How to work all different heads of tricep?

[newbbuffguy]

What exercises can I do to hit all different angles of my triceps?
So far im doing
DB one arm tricep extensions
V pulley tricep extentions
machined dips

and skull crushers(i cant seem to figure out how to do these with correct form all the tension is felt on my elbows)

Can you guys help get an exercise routine that hits all different heads of the triceps? I bench randomly alot too incline/decline/flat bench. Im looking to add more DB and Pulley attachment exercises.

[typ40]

french press and/or close grip bench press - for the inner head
kickback - for the medial head
rope or reverse grip pressdown - for the outer head

[atl2axj]

dips overall triceps mass
close hand bench medial/lateral
overhead db extension (2hand) long head

some ppl swear by skullcrushers but i don't..imo risk of elbow injury is too great and there are safer alternatives..

[John Prophet]

use various arm positions

arms overhead = inner head

arms to the side = outer

medial probably gets worked no matter what. and obviously you cant totally isolate any of the heads

i just try to use variety...not duplicating the same arm position

for example lately I have done this


rack lockouts ("medium" arm position..same as lying tri or close grip press...overall tri)

pushdowns ("low" arm position, more for outer head)

bent over cable overhead extensions ("high" arm position, hits inner head)



I wouldnt do, for example, both french press and then cable overhead extensions because thats more or less two of the same thing.

[Dr. Horse]

Not sure what you guys mean by inner/outer head. Triceps has 3 heads- long/lateral/medial.

French press works the long head best in my experience. Make sure you have your upper arms flexed back to about 120 degrees from your body- this stretches the long head and works it harder. Keep your elbows tight and still- i.e. don't flare them out or swing them fore and aft. The bar should come down to the TOP of your head, not your forehead- this is achieved by having proper humerus flexion, i.e. arm/body angle.

Cable pushdowns (choose your attachment) seem to work the lateral head the best. Keep your elbows as tight to your body as you can, don't put them out in front of you. Lean forward so that you have tension on you tris even when you lock out. Also benching (narrow or otherwise) gets this head real good)

Medial head- this just seems to get worked all the time- pressing movements for sure.

[papi93]

Heavy Metal
Q&A with the King of Strength Coaches
by Ian King

Horseshoes in Your Shirtsleeves

Q: What are your top triceps movements or protocols for putting on mass? I've heard a lot of coaches say that you just have to go heavy to get the tri's to sprout.

A: I agree that a no-brainer way to get general size in the triceps is to simply go heavy in the big pushing movements such as bench press, shoulder press, and the various triceps movements. However, from watching bodies over the years, I've concluded that certain movements may give your triceps a certain shape. So if you simply wanted a large upper arm circumference, going heavy is a great strategy. But if you want to exploit the unique "horseshoe'" shape that the triceps offer, you may want to investigate exercise selection and priority a little more.

For those wanting to gain further insights, I suggest the following resources: Target Bodybuilding, by Per A. Tesch, published by Human Kinetics in 1999 and How To Write Strength Training Programs, by myself and available at KingSports.net. Interestingly, Tesch devoted more pages to the "back of the upper arm" muscles than any other muscle group in his whole book! So you get the idea ? there are many options for training the triceps. This is influenced by the shape of the muscle (three heads) and their involvement in the movement around two joints (the elbow and shoulder).

In this book, Tesch reviewed twenty triceps exercises and identified which heads of the tricep were primarily trained by which exercises. The more a certain head is targeted, the more stars it gets. His summary is as follows:

French press with EZ bar:

Lateral Head: *

Long Head: **

Medial Head: *

French press with EZ bar on decline bench

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Supine triceps extension with dumbbell and neutral grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: *

Medial Head: *

Overhead triceps extensions with dumbbell and neutral grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Overhead triceps extensions with dumbbell and rotation

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Overhead triceps extensions with reverse grip

Lateral Head: *

Long Head: **

Medial Head: *

Standing French press with straight bar

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: *

Medial Head: **

Triceps pushdown with straight bar and narrow grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: *

Triceps pushdown with rope

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Triceps pushdown with angled bar

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

One-arm triceps pushdown

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: *

Medial Head: **

One-arm triceps pushdown with reverse grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Bench press with narrow grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: *

Medial Head: **

Parallel bar dip with neutral grip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Bench dip

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: **

Medial Head: **

Pullover with EZ bar and narrow grip

Lateral Head: *

Long Head: **

Medial Head: *

Military press with straight bar, behind neck

Lateral Head: **

Long Head: nil

Medial Head: **

Standing dumbbell press

Lateral Head: *

Long Head: nil

Medial Head: *

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by newbbuffguy

What exercises can I do to hit all different angles of my triceps?
So far im doing
DB one arm tricep extensions
V pulley tricep extentions
machined dips

and skull crushers(i cant seem to figure out how to do these with correct form all the tension is felt on my elbows)

Can you guys help get an exercise routine that hits all different heads of the triceps? I bench randomly alot too incline/decline/flat bench. Im looking to add more DB and Pulley attachment exercises.

In general:

Extension for long head. (Skull, Incline extensions, DB extensions)

Flared elbows for outer. (CGBP, power pushdowns, cross body extensions, flared rope extensions)

Narrow elbows, no stretch for medial (Bench dips, Dips)

[Meni]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

use various arm positions

arms overhead = inner head

arms to the side = outer

medial probably gets worked no matter what. and obviously you cant totally isolate any of the heads

i just try to use variety...not duplicating the same arm position

for example lately I have done this


rack lockouts ("medium" arm position..same as lying tri or close grip press...overall tri)

pushdowns ("low" arm position, more for outer head)

bent over cable overhead extensions ("high" arm position, hits inner head)



I wouldnt do, for example, both french press and then cable overhead extensions because thats more or less two of the same thing.

