Best Science Based Triceps Exercises For All 3 Heads

The fitness craze is everywhere, and scrolling through Instagram to see passionate people building their strength is truly inspiring. Having beautifully sculpted arms will make a short dressy top look even more gorgeous and sexy. That is the power of fitness: it makes you look confident, feel healthy, and happy.

Training harder and longer can be beneficial, but this approach has its limits, and beyond a certain point, your results may start to diminish. The key to effective and sustainable progress is to dedicate your workouts toward particular areas of improvement to see good results. This requires understanding the areas of the problem and shifting your focus and resources towards building up the same.

One key area to focus on is your triceps. The triceps, unlike common knowledge, isn’t just one but a combination of three heads that need individual attention. Here are the best exercises to target each head individually and improve your overall triceps development.

Understand The Triceps

The triceps region has three heads into which the muscle is split. The muscle connects between the elbow and the shoulder joint and contributes to elbow extension and that of the shoulders.

The long head lies on the back of your arm and is the largest part of the three sections and plays an important role in determining the way your muscle will look.

The lateral head is on the outer side of the upper arm. It gives the arm width and contributes to straightening the elbow, like when pushing something away.

The medial head is beneath the lateral head. It adds thickness to the arm and assists in straightening the elbow during exercises like dips or skull crushers.

There are varying opinions about the right way to train the triceps. But in general, training your arms which focuses on the tricep movement through exercises such as bench press has shown great results.

Basic training with heavy barbell exercises can be a great way to start training your triceps muscles. Bench and overhead press are some of the best exercises to resort to during these training.

Also, barbell exercises are more effective in developing the triceps compared to their dumbbell counterparts. This is why they are often preferred for triceps training.

While basic training can help in the development, heavy compound exercises are the best way to add strength and definition to the tricep area. And as a weightlifter, the primary focus should always be about enhancing the strength of your body overall before you carve them the way you want.

Best Triceps Exercises for Lateral Head

1. Tricep Pushdown

This is an efficient isolation exercise that helps in improving the overall strength of the tricep muscle.

This will also help strengthen the joints and when done properly with hands situated closer, this exercise will help train the lateral head of your triceps.

You can keep your hands and shoulder-width apart to lay emphasis on the medial and long heads too.

This is a cable exercise that will play a key role in triceps growth.

• Have a handle attached to a high-pulley cable and grasp it with your hands.
• Bend your knees slightly and lean forward at the waist and make sure your elbows are positioned close to your sides. Your forearms should be parallel to the floor.
• Look straight and ensure your back stays flat and your abs feel tight.
• Now flex your triceps and do not move your elbows during this process. Press the bar towards the floor and extend your arms completely.
• Hold in the position for about a second before you relax back to your starting position.

2. Close Grip Bench Press

This exercise can offer up to 62% muscle activation and is considered yet another efficient way of training your lateral head.

It involves the chest area and gives a great workout session. This exercise could be the right choice to transition from your chest workouts toward triceps training. This can also be done as a barbell-based exercise.

• Lie flat on a bench and grip the barbell with your hands placed shoulder-width apart, keeping your elbows tucked close to your body.
• Start by bending your elbows and hovering the barbell slightly above the rib cage.
• While pressing the weight make sure the effort is on the triceps area.
• Relax and repeat the steps.

Best Triceps Exercises for Medial Head

1. Rope Pushdown

This exercise gives about 74% muscle activation and is done using a rope extension on a cable machine. By spreading the rope at the bottom of the movement the triceps muscle`s lateral head can be activated and trained well.

• Hold the rope with your hands near the knotted end. When you start the exercise, ensure your elbow is bent at 90 degrees and placed near the torso.
• Start by extending your arms and taking your hands down towards the floor one at a time.
• Spread the rope to either side so as to contract the triceps muscles.
• Bring them back to the starting position and repeat.

Important:

A variation of a cable rope pushdown would be a v-bar pushdown wherein you use a v-bar attachment to the cable exercise machine instead of a rope. The best way to enhance the effectiveness of the exercise is to change the type of grip.

Additional Tip:

• By using an underhand grip for a normal triceps push-down, you can ensure the medial head is trained. (Debatable point)

2. Skullcrushers

Although considered the best isolation exercise to train the entire triceps area, Skullcrushers are a great way of laying emphasis on the medial head too.

Positioning the elbows at a slight angle can effectively target the triceps. For this exercise, you can use a straight pre-loaded barbell, an EZ bar, or dumbbells.

• Lie down face up with your back flat on the bench and place your feet firmly on the ground. Hold the EZ bar with a narrow grip and extend it to arm’s length.
• Ensure your upper arms are placed rigid and bend your elbows slightly and bring the bar towards your forehead.
• Stop slightly close to your forehead and use your tricep to move back to the starting position.

Best Triceps Exercises for Long Head

1.  Incline Dumbbell Triceps Kickbacks

When it comes to isolation exercises for the triceps long head, Incline Dumbbell Triceps Kickback is the most effective one. This exercise specifically targets the long head of the triceps. According to an EMG study by Boehren and Buskies, this is the best long-head activating exercise.

