Tricep Workouts
(BEST TRICEP WORKOUTS FOR BUILDING MUSCLE AT HOME)
The Ultimate TRICEP Workouts Guide
Many struggle with triceps growth despite targeting all three heads.
If your triceps aren’t developing, your workouts might be missing key elements. This guide covers the triceps anatomy, the importance of proper training, and the best exercises and tips using only dumbbells. The guide is organized for easy navigation and answers common triceps workout questions.
The Ultimate TRICEP Workouts Guide
1. Anatomy of the Triceps Muscles: A Closer Look at What Makes Up Your Triceps
2. Optimal Tricep Workouts: Identifying the Most Effective Routines for Muscle Growth
3. Exercise Videos and Related Guides
Before we dive into the best triceps exercises, let’s first examine the different areas of the triceps individually, so you can foster a stronger mind-to-muscle connection during your workouts. Each section is designed to be interactive, allowing you to click and jump directly to the topic of interest, facilitating an engaging and efficient learning experience tailored to your fitness journey.
1. Anatomy of the Triceps Muscles: A Closer Look at What Makes Up Your Triceps
The triceps brachii muscle, which dominates the back of the upper arm, consists of three distinct segments.
These fibers start at the scapula and extend down to the elbow, emphasizing the long head of the triceps. Skull Crushers, performed by lying on your back and lowering dumbbells toward your head, effectively target this area.
Skull Crushers (Long Head)
The lateral head runs lengthwise down the outer side of the back of your arm, from the upper humerus to the elbow. Reverse Grip Kickbacks work it along with the other two heads, and all you need is one pair of dumbbells.
Reverse Grip Kickbacks (Lateral Head)
Starting from the lower humerus and running down to the elbow, these fibers enhance the medial triceps region. To target this area, Chair Dips can be effectively performed by placing your hands on a raised surface, such as a sturdy armless chair.
Chair Dips (Medial Head)
Understanding how to engage these muscle groups with strategic exercise alignment enhances both the effectiveness of your workouts and the visual impact of your gains. Next, we’ll explore specific exercises that utilize your available equipment to optimally target these areas.
2. Optimal Tricep Workouts: Identifying the Most Effective Routines for Muscle Growth
The best triceps workout plan should target all three areas of the triceps brachii: long, lateral, and medial heads.
This can be achieved by selecting exercises that cater to the distinct orientations of the triceps fibers in each of these areas. To truly enhance your triceps, it’s essential to incorporate exercises that not only challenge these regions but also incorporate the principles of muscle stretching during the negative phase and muscle flexing during the positive phase of each exercise.
Diamond Push Ups – Triceps Overload
How to Perform Diamond Push Ups
- Prepare Your Position: Start in a standard push-up position with hands close together to form a diamond shape.
- Lower Down: Bend your elbows to lower your body toward the floor.
- Press Up: Extend your arms to push back up to the start.
- Repeat: Do 10-20 reps based on your fitness level.
Single Dumbbell Extensions – Triceps Isolation
How to Perform Single Dumbbell Extensions
- Prepare Your Position: Stand or sit with a dumbbell held overhead with both hands.
- Lower the Weight: Bend your elbows to lower the dumbbell behind your head.
- Extend the Weight: Lift the dumbbell back overhead.
- Repeat: Perform 8-12 or 12-16 repetitions.
Remember, developing well-defined triceps involves more than just targeting the three main heads. It’s crucial to overload each section and ensure that you work the triceps muscles across their entire range of motion, which is key for optimal growth.
Try out the exercises in this section, and you’ll be on your way to stronger and more defined triceps.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive strength training regimen to enhance muscle definition and strength across all muscle groups, explore our LifeBuddy Apps to find the perfect program tailored to your goals and the equipment you have available.
3. Exercise Videos and Related Guides
Every exercise in this guide has its own page in our free exercise library, with a video demonstration, step-by-step form tips, common mistakes to avoid and the muscles it works:
Related guides: lateral head tricep exercises, medial head tricep exercises, the dumbbell skull crusher and how to get bigger arms.
Want a ready-made plan? Dumbbell Home Workout builds dumbbell workouts for every muscle group around your goal, level and schedule.
Want more options? Browse all 30 tricep exercises in our exercise library, each with a video demo.
TRICEPS WORKOUTS FAQ
All three heads work whenever you straighten your elbow, but you can bias each one. Moves with your arm overhead, like single dumbbell extensions, stretch the long head; kickbacks, close-grip presses and diamond push-ups load the lateral and medial heads. In a 12-week study, overhead extensions grew both the long head and the other two heads (measured together) more than the same exercise done with the arms at the sides (Maeo 2023, in the references below).
Two or three is plenty for most people, for example one overhead extension, one press or dip and one kickback, for 2 to 4 sets each. Your triceps also work in every push-up and press, so count those toward your week.
For major triceps gains with minimal equipment, these exercises are top choices:
- Skull Crushers – Excellent for isolating the triceps.
- Reverse Grip Kickbacks – Targets the triceps with a unique angle.
- Chair Dips – Great for overall triceps strength.
- Diamond Push Ups – Ideal for targeting the triceps and chest.
Accelerate triceps development by focusing on exercises that target all three heads: long, lateral, and medial. Ensure to perform movements that work the triceps across their full range of motion, critical for growth. It’s advisable to engage in these targeted exercises 1-2 times per week, integrating both strength and hypertrophy workouts from LifeBuddy’s mobile apps.
REFERENCES
J Strength Cond Res. 2019 May;33(5):1286-1294. Partial Range of Motion Exercise Is Effective for Facilitating Muscle Hypertrophy and Function Through Sustained Intramuscular Hypoxia in Young Trained Men
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