5 Best Exercises for Triceps

LAST UPDATED: April 4th, 2022

90 % of the guys who come to the gym want to build massive arms first.

Big and strong arms consist of biceps and triceps.

I already wrote about the best workouts for biceps, you can read it here.

Today, I am gonna talk about the biggest part of the arms muscles – triceps.

Although a lot of guys spend most of their time at the gym building biceps, triceps are as important as biceps.

Triceps are bigger than biceps so if you want to increase the strength and size of your arms you need to do exercises for triceps.

How often should you do exercises for triceps?

Triceps is a smaller muscle in general which means you can do exercises for this muscle once a week. (1)

Triceps exercises are usually done on your chest day since the triceps are already pretty warmed up then.

When it comes to sets and reps, I suggest you do 3-5 different exercises for triceps, 3-4 sets, 8-15 reps!

So, 5 best exercises for triceps are:

1. Triceps cable pushdown

If you like exercises that involve cable, then you are up for a treat.

You should do this exercise with both arms.

Put the weight you want and start exercising.

Pull down the cable and try to pull up as much as possible.

Try to keep your elbows as close to your body so that you need more effort and engage your triceps at the most.

2. Overhead triceps dumbbell extension

This is one of the most popular exercises for triceps and there’s a good reason for that.

This exercise puts your triceps under a lot of pressure which leads to breaking down muscle fiber and increasing your muscles.

Grab the dumbbell, lift your arm and bend your elbows.

Put the dumbbell down over your head and lift your arm upright.

3. Barbell triceps extension (lying position)

Another great exercise that will do wonders on your triceps.

Lie down on the bench and take an EZ bar.

Start with lighter weight and then gradually increase the weight.

Put your arms as close to your body.

Start with your arms outstretched and slowly put down the EZ bar towards your forehead.

4. Close grip bench press

The bench is an amazing exercise for strong, massive arms.

Close grip bench press engages your triceps the most so you will get good results in a short time.

Unlike the normal bench press, this bench press is done with a close grip.

The space between your hands on the bar should be as small as possible.

Feel free to increase the weight since that’s how you will increase your muscles.

5. Dips

Dips are one of the most popular exercises for chest and triceps.

Also, it is one of the best exercises for muscle mass.

If you look at some athletes’ arms that constantly do variations of this exercise, you’ll notice how great their arms look.

Dips can be done in several ways which makes this exercise flexible and simply awesome.

Dips on parallel bars is an absolute favorite and it has a great effect on your triceps’muscle fiber.

If you get tired of dips on parallel bars you can do dips on the bench press.

Make sure your legs are high so that you can completely engage your arms.

Best Exercises for Triceps – Bottom Line:

So, the best workouts for massive and strong triceps are:

• Triceps cable pushdown
• Overhead triceps dumbbell extension
• Barbell triceps extension (lying position)
• Close grip bench press
• Dips

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