Exercises for Triceps for Every Head (HIT EM ALL!)

In order to get bigger triceps you have to be sure that you are doing triceps exercises that hit every one of the three heads of the muscle in your tricep workouts. In this video, I show you some examples of exercises for your triceps that do just that. I am going to demonstrate how to get bigger triceps by attacking the long head, medial head and lateral head of this muscle for maximum size.

First, it is easiest to concentrate on the long head of the triceps since it is unique in its origin. This head of the tricep muscle doesn’t originate on the upper arm bone but actually on the shoulder blade or scapula. This means that it crosses the shoulder joint and can have actions on the motion at the shoulder joint. In the case of the long head, it can extend the arm behind the body when maximally contracted. This is important since you want to know how to stretch it and place more tension on the muscle when picking exercises to favorably target this head.

In order to do this, you want to find exercises that allow you to place your arms up overhead (which will stretch the long head of the triceps slightly and increase the tension that it can generate because of this). Tricep exercises like push aways or even lying dumbbell extensions and french presses are going to put your arm in this position safely. An overhead dumbbell extension is not as ideal however since it does jeopardize the health of your shoulder due to excessive internal rotation while performing it.

Before moving on to the other two heads however, I do want to address the concept of active insufficiency. This happens when you maximally shorten the muscle that crosses the two joints by putting both joints at their end range. In the case of the long head, you would extend the elbow at the same time that you extend the arm behind the body. This position, while generating less tension does generate an incredible contraction as the muscle fibers are maximally shortened. Some argue to not train here, while I totally disagree. This position is very helpful for getting people to feel a contraction and improve mind-muscle awareness which will carry over to better workouts overall.

Feel free to include the triceps kickback and cobra pushup as exercises that you can do in the beginning of your tricep workouts to wake up the muscles and help you establish a strong mind muscle connection from the outset.

Next you have to cover the medial and lateral heads of the tricep muscles. The key difference in exercises for each of these tricep heads is the position of the arms and elbows during the extension of the elbow. Just like with the quads in leg extensions, if you turn your arm in during a pushdown or similar exercise, you will focus more on the outer or lateral head of the triceps. On the contrary, if you turn your arm out our underhand, you will focus more of the attention on the medial head.

[LoveAcrossTheHudsonOrtiz]

You seriously know what your talking about man, I have so much respect for you

[tiago]

NOBODY Does what you do on youtube. Thank You!

[flaviusstilicho]

2:20 tricep pushaway
3:11 lining barbell tricep extension
4:26 cobra pushups
4:40 tricep kickback
6:38 tricep pushdowns
6:48 diamond pushups
7:00 reverse grip tricep pushdowns
7:12 close grip dumbbell bench press

[hnngggg]

when you just done a tri workout and see this uploaded now you have to wait to do tris again

[mariayakula]

Am 71 yrs old . Teach Strength training to seniors. Adapt all (almost all) of your exercises with the science aspect and they and me love it. Have some retired football players with old injuries. Get great value from your stuff.

[justincarneiro]

That one person who disliked this video only does biceps

[miketomlins]

To be honest Jeff, I think you've covered virtually everything we need to see on your channel.  so I say thankyou for all you time and effort you have spent, and the knowledge you have shared with us.   Thankyou

[smokeonthewatershisha]

I don't understand how anybody can dislike his vids

[Spectre_Starlord]

I was novice when I started training and watching your videos right from the start. After 4 months of training I am able to finally understand what exactly you are trying to explain about mind muscle connection of all three heads of the triceps. And you are absolutely 💯 percent right about it. Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I'm always eager to watch your content.

[thomasbudi]

Jeff, first of all thank you. You have helped me several times already with the wrist stretch and ankle sprain fixes. You help me free from pain that I experienced for years. I just found there is a sort of marker / face paint for children (it is face paint but come in a marker like packaging), they are non toxic and design to go on children face. I think it is a better alternative than white board marker for you as you apply them directly to your skin. Wish you all the best Jeff. God bless.

[mdc]

I so admire a truly educated person that teaches both the anatomy and the correct form. I subscribed instantly.

[merlinpartlow]

I love tricep kickbacks. I can only do them with 15 pound dumbbells, but they burn and my triceps have really grown from doing them.

[travisellison]

The marker videos are my favorites. Understanding exactly where everything connects make it easier to visualize each movement.

[dobeeeeval]

I love the muscle markers. They're some of the most informative fitness videos on Youtube.

[jasonstallworth]

Jeff, dude, thank you for putting this out there. I embedded this video on my fitness blog (hope you don't mind me sharing it). Great stuff!

[jonnyronnyguy]

I have been doing kickbacks the past 2 months and thought I was doing them wrong when I felt the top of the longhead feeling tense. Thanks for confirming that this is supposed to happen.

[ifitbringsyoujoy]

I'm a teacher, and those muscle markers are fabulous! I really found it helpful.

[haydengrows]

When Jeff brings out the markers, you know shit's about to be explained.

[rachitbhansali]

Living legend. Always teaching something new.

[Benjamin-elsp]

Damn when I looked at my triceps, I don't see no