Workout Anatomy – Triceps

I could write it, yes, and I certainly will write it, because it doesn't hurt to reiterate the above lines, the essence of which would be, and if necessary, I will write it ten times within a single post, that you will only achieve great and beautiful results if you train every muscle group proportionately. Men should train their legs, and women their upper bodies and backs, not just their legs, and men should not just train their chests and biceps.

I wanted to include this image for leg muscle training, but it fit so perfectly here, and it illustrates so well this ingrained, narrow-minded, gender-specific way of thinking that men are upper body gym-sexuals and women are lower body gym-sexuals. The two birds in the picture are ridiculous, and the caption fits perfectly. But before women get too lost in smiling, I'll warn you that it's just as ridiculous if a woman has beautifully sculpted legs, but her upper body and especially her arms are like a mushy, loose, wilted shopping bag. It's incredibly disheartening, and seeing the contrast without clothes is perhaps an even more depressing sight, not to mention the "waving fat," more commonly known as "lunch lady arms."

Triceps workouts are exactly what can eliminate this waving fat, and for men, along with the biceps, they naturally create the most defined arms.

As can be seen in our anatomy drawing, the triceps can be divided into 3 muscle groups, however, all 3 muscles are equally stressed during every triceps exercise. Of course, there are exercises where one or another muscle works more intensely, but the difference is negligible, so there are no highly concentrated exercises for them either, unlike, say, chest muscle training, where the lower, side, and upper parts of the chest could be trained separately.

 

BASIC RULES

Maximum 3 exercises for triceps. More is unnecessary.

Triceps workouts are associated workouts, meaning they usually follow shoulder workouts on the same day, or biceps workouts on arm day. All I mean by this is that the body is already warmed up, but it doesn't hurt to warm up your triceps with lighter weights before loading them with heavier weights for the first set.

Correct posture!!!! Triceps exercises perhaps require the most attention, but I will elaborate on this during the animations, where you will be able to see what I'm talking about.

Only train in a long-sleeved tracksuit. It keeps the muscles warm, thus preventing injuries, and the muscle itself can develop better.

Know at least 7-8 DIFFERENT CORRECTLY performed exercises for each muscle group, and constantly vary them so that your body doesn't get used to the movements. If the body gets used to the load, it won't develop. This applies to repeating exercises for months and to the weight itself.

Vary the exercises, increase the weight, perform the exercises correctly. This one sentence contains everything you need to know about weight training.

Breathing. Exhale on exertion, inhale on the negative phase (when lowering the weight). Inhale slowly, the movement is also slow. Exhale quickly, the movement is also quick.

Ideal rest time between sets is 45 seconds. Maximum 2 minutes between two exercises.

Utilize the negative range as well. Lower the weight with resistance.

Dips

You can only perform this exercise flawlessly if you can push up your own body weight at least once. Until you can do that, your triceps are not ready for serious load, so they definitely need strengthening. By the way, these bodyweight exercises are good because they show exactly what state your strength-endurance is in. Push-ups, pull-ups, dips. These are the 3 basic exercises that 2% of our civilization can do correctly, and that already includes the 36 women who can do it. But perhaps not even that many.

It's an easily developable and extremely effective exercise with counterweights. Don't lean forward, because then it becomes a chest exercise, and the triceps become secondary.

 

Triceps set on a flat bench

This is also an excellent exercise, but very difficult. As we progress in the world of workout anatomy, it should become increasingly clear to everyone that weight training is much more complicated than just piling on weights. It requires coordination skills, conscious movement of our body, and adherence to basic requirements, such as keeping the wrist straight during the exercise. I'm not saying this to be mean, but a large number of women are incapable of this, but it's not their fault. Coordination, maintaining proportions and distances, and generally controlled management of their entire body, mastery over their movements, is much, much harder for women inherently than for men. This is not male chauvinism, these are the facts and years of experience.

Perform the exercise with a French bar, but only when you are ready for it. When you can consciously breathe, lower the weight slowly, and maintain correct posture. For this exercise, you will definitely need the supervision of a personal trainer; do not try it alone.

