whats the ultimate tricep workout

[xua3k]

Just looking for new ideas, but i like to hear what others believe are key exercises to developing GREAT triceps.

[1quick1]

DIPS.....hands down. Close grip bench press is great too but I guarentee if you base your tri work around dips and then weighted dips you will make progress. I made more progress in 6 months with dips then I did in 8 years doing rope pulldowns, skullcrushers, kickbacks, etc etc. I think there is still a vid in my profile doing bw + 100lbs for 5 or 6 reps. My best is bw + 115lbs for 3.

[Pairunoyd]

I've got an old pec injury, but I'm gonna see how dips go. Can't really safely bb bench press, but I'm gonna try some reverse grips.

My tris are my most developed muscle and I rely HEAVILY upon Incline Dumbell Extensions. This is important: I USE 2 DUMBELLS. I also usually hold them w/ a hammer grip, but will sometimes hold them w/ a pronated grip. For me, inc. db ext are such a natural movement. There's so much freedom during each rep and the ache is really deep.

If you do them, I'd suggest trying them on a high incline (45-70).

Try:
15 reps
10 reps
8 reps
6 reps


You can also do them in a flat bench and when you reach failure you can start pressing them like a close-grip bench press except w/ hammer grips.

I used to do dips for my chest several yrs ago and was able to add lots of weight. Of course, it worked my tris as well.

[GuyJin]

If you can do 'em right, do dips. Second best, close-grip benches. (I do close-grips, as I don't have access to dip bars). I like to do close-grips first as my main exercise, but every now and then I'll do a post-exhaust superset of close-grips and barbell French presses. Great pump and better growth.

[xua3k]

DIPS.....hands down. Close grip bench press is great too but I guarentee if you base your tri work around dips and then weighted dips you will make progress. I made more progress in 6 months with dips then I did in 8 years doing rope pulldowns, skullcrushers, kickbacks, etc etc. I think there is still a vid in my profile doing bw + 100lbs for 5 or 6 reps. My best is bw + 115lbs for 3.

thanks im going to be sure to try dips tomorrow when i workout my triceps =)

[mc335e]

I do a superset of skullcrushers straight in to close grip bench. Between that and dips, that's about all my triceps can handle in one day if I'm doing chest in the same day.

[NoNameNecessary]

Dips
Close-Grip Bench Press
Skullcrushers

[Dan1974]

I have long arms and dips hurt my shoulders. For