the bench, keeping legs straight in front of you or bending them for ease. Now, lower yourself till yourarms form right anglesand push back up again until they’re fully straight.

It targets mainly thelateral headwhich makes our arms look bigger from the side view. It also boosts strength in other exercises like press-ups and dips.

Benefits:

• Targets the lateral head, enhancing arm width.
• Utilizes body weight for resistance, making it adaptable to different fitness levels.
• Promotes shoulder stability.

Execution:

1. Sit on the edge of a bench, placing hands next to your hips.
2. Move your body forward, lowering it until your arms reach a 90-degree angle.
3. Push up using your triceps to return to the starting position.

Overhead triceps extensions

Overhead triceps extensionsare good for the arms. This move helps to make the back part of your upper arm stronger. It mainlyworks the long head in your tricepbut it alsogives a nice workout to all parts of your muscle.

To do this, you need a weight, like a dumbbell.

You start by holding the weight with both hands above your head. Your arms should be straight up and close to your ears. Then, slowly bend just at the elbow until they form a 90-degree angle.

After that, push back up using only your triceps power! Try not to let other body parts take over when raising again – keep everything still except from where it counts: The elbows and down.

Benefits:

• Effectively isolates the long head of the triceps, promoting hypertrophy.
• Enhances overhead strength and stability.
• Improves shoulder joint flexibility.
• With consistent training, contributes to improving the appearance of the upper arm by targeting a commonly undertrained muscle.

Execution:

1. Sit or stand up straight holding a dumbbell with both hands, using a diamond grip (both palms pressing against the underside of the top bell of the dumbbell).
2. Raise the dumbbell overhead, fully extending your arms.
3. Keeping your upper arms close to your ears and stationary, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbell behind your head.
4. Extend your arms, pushing the dumbbell back to the starting overhead position, focusing on squeezing the triceps at the top.
5. Ensure your elbows remain in close to your head throughout the movement and avoid overarching your back.

Dumbbell floor presses

Dumbbell floor presses are a good workout. They work thetricep’s lateral head, which is one side of your arm. To do them, youlie on your backandhold weightsin your hands. Youpush the weights straight upfrom your chest until your arms get straight.

Then bring the weights down slowly to feel a burn in your triceps.

Benefits:

• Specifically targets the chest muscles, particularly the pectorals.
• Limits the range of motion, reducing stress on the shoulders.
• Can enhance pressing power by focusing on the top range of the press.
• The floor provides feedback for proper elbow positioning.

Execution:

1. Lie flat on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at chest level with your arms bent.
3. Press the dumbbells up towards the ceiling until your arms are fully extended.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position, ensuring your elbows lightly touch the ground with each rep.

Find more of the best tricep exercises for the lateral head.

The medial head of your tricep can be challenging to target, but with exercises like reverse grip triceps pushdowns, skull crushers, reverse grip bench press, dumbbell Tate press and French press you can define and strengthen this important muscle group.

Reverse grip triceps pushdowns

Reverse grip triceps pushdowns work themedial head of your tricephard. To do this move, stand in front of a high pulley machine. Hold a straight bar with anunderhand grip, palms facing up.

Now pull down on the bar until your arms arefully stretched by your sides. Give a solid squeeze to your triceps at this point before letting the bar rise back slowly. This exercise can help build bigger arms andboost bench press power.

Keep in mind not to go too heavy as itmay hurt your wrists or elbows!

Benefits:

• Intensely targets the medial head of the tricep.
• Enhances wrist flexibility and strength.
• Provides continuous tension using the cable machine.

Execution:

1. Stand in front of a high pulley machine and grip the bar with palms facing up.
2. Pull down on the bar until your arms are fully extended.
3. Slowly release, controlling the upward motion.

Skull crushers

Skull crushers are great for working the medial head of your triceps. This exercise makes your arms strong. Youlie on a benchand hold a weight over your face with straight arms. Then,bend at the elbowsto bring it behind your skull and lift back up.

Be careful not to drop the weight! Keep control when you move it. Doing this right can help you get bigger arms more quickly! If done wrong, you may hurt yourself. So always make sure thatsafety is first in mindwhile doing this exercise.

Benefits:

• Directly targets the medial head of the tricep.
• Enhances joint flexibility at the elbow.
• Builds overall arm size and strength.

Execution:

1. Lie on a bench holding a weight with arms extended above your face.
2. Bend at the elbows, bringing the weight down near your forehead.
3. Extend your arms, pushing the weight back up.

Reverse grip bench press

Thereverse grip bench pressis great for yourtricep’s medial head. You will use abarbell lying downon a weight bench. Hold the bar withpalms facing you, or “reverse grip.” Push the bar away from your chest, then lower it back down slowly.

This helps work out your medial head well. Using this move, youbuild up strengthin both arms and in your chest too!

Benefits:

• Targets the triceps more intensely than a traditional bench press.
• Puts more emphasis on the upper pecs compared to the standard grip.
• Offers reduced shoulder strain, making it a potential alternative for those with shoulder discomfort in the regular bench press.

Execution:

1. Lie on a bench with a racked barbell above you.
2. Grip the barbell with palms facing you (supinated grip), slightly wider than shoulder width.
3. Unrack the barbell, keeping your wrists stable.
4. Lower the barbell to your lower chest or upper abs area, keeping your elbows close to your body.
5. Once the barbell is close to your body, use your triceps and chest muscles to press the bar back up to the starting position.