 

Same, but on a 30-degree bench

And on a 90-degree bench

It would be best if, initially, you practiced the movement without weights, then gradually with minimal weights, and so on. If your personal trainer loads you with heavy weights from the very first sessions, leave them and ask for your money back, because they might have a certificate, but either they can't properly convey their knowledge, or the institution where they graduated has complete idiots teaching classes, and at this point, I can't decide which is sadder.

 

One-arm triceps pushdown on cable machine

Cable triceps exercises are somewhat complicated, as you need to find the right height. The height where the upper part of the arm remains in a straight line, and only the forearm moves. In cable exercises, body stability is a primary consideration. For standing exercises, bend your legs slightly to minimize stress on the spine. Your palm should face you. An excellent exercise.

 

Kickback

The kickback is the second most influential god of triceps exercises. It is an extremely effective exercise, and this is where my point, which I also mentioned in the introduction and said I would elaborate on later, comes in. And later is now.

A workout is considered useful if attention is focused exclusively on the muscle being worked. Let me put it differently, but the conclusion remains the same. Every exercise where other parts of the body also move takes energy away from the muscle we are working on.

We often see idiots in gyms who perform exercises, even "after years of training," by moving their whole body, so the energy goes everywhere but where it should. This is especially typical for men. It stems from the male-typical mentality of "I don't need help, I'll find my way without it." We can call this pride, or I don't know what, but men don't ask for advice because they supposedly know better. This stubborn obstinacy is precisely what can be observed in gyms. "I don't need help, I know how to train." This is not characteristic of women. By virtue of their gender, they ask for help in whatever they embark on. It's another question that due to their lack of coordination skills mentioned above, they can't, or can only with great difficulty, perform the exercises, but that's another question, and I've already talked about it.

To make it clearer what I'm talking about, here's a video. I wouldn't add any comments, because the video speaks for itself. The essence starts at 0:23.

What an idiot. Anyway. The statement also applies to triceps exercises. In all triceps exercises, but especially in kickbacks, ONLY the forearm should move; all other body parts must remain motionless. Motionless, like a statue. The back doesn't move, we don't exert force with the legs, or by moving the upper arm, with anything. And perhaps most importantly. The wrist remains straight throughout, and this is precisely what women are simply incapable of. So I'm increasingly thinking about making the use of wrist wraps, which keep the wrist fixed, mandatory in my workouts. Yes, I'm going to do that.

Keep your arm by your head throughout. If there's no other way, resist it with your other hand. The weight, if possible, should go down to the lower part of your neck. The rest of your body, of course, remains motionless.

 

Triceps extension on a bench with a dumbbell

Since this exercise is not as complex as the triceps set, and the bench provides some stabilization, I would strongly recommend this exercise for beginners.

 

Bench dips Level 1

If the kickback is the second most influential God, then the first is undoubtedly the bench dip, also known as the "convict dip."

Sit on your thumbs, hip-width apart; this will be your distance.

When you perform the exercise, your back should brush against the bench throughout; this is how you perform it correctly.

The ideal depth is when your elbow and shoulder are in line during the descent. This will be the lowest point, and from here you push yourself up. Of course, your back will still be brushing the edge of the bench.

Initially, you won't be able to do it, not even at the first level. First, just lower yourself halfway, then if you can do that for at least 8-10 repetitions in 4 sets, then go lower and lower, until you reach the aforementioned elbow-shoulder line.

THE ELBOW GOES BACKWARDS, NOT SIDEWAYS!!!!!

Change levels when you can correctly perform 4x12 sets. Not only for this, but for subsequent levels as well.

Bench Dips Level 2

Bench Dips Level 3

Weighted Bench Dips Level 4

I saved the best for last. Cross-body push-ups. Here, your hands are crossed, with your palms at your chest. It can be done anywhere, it's a great exercise that doesn't require any equipment.

The next section will cover shoulder muscle workouts.