In my last article, I’ve talked about building bigger upper arms with a focus on building biceps.
And even though biceps are important for a muscular and strong look, it’s NOT actually the most important muscle.
If you want your upper arms to really fill in your shirt and sleeves, you’ll need to build bigger triceps as well.
Why?
Well, the reason is quite simple: triceps are 2/3s of your arm muscles.
While bi-ceps consists of two parts (long head and short head), tri-ceps consists of three parts (medial, lateral, and long head.)
When I started working out, the triceps were one of my weaker muscles.
So I had to train hard to make it strong so that it can assist with various compound movements such as overhead and bench press.
And over the years, I found three exercises that give you the most bang for your buck.
With these three workouts, not only you’re going to grow your triceps…
But you’ll also make sure your joints are protected and you’ll quickly see drastic improvements in strength which means your results in other compound movements will improve as well.
So here are my top 3 lifts for bigger and stronger triceps…
1. Overhead Cable Extensions
Time under tension is a BIG factor in muscle growth so any workout that keeps your muscle tense will do wonders for you.
Overhead cable extensions are exactly that kind of an exercise.
And this is how you perform it…
You should use a rope handle and attach it to the low end of the cable station.
Then turn away from the machine and grab the handle with your hands at shoulder height.
This will be your starting position.
Slowly pull your handle up until your arms are in the fully extended position and keep it there for a second.
Finally, move your arms back under control to the starting position.
Your triceps will be under tension the whole time and you’re going to see massive improvements in your size and endurance from this variation alone.
2. Dumbell skull crushers with a neutral grip
Don’t let the name of this workout scare you!
It definitely won’t crush your skull, but if you do it correctly, your triceps are going to blow up.
Maybe you’ve tried barbell skull crushers before, but dumbbell variation with neutral grip is actually much safer for your joints.
One of the biggest advantages of this variation is that it puts less stress on your elbows.
The trick is that you do them with a neutral (hammer) grip with your palms facing each other.
Your starting position should look like this: while you’re laying on the bench, lower the dumbbells behind your head until you feel a stretch in your triceps.
Then extend your elbows and flex your triceps as your elbows reach full lockout.
Slowly lower the dumbbells again to the starting position.
3. Close Grip Bench
This is the only compound exercise on the list.
Since it’s a compound exercise, it means you will lift much heavier weights than with the previous two.
This will contribute to the overall increase in strength – not just in your triceps, but your chest and shoulders as well.
The close grip bench is very similar to the bench press.
The only difference is the grip: instead of holding the barbell with a wide grip, you should hold it with a grip that’s around your shoulder width, maybe slightly less depending on your flexibility.
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I’ve given you what I believe to be the best three exercises for bigger and stronger biceps.
But I’d also like to know what are YOUR favorite triceps exercises?
Because I’m always open to trying out new things and learning about other people’s perspectives.
You know… the only way to constantly improve your fitness results is to have an open mind and look out for new workouts, new variations, new diets, and new supplements.
If you keep an open mind, you will definitely reach your fitness goals over time!
Stay fit my friend,
Michael
Founder & CEO