Do your triceps exercises following chest and shoulders. That warms up your triceps, and secondly, pre-fatigues them so that they can be pushed into the growth threshold with minimum work. Got it? Good. Now here come the "meat and potatoes" of my triceps workout…
Exercise #1: Straight-Bar Triceps Pushdown:
- After warming up, perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions, or to failure, whichever comes first.
- On the last set, drop the weight about 10% and immediately perform another 5 reps without resting.
Avoid: Don't allow your wrists to bend upwards during the movement as this puts unnecessary stress on the joint. Keep your wrists straight and fixed; and don't allow your elbows to flare-out. Keep them near your sides.
Exercise #2: Close Grip Bench Press: (One of the best mass developers for the triceps.)
- Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
- On the last set, drop the weight and do another 5 reps without rest.
Avoid: Bouncing the bar off of your chest. Always maintain control during the movement. Lower slowly.
Exercise #3: Upright, Overhead One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension:
- Perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions.
- On the last set, drop the weight and do another 5 reps without rest.
Avoid: Performing this movement too quickly and haphazardly. Doing so could result in injury to the neck and head. Don't let your wrists wobble with the weight; keep them fixed.
Please note that by training the triceps with these exercises, you effectively hit the triceps from three different angles. In the first exercise, the triceps pushdown, your upper arm points down, parallel to the line of your torso. In the second exercise, close grip bench presses, your upper arm is at a ninety-degree angle to your torso. In the last exercise, overhead triceps extension, your upper arm is once again parallel to the line of your torso, except that this time, it is 180 degrees opposite the angle formed by the first exercise. Get the picture?
