Basic triceps exercises in the gym and at home * Crossfit

We have prepared 5 basic triceps exercises that are suitable for both men and women. You can perform them not only in the gym, but also at home, since some of them do not imply the use of strength sports equipment.

Training recommendations

Triceps is a triceps muscle that occupies the back of the shoulder and consists of a long, medial and lateral heads. The main function of the triceps is to extend the elbow. Triceps takes up almost 70% of the total volume of the arm, so pumping it allows you to noticeably increase mass.

Well-designed triceps is not only beautiful and attractive. It is also the key to the success of other workouts. For example, triceps are necessary for pumping the muscles of the chest and deltas, since with any bench press you cannot do without the triceps.

For triceps training to be effective, follow a few guidelines that have been developed by reputable athletes over many years of practice:

Choose the number of exercises and sets wisely. If you do triceps after chest workout, two exercises of 3-4 sets will be enough. If the arms are trained separately, 3-4 exercises of 3 sets are needed.
Choose the right working weight and feel the working muscle. Weight is determined in practice. Don't cheat unless you are an experienced athlete. If you do not feel the target muscle group during the exercise, reduce the weight or replace it with a similar one.
Increase the weight gradually. A sudden increase in load increases the risk of injury to muscles or joints. When increasing the working weight, be sure to follow the technique - it should not deteriorate.
Diversify your training. There are many exercises for triceps. Alternate periodically using both basic and insulating.
Stretch your triceps between sets. This stretches the fascia and improves neuromuscular communication.
Train your triceps with chest, shoulder, or biceps exercises. With legs or back - rare combinations that are used only by experienced athletes for specific purposes.
Do not overdo it. The load on the triceps muscle should be intense, but not frequent. Once a week is enough. The exception is hand specialization (not for beginners).
Do not neglect the warm-up. Be sure to warm up your joints and muscles for 5-10 minutes before exercising.

When doing triceps exercises, do them in such a way as to pump this particular muscle. Often, athletes violate the technique and, as a result, do not achieve the desired result or even get injured. If you don't know the basics of doing basic triceps exercises, work with an instructor.

Bench press with a narrow grip

The narrow grip barbell press is a great exercise for pumping your triceps. Let's make a reservation right away: the grip should be narrow, but within reason. Yes, if you take the bar too wide, the load will go to the chest muscles. For this reason, athletes often bring their arms as close as possible. But this is also wrong - at least, it is inconvenient: the wrists will break. The optimal distance between the hands holding the barbell bar is slightly narrower than the shoulder width (by 5-7 cm) and is 20-30 cm.

If your wrists still hurt when lowering the bar, grasp a little wider. You can also try to lower it not to touch the chest, but 5-8 cm higher. Another option is to wrap hand wraps. Do not forget about the correct grip - the hands should not bend under the weight of the barbell, keep them straight all the time.

Another important difference from the regular bench press is the position of the elbows. In this case, while lowering and lifting the projectile, you need to press your elbows as close to the body as possible - this way we remove the load from the pectoral muscles.

Bench press with a narrow grip allows you to work well on the back of the upper arm, but at the same time the chest and front delta will also work, even if the load on them is less - this is the essence of basic exercises in which several joints and muscle groups work.

Triceps Dips

This is the second most effective basic triceps exercise. The lateral head is more involved in the work.

Classic push-ups on the uneven bars work out the chest muscles to a greater extent. To shift the focus to the triceps brachii muscle, you need to change the technique:

The first nuance: try to keep the body upright (perpendicular to the floor), without leaning forward, throughout the entire approach. To avoid tilting, look up (at the ceiling), then the body will take the desired position.
The second nuance: at the top point, be sure to unbend your elbows to the end.
The third nuance: when lowering and lifting, take your elbows back, and not to the sides.
The fourth nuance: if possible, use narrower bars (meaning the distance between the bars themselves).

The originality of the dips lies in the fact that you do not need to think about the working weight, because you will be lifting yourself. However, experienced athletes will need additional weights that can be hung on a belt.

For beginners, who cannot push out even 10 times, the option with a gravitron is suitable. This is a special simulator in which it will be easier to perform this exercise - you can put a counterweight:

Dumbbell press with a neutral grip

Triceps press can be done at home as well - for this you only need dumbbells. You need to grab them with a neutral grip - this means that the palms will look at each other, and the dumbbells will be parallel:

Lowering and lifting are performed in the same way as in the press of the bar with a narrow grip - the elbows move along the body, straighten to the end at the top point. Another plus of this exercise option is less stress on the wrists.

This movement can also be performed with weights:

Classic push-ups with narrow arms

Push-ups are popular with novice athletes, since not everyone has the ability or desire to work out in the gym. Push-ups train the entire chest, front delts and arms, but you can focus on the triceps. To do this, put your hands narrowly, and press your elbows against the body. This will relieve the shoulders and chest, but will strain the triceps.

It is better to unfold the palms so that they look at each other, and the fingers of one hand can be covered with the fingers of the other. As for straightening the elbow, here, too, everything is standard for pumping triceps: straighten your arms at the top point to engage the target muscle.

As a result of the correct execution of the classic push-ups from the floor with a narrow stance of the arms, you can build up the medial and long triceps bundle.

Reverse bench push-ups

They can also be used at the start of your athletic journey. You don't have to go to the gym for back push-ups: do them at home using a support on a chair, sofa, or any other similar surface. It is advisable that it is not too soft. The legs should be straightened and placed on the heels. The back also needs to be kept straight, not hunched over or round the shoulders.

When performing in the gym, you can throw your legs onto a parallel bench:

During the exercise, the medial triceps bundle is worked out to a greater extent.

An important nuance: the body cannot be taken away from the support, otherwise the load will shift and the risk of injury will increase. Also, do not go too deep - shoulder joints may suffer.

You can complicate the reverse push-ups for triceps by putting pancakes from a barbell or any other weight on your hips. In some gyms you can find a simulator that imitates this movement:

As you can see, you can work out triceps not only in the gym, but also at home. Carefully watch video tutorials or read text instructions to avoid mistakes in execution technique. And don't be lazy, because the result depends on the intensity of your workouts.