Dumbbell Tate press

TheDumbbell Tate pressis aworkout for your tricep. Youlie flat on a benchandhold the weights in each hand. Yourelbows bend to your sides. The weights move toward your chest, then you push them up again.

This helps get your medial head strong. Do this right so it works well.

Benefits:

• Specifically targets the medial and lateral heads of the triceps.
• Provides a unique angle of stress to the triceps compared to traditional presses.
• Helps in strengthening and stabilizing the shoulders.

Execution:

1. Lie on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand, arms fully extended towards the ceiling.
2. The palms of your hands should be facing your feet, and your thumbs should be wrapping the dumbbell handles.
3. Keeping your upper arms stationary, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells towards your chest. The dumbbells should move in a semi-circular motion and your elbows should flare out to the sides.
4. Use your triceps to reverse the movement and press the dumbbells back to the starting position.

French press

TheFrench pressis a good move for the medial head of your triceps. It uses abarbell with weighton both ends. You lie down and hold the barbell over your chest with hands close together.

Then, youbend your elbowstolower the bar over your forehead. After that,push it back upby straightening your arms but keep them at an angle rather than directly overhead which adds more strain on this part of the muscle.

Benefits:

• Primarily works the medial head of the triceps.
• Provides a stretch in the triceps, enhancing flexibility.
• Engages stabilizer muscles in the shoulder and wrist.

Execution:

1. Lie down and hold a barbell above your chest with hands close together.
2. Bend your elbows, lowering the bar over your forehead.
3. Push the bar back up, straightening your arms at an angle.

This exercise can help makebigger arm muscles faster.

Find more of the best tricep exercises for the medial head.

Exercises that Target Multiple Heads Simultaneously

You can train more than one part of your tricep at the same time. Here are some choice exercises that will work on multiple heads at once:

1. Close Grip Barbell Bench Press: A pro item for working both your chest and triceps.
2. Cable Rope Tricep Pushdowns: Works great for the outer and medial parts of the triceps.
3. Skull Crushers: You will feel this in your overhead extensions as well as skull-crushers, a key move for your long head portion.
4. Incline Dumbbell Tricep Kickbacks: Great for targetting the long head of the triceps.
5. Dumbbell Overhead Exercises: Another effective method to put pressure on the long head part.
6. Pushdowns with a Twist: Increase arm size and make bench press, push-ups, and dips stronger by adding lateral head tricep moves.

Tips for Effective Tricep Training

Unlock your triceps performance by mastering the principles of effective training: impeccable form, progressive overload, varied exercises along with smart use of supersets and drop sets.

Explore more in our comprehensive guide.

Proper Form and Technique

Getting the form and technique right is key in tricep exercises. It safeguards you from injury. Also, it helps to get yourmuscles working well. Each part of a move counts. Control each lift and lower with care.

This way, you put more stress on your muscles—not your joints. The cable rope triceps pushdown, for example, needs good form to work both medial and outer heads of the triceps effectively.

Progressive Overload

To build strong arms, follow the rule ofprogressive overload. This means doing more over time. Youlift bigger weightsordo more sets and repseach week. But be smart about it! Add weight slowly so you don’t get hurt.

Each workout should be a bit harder than the last one. Your tricep muscles grow to meet this challenge.

Variation in Exercises

Changing up your tricep exercises is crucial foreffective muscle growth. Using the same moves every time can make your workout session dull and limit your progress. Take turns in targeting each of the three tricep heads withdifferent exercises.

For instance, this week you might focus onskull-crushers for the long head. Next week, move todumbbell overhead extensions or close grip barbell bench presses. The following week, trycable rope pushdowns working both medial and outer headsat once.

This way you keep your muscles guessing—making them grow faster! Plus, it stops workouts from becoming boring too soon.

Incorporating Supersets and Drop Sets

Supersetsand drop sets are cool tricks for your tricep exercises. Doing a superset means you do two exercises one after the other with no rest. For example, you can do dumbbell overhead extensions followed by close-grip push-ups right away.

This gives your triceps a lot of work in less time.

Drop setslet you go beyond when your muscles get tired out from lifting heavy stuff. Once you lift as much as you can until it’s too hard, then grab lighter weights and keep going without rest! This helps to really put stress on all three parts of yourtricep muscle: the long head, lateral head, and medial head.

So don’t forget about supersets and drop sets in your workout plan! They will help make each exercise more powerful for building big, strong triceps.

FAQ’s

1. What is the job of the tricep muscle?

The tricep muscle in your arm helps you to straighten your elbow and reach out.

2. Can I do exercises for each part of my tricep?

Yes, some special workouts can help make each part of your tricep stronger.

3. What are good exercises for the long head of the triceps?

Exercises like overhead extensions or skull crushers are good for making your long head triceps strong.

4. How about exercises for the lateral and medial heads?

Doing moves such as rope pushdowns or diamond push-ups can work both these areas well.

5. Do I need gym tools to perform these workouts at home?

No, most of these exercises require only a floor mat and sometimes light hand weights.

Conclusion

After diving deep into the intricacies of tricep anatomy and the exercises tailored for each of its heads, you’re now fully equipped with the knowledge to sculpt those arms to perfection. Remember, after reading this, you have zero excuses left: it’s crucial to target all 3 heads of the tricep muscle—long, lateral, and medial—to achieve comprehensive growth.

Incorporate both overhead and reverse grip movements into your regimen for maximum results. By the time summer rolls around, be ready to show off those triceps, which will undoubtedly be bursting through your Generation Iron tee’s.

If you have any questions or need further clarification about this article, please leave a comment below, and Cristian will get back to you as soon as possible.