Blast Those Triceps and Fill Out Your Sleeves with This Ultimate Workout

Do you want to blast your triceps and fill out your sleeves like the bodybuilders you see in magazines and social media? It’s not too late!

 

The triceps are muscles in your arm that push your arms away from your body. To blast those triceps, you must focus on different exercises, each targeting a different part of the muscle. The 3 parts of the tricep muscle are: 

• the medial
• lateral 
• long head.

 

Just because there are many tricep exercises out there, doesn’t mean that all of them are effective.

 

In this guide, you’ll find 7 of the best triceps workout for blasting triceps that will help build bigger, stronger triceps, in the shortest amount of time!

 

Before that, let’s look at the triceps, their’ anatomy, and what other muscles can you workout with triceps. 

What are your Triceps

The triceps are the muscles on the back of your upper arms. They help you straighten your arms and allow you to turn your forearms upward.

 

Anatomy of Triceps

Triceps make up about 2/3’s of the muscle mass in your upper arms. This muscle has three heads: long, lateral, and medial, each with its function.

 

The long head is attached to the scapula and the lateral head is outside your upper arm and lies behind the long head. The medial head is found inside your upper arm and beneath both heads of the lateral head.

 

It stabilizes your arm against gravity and allows you to bend your elbow and extend your forearm back behind you. It also works with other muscles to perform actions like extending your arm forward or straightening it out after extended use.

 

What Other Muscles Can You Work out with Triceps

Other muscles that can be worked out with triceps include:

• • Trapezius 
  • Forearm Flexors
  • Deltoids
  • Biceps muscles

• Pectoralis or chest muscles

Triceps Exercises

This workout exercise will get you the sculpted arms to make your sleeves look fantastic if you include them in your triceps workout routine. Exercises include:

 

Weighted Triceps Dips 

The weighted triceps dips are similar to the triceps dips, but you will add weights to your dip while performing the exercise. The weighted triceps dip works your triceps, chest, shoulders, and back muscles. You can do this exercise with a dumbbell, barbell, or medicine ball. 

 

 Technique

• Sit at the edge of a bench. Place your hands shoulder-width apart on the edge of the bench with your fingers facing forward and place weight across your lap.
• Tuck your feet underneath you to hang off the end of the bench by your arms.
•  Bend at the elbows to lower yourself toward the floor until your elbows form a 90-degree angle. Pause, then return to the starting position. That’s one repetition.
• Repeat for one to two sets of eight to 12 repetitions 

To improve this classic gymnastic move, add more weight.

 

Lying Bar Triceps Extension

Lying bar triceps extension, also known as Skull Crusher, is the ultimate workout for blasting the long and lateral heads of the triceps.

The workout comes at number seven on the list, with a muscle activation rate of roughly 62 percent. 

 Do the exercise with other workout exercises with a higher muscle activation rate to tackle muscles at different intensities to achieve the best result.

 The movement is done with a barbell and involves biceps and triceps. 

Technique

• Lie on your back on an exercise bench and hold the barbell with a shoulder-wide grip, keeping your elbows pressed against your sides.
• Tilt your head back slightly and lift the bar straight until your arms parallel the floor. Keep your eyes fixed on the ceiling. 
• Slowly lower the bar until it almost touches your forehead. Pause slightly, then raise it again to the starting position.
• Repeat this movement by bringing the barbell back up to your forehead as you would with a regular bicep curl and then lowering it back down again.

Do this exercise with one repetition per set, with two to three sets performed in total.

Avoid Skull Crushers if you have prior wrist or elbow issues or any injury because this can aggravate them further.

 

Close-Grip Push-Ups 

The Close-Grip Push up is a variation of the standard Push up. It is the most challenging triceps exercise because it requires more upper body strength.

 

This exercise works primarily on the triceps muscles in the upper arm area and works chest and core muscles due to stabilizing yourself during this exercise.

Technique

• Get into a push-up position with your hands closer together than usual.
• Lower your body until your chest is an inch or two from the ground, then push up.
• Repeat for reps, then switch sides.
• Do three sets of 10 reps with 30 seconds rest between sets.

You can make this move with or without weights. If you choose to add weights, remember to start light. You should be able to do over 15 push-ups in a row before adding any weight.

 

Triceps Extension/ Triceps Curls

The triceps extension is also known as overhead triceps extension, triceps curl, or dumbbell overhead triceps extension.