Yeah I remember that from long ago, Tricep needs to be hit from 3 angles.
I'd just tell my lifting partner, overhead, elbow to the side, elbow ahead (say skull crushers)

[Hola Bola]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

use various arm positions

arms overhead = inner head

arms to the side = outer

medial probably gets worked no matter what. and obviously you cant totally isolate any of the heads

i just try to use variety...not duplicating the same arm position

Good stuff.

[hulkinout]

Papi, maybe you should post that tricep article somewhere so this question doesn't need to be asked three times a day.

No offense to whoever started this thread. ;-)

Spot-on John and Defiant as usual.

[papi93]

Originally Posted by hulkinout

Papi, maybe you should post that tricep article somewhere so this question doesn't need to be asked three times a day.

No offense to whoever started this thread. ;-)

Do you know if there is one on biceps, as well? Could kill two birds with stone if there is.

[oldmanmarley]

Originally Posted by John Prophet

use various arm positions

arms overhead = inner head

arms to the side = outer

medial probably gets worked no matter what. and obviously you cant totally isolate any of the heads

Why does performing extension with the humerus internally/externally rotated alter which head is emphasized? As far as I know, only the long head crosses over the shoulder joint, so why would it have any effect at all on the medial and lateral heads?

[jmusclehead]

Originally Posted by hulkinout

Papi, maybe you should post that tricep article somewhere so this question doesn't need to be asked three times a day.

No offense to whoever started this thread. ;-)

Spot-on John and Defiant as usual.

X2.......

[hulkinout]

Originally Posted by papi93

Do you know if there is one on biceps, as well? Could kill two birds with stone if there is.

The first time I saw the tricep one was when you posted it like 2-3 weeks ago. I think King should do a whole series on multihead muscles.

I noticed the anconeus isn't mentioned anywhere though. ;-) (I'm liking those anconeus sidekicks, BTW).

Ya know, I kinda wish the whole Exercises forum was maybe divvied up by bodypart, and then have one forum for general questions. It would seem a lot less unwieldy than the current arrangement and maybe curb at least some of the repetitve questions.

[papi93]

Originally Posted by hulkinout

The first time I saw the tricep one was when you posted it like 2-3 weeks ago. I think King should do a whole series on multihead muscles.

I noticed the anconeus isn't mentioned anywhere though. ;-) (I'm liking those anconeus sidekicks, BTW).

Ya know, I kinda wish the whole Exercises forum was maybe divvied up by bodypart, and then have one forum for general questions. It would seem a lot less unwieldy than the current arrangement and maybe curb at least some of the repetitve questions.

I posted the heads of the triceps thread. Let me know if you come across a biceps one. Defiant1 might be able to find the information because I think he said he has Tesch's book.

[oldmanmarley]

Originally Posted by hulkinout

The first time I saw the tricep one was when you posted it like 2-3 weeks ago. I think King should do a whole series on multihead muscles.

I noticed the anconeus isn't mentioned anywhere though. ;-) (I'm liking those anconeus sidekicks, BTW).

Ya know, I kinda wish the whole Exercises forum was maybe divvied up by bodypart, and then have one forum for general questions. It would seem a lot less unwieldy than the current arrangement and maybe curb at least some of the repetitve questions.

The problem with that is that too many exercises involve more than one bodypart to a great degree.

[oldmanmarley]

Originally Posted by oldmanmarley

Why does performing extension with the humerus internally/externally rotated alter which head is emphasized? As far as I know, only the long head crosses over the shoulder joint, so why would it have any effect at all on the medial and lateral heads?

Anyone?

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by oldmanmarley

Anyone?

The heads of the triceps have different insertion points. Rotation of the humerus puts the different heads in different lines of force. Couple with degree of stretch, viola'.

[Uriel_da_man]

I've always believed (and time has proven me right again and again) that overhand grip for outter head, underhand grip for medial head (obviously hammer for a balance of both), while long head is affected mostly by shoulder position.

[oldmanmarley]

Originally Posted by Defiant1

The heads of the triceps have different insertion points. Rotation of the humerus puts the different heads in different lines of force. Couple with degree of stretch, viola'.

I don't really iunderstand this. How does rotation of the humerus change the line of pull? As far as I know, the medial and lateral heads originate somewhere on the upper humerus, and insert at the elbow. With rotation, the entire humerus and the elbow are in the exact same position with respect to eachother, so I don't see how the muscles that join them would change in any way. Is it that the long head has an effect on one of the other two heads that only happens at some angle of rotation?

[oldmanmarley]

Originally Posted by Uriel_da_man

I've always believed (and time has proven me right again and again) that overhand grip for outter head, underhand grip for medial head (obviously hammer for a balance of both), while long head is affected mostly by shoulder position.

Just for the sake of clarity, when you say underhand, do you mean supinated, and overhand - pronated? If so, it seems to me like it should be the other way around.

[Defiant1]

Originally Posted by oldmanmarley

I don't really iunderstand this. How does rotation of the humerus change the line of pull? As far as I know, the medial and lateral heads originate somewhere on the upper humerus, and insert at the elbow. With rotation, the entire humerus and the elbow are in the exact same position with respect to eachother, so I don't see how the muscles that join them would change in any way. Is it that the long head has an effect on one of the other two heads that only happens at some angle of rotation?

It's the same situation as the biceps. Different origins, same insertion. In fact, the triceps tendon is very wide where the muscle attaches (more correctly, transitions to tendon).

[ray mercer]

Weighted Dips and close grip bench, just do those for the rest of your life.