Tricep workouts need to be a part of your exercise routine. The triceps are the largest muscle group on your arms, or at least they are supposed to be. The truth is though that it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to bulk up your arms with lots of bicep workouts and then if you do, ending up with the backs of your arms looking all flabby and loose – not good if you are after the all over ripped look.
Here’s 3 workouts that you should add to your arm routine to ensure your guns end up as big as possible and not looking front heavy.
Weighted Bench Dips – 8 to 12 reps in the 3 to 4 set range
All that’s required for this exercise are 2 benches opposite each other and a suitable weight. Weighted bench dips are real burners so you will want to do a set without a weight the first time just to get an idea of how much weight you are going to need.
With your feet up on the opposite bench and your arms behind you on the other, the idea is to lower yourself by bending your arms and then coming back up – with the weight on your lap.
As we show in the video above, don’t go too far down as you can easily do yourself an injury.
One Arm Dumbbell Tricep Extensions – 8 to 12 reps in the 3 to 4 set range
I like these for their simplicity. Just take a seat and with the dumbbell in your grip, place it behind your head so your elbow joint is at 45 degrees. Raise the dumbell by extending the arm and then lowering it back to the start position.
Your dumbbell wants to be at a weight to allow between 8 to 12 reps and you will be rotating between arms at the end of each rep. Again you’ll really feel the triceps burning with this exercise and I highly recommend the one arm dumbbell tricep extensions are always included in arm workouts.
One Arm Cable Tricep Extensions – 8 to 12 reps in the 3 to 4 set range
I included this one for the gym users – I know how you love to make use of as many of the available machines as possible 😉
As you can see in the last video it is important to keep control of the weight when both raising and lowering. This is true for all tricep routines – never allow a free weight to swing or a machine to do the work.
Alternate between these 3 routines (or between the dumbbell extensions and bench dips if you train at home with free weights) through the week so the tricep muscles don’t get used to a particular action. The first week or so your triceps will be extremely sore if you have been neglecting them in your exercise routines. Once they stop being sore though you need to increase the weight – If it’s not burning it’s not working!
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