• Start by lying on the incline bench with your chest facing the bench.
• Take dumbbells on your hands and lock your upper arm close to the lats.
• Move your lower arms back till they are parallel with the body, fully flex at your elbows, and hold this position for 1-2 seconds.
• Slowly come back to the starting state.

2. Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

One of the best exercises for targeting the long head of the triceps is the Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension. This exercise allows you to press a heavy weight without overloading the muscle. You can start with a two-hand triceps press and progress to a one-hand press. This exercise can be performed either sitting or standing.

• Begin by grasping the dumbbell in one hand. If you’re seated, ensure you’re in a stable position; if standing, keep your feet shoulder-width apart for balance. Now, extend your arm with the dumbbell overhead.
• Ensure that your upper arm remains close to your head, with your elbow tucked in and positioned perpendicular to the floor. Slowly lower the resistance in a circular motion, extending it slightly behind your head until your forearm touches your biceps. It’s essential that your forearm does all the work while keeping your upper arm stationary.
• Go back to the starting position.

Note:

Some individuals may argue that the Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension isn’t an optimal exercise. However, the fundamental principle in weight training is “Time Under Tension.” This means keeping your muscles under tension for an extended period. How can you achieve this? The answer is simple: prolong the lifting and lowering phases.

In our view, the One Arm Overhead Cable Tricep Extension serves as an excellent alternative to this exercise. It offers consistent resistance throughout the entire range of motion, including the endpoints.

If you’re using lighter weights, you can perform the exercise with dumbbells in both arms. Simply follow the same steps for this variation.

3. Barbell Kickback

Barbell kickbacks offer a superior method for effectively training your triceps muscles. This exercise specifically targets the long head of your triceps, especially when using a narrow grip. It’s crucial to maintain straight hands throughout the exercise to ensure optimal targeting of this muscle group.

For beginners, it’s advisable to begin without weights and gradually increase resistance as you progress. It is crucial to ensure that your hands are straight when externally rotated and grip the bar with your palms facing forward. This exercise effectively highlights the junction of the triceps heads, aiding in their definition.

• Start by standing straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Grab the barbell with your arms facing forward.
• Engaging the abdominals to sit back slightly into a squat extend your arms to move upwards.
• Ensure your arm is straight at all times of the exercise.
• Come back to the starting position and repeat the same.

Important: This exercise is bound to leave a lot of cramps.

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Best Triceps Exercises Based on Overall EMG (Electromyography)

In this section, we are going to discuss various research studies and their observations.

Best Compound Exercises for Triceps

In 2011 Saeterbakken and his colleagues compared the EMG data of barbell press, smith machine press, and dumbbell bench press. They found that the barbell press and Smith machine press produced more triceps activity than the dumbbell bench press.

In 2013 Saeterbakken & Fimland conducted a similar comparison study between the barbell and dumbbell shoulder presses, they found that the barbell shoulder press produced greater triceps muscle activity than the dumbbell shoulder press

Barnett compared the triceps muscle activation between the barbell bench press and the shoulder press. He found that the barbell bench press produced more triceps activation than the shoulder press.

Best Body Weight Exercises for Triceps

EMG activity of long head, lateral head, and medial head of triceps muscle during bench dips (arms behind), bar dips, and push-ups:

By observing the EMG data we can conclude that-

• Best bodyweight exercises for lateral and medial heads: Bench dips and bar dips
• Best bodyweight exercises for long head: Bar dips and push-ups
• A similar study conducted at the University of Wisconsin found that diamond push-ups produced superior triceps muscle activity than dips

Best Triceps Exercises Based on EMG

John Porcari and Brittany Boehler conducted a research study to determine the efficacy of the six common gym triceps exercises and two bodyweight triceps exercises.

For the analysis, they recruited 15 females, ages 20 to 24. On the first day, they determined their 1 RM and on the second day, electromyographic (EMG) analysis was done with 70% of one rep max.

EMG Activity Comparison Between 7 Exercises

Here I am including another comparison data obtained from Boeckh-Behrens & Buskies 2000.

In this data EMG activity of the triceps medial head, triceps lateral head, and triceps long head are compared during cable pushdowns, skull crushers, shoulder width neck presses, dumbbell kickbacks, overhead single arm dumbbell extension, incline bench dumbbell kickbacks and seated Ez bar triceps extensions.

An interesting observation from this analysis is that the Lying Ez bar Extension targets the lateral head while the Seated Ez Bar Extension places more emphasis on the long head.

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Summing Up

Sculpting your triceps requires a focused strategy. Understanding the three heads of the triceps is key for balanced growth. Exercises such as tricep pushdowns and close grip bench press target the lateral head, while rope pushdowns and skullcrushers work the medial head. Incline dumbbell triceps kickbacks and overhead triceps extensions emphasize the long head.

Opting for barbell exercises over dumbbells often produces superior results, with compound movements like barbell presses proving highly effective. By incorporating these evidence-based exercises into your regimen, you’ll develop strong, defined triceps, enhancing both your physique and overall upper body strength.