As coaches, we try a ton of exercises.
Especially accessory ones. In this short post I will give you my personal favorite two for tris and why they will make yours enormous.
First, a bit about how the triceps work.
(Feel free to skip this section if you are not that much into science, lol.)
Anatomically, triceps work as shoulder adductors (the opposite to the movement you do in shoulder front rises) and elbow extensors (as in bringing the forearms down).
Triceps are composed of three heads: lateral, medial and long.
The latter is a biarticulate, it is attached both at the elbow and the shoulder joints. Because of that it can’t preform both adduction and extension at the same time (this is called active insufficiency).
All this mumbo jumbo means that when your elbow is close to your body (i.e. when you are standing), your triceps’ long head wont do any work to extend your arms, since its already busy bringing them close to your body.
So that would make partially useless most of the triceps isolation work everybody does, or at least not optimal for tris hypertrophy.C
Cable extensions variations? Dips? Kickbacks? Long head not stimulated.
How to overcome this? Do overheard exercises.
The best triceps isolation exercises
From that category, these are my personal favs:
#1 Dumbbell Rolling Triceps Extension
This basically uses triceps for what they are intended. In the video, you can see Jordan Syatt from SyattFitness.com performing it the way it is meant to be.
[pexyoutube pex_attr_src=»https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1YJ9ILRvcg»][/pexyoutube]#2 Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extensions
This I just like. Your arms are in for some soreness.
The video bellow is the explanation by Scott Herman, from Youtube channel ScottHermanFitness.
[pexyoutube pex_attr_src=»https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbX7Wd8jQ-Q»][/pexyoutube]Programming
So how to include them in your training program?
- Frequency: 2-3x per week
- Intensity: high (heavy ass weight)
- Volume: Low (lower rep range/total volume) maybe 2 or 3 sets of each.
- Order: After compound upper body work.
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That’s it!
Grind hard every day and with enough patience and dedication, you’ll have huge triceps, just as Zane’s.
– Coach Abe