Introduction to Bigger Triceps
There is nothing more manly than a carved out set of triceps. This incredibly powerful horse shoe shaped muscle sits on the back of your upper arm and is an important show muscle which makes up 66% of the arm musculature. It is not only responsible for improving your bench press but is also closely linked to testosterone aromatisation, meaning the leaner your triceps the more free testosterone you should have (There’s a reason why women get bingo wings a men tend not to). But how do you get the best results of your triceps workouts?
The first step to an awesome triceps workout it to know & understand your anatomy. The triceps are called tri-ceps because there are three heads of the muscle you can target with different exercises:
The long head of the triceps lies on the inside of your arms and is the portion directly next to your rib cage, this one can usually feel like the ‘bulky’ part of the muscle. Exercises like the lying ez bar extensions & cable push downs target this head well
Exercises like dumbbell kickbacks & close grip bench press will target this head of the muscle which can also be felt on the inside of your arm but lower down the arm, inserting into the side of your elbow close to your body.
As the name implies the lateral head of the triceps runs the length of the outside (lateral side) of your arm. Lying dumbbell extensions & standing barbell French press would be great exercises to target this head of the muscle.
Exercises for all three heads would include, rope push downs and parallel bar dips.
So now you know where the three heads of the muscle are it’s hopefully obvious the perfect workout would utilise a combination of exercises (one for each head) or an exercise that utilises all 3 heads to complete the full range of movement.
Here’s an awesome giant set that works all three heads and below is a high volume workout for all three heads using one exercise.
Complete each exercise for 10 reps, rest ten seconds between the three exercises then rest for 2 minutes before starting the group again. You should complete each giant set 3-4 times.
Series – Exercise – Reps
A1 – Close grip bench press – 10-12
A2 – Lying dumbbell extensions – 10-12
A3 – Cable pushdowns – 10-12
Complete the first exercise, ten sets of ten reps with a minute between each set then move on to the second exercise for three sets of 10 reps with 45 seconds rest between sets to ensure you keep filling the muscle up with blood but don’t give it enough time to leave leading to an even better pump.
Series – Exercise – Sets x Reps – Rest
A – Parallel bar dips – 10x10 – 60 secs
B – Rope pushdown – 3x10-12 – 45 secs