 

 It is an exercise for targeting the triceps, the muscles in the back of your upper arm, and it involves extending or straightening the arm behind the body, as opposed to bending it down. 

 

Triceps extension isolates the triceps and works on balance and strengthening of the back muscles and chest muscles. 

 

Overhead Dumbbells triceps extension is the fourth most potent exercise, with roughly 76 percent muscle activation. It’s also the most common triceps exercise ideal for stimulating triceps growth in bodybuilding and weightlifting.

 

Technique

• Grab a pair of dumbbells and hold them straight above your head with your palms facing inward.
• Keeping your elbows straight, lower the weights behind your head until you feel a good stretch in your triceps.
• Tighten up and then return to the starting position. That’s one rep.
• Do three sets, 10-12 reps, and rest for a minute between sets

If this isn’t challenging enough for you, you can also perform it on an incline bench by resting the dumbbells on top of it as you perform the extension. This will emphasize the bottom portion of the movement and make things harder.

It’s essential to maintain your arms close to your ears when lowering the weight behind you. 

 

Close Grip Bench Press

The Close-Grip Bench Press is often considered a more advanced variation of the Bench Press. It is an excellent exercise to incorporate into your routine if you want stronger triceps. 

 It comes at number 8 with muscle activation of about 62%. The exercise is good, especially when working on both the triceps and the chest.

However, it could also lead to injury if not performed correctly.

 

Technique

• Lie on your back on a flat bench. Allow your arms to hang freely from the sides, with a dumbbell in each hand.
• Position the hands inward, around shoulder width, or wider, and slightly bend the arms. If you have shorter arms, it’s OK to move your hands closer together, but move them further apart if you have longer arms.
• Tighten your abs and keep your head in line with your back at all times (avoid lifting it towards the ceiling). 
• Press the dumbbells up slowly until they touch the movement’s top and lower them back down to the starting position. Repeat for the recommended amount of  1 to 3 sets of 8 to 16 reps.

 

The Dumbbell Kickback

The dumbbell kickback is an effective exercise that targets the posterior deltoid and helps to strengthen the rotator cuff muscles.

 

According to the ACE study, the triceps kickback is the second most effective triceps workout, just behind diamond push-ups, with roughly 88 percent muscle activation. 

 

Technique

• Stand with your knees slightly bent and legs spread apart, holding dumbbells in each hand using an overhand grip.
• Extend your arms directly in front of you with your elbows straight but not locked. Your palms should face each other.
• Slowly bend your elbows back until they are behind your body and the weights are at shoulder height with your arms perpendicular to the floor. The upper arm should be at about a 45-degree angle from the torso.
• Extend your arms back forward until they are straight again without locking your elbows while keeping the dumbbells directly in front of you throughout the entire movement.
• Rep 1–3 times of 8–16 reps.

The secret towards this motion is to support the upper arm with your shoulder while allowing the forearm to lengthen behind you. To keep your elbow from slipping down, use a lesser weight.

 

Triceps Pushdown 

 

Triceps Pushdown, also called triceps pushdown with rope Attachment or cable pushdown, is a compound exercise that primarily targets the triceps and the chest.

 

According to ACE, it is ranked fifth, evoking roughly 74% muscle activity.

 

The triceps pushdown is performed on a cable machine with a rope attachment or resistance bands. Depending on your preference and available equipment, you can also perform it using either an overhead cable pulley or a low pulley.

 

Technique

• Position yourself at a cable machine with a rope handle attached
• Grab rope attachment at both ends, extend arms straight so that your hands are above the head.
• Slowly pull down on the rope until your arms extend far enough behind you to feel the tension in your triceps muscles.
• Return to starting position and repeat for 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 16 reps rest for a minute.

 

Triceps Superset 

A triceps superset is a combination of two triceps exercises performed back-to-back with no rest between the movements. Doing it allows you to work both the long and lateral heads of the triceps muscle, which results in an intense triceps workout in less time, leading to better muscle growth. 

 

You can combine many superset exercises; like the ones I have mentioned above. But a good triceps superset that works the long and lateral heads is dumbbell kickbacks and close-grip bench presses. You can also do triceps tri-sets, three sets of three different exercises for the same muscle group.

 

Conclusion

There you have it! 7 Triceps Exercises to replace your old boring exercise routine and blast those triceps to fill out your sleeves. Use these exercises religiously and you will get your arms huge in no time! Remember, always practice great form and safe weight lifting habits to avoid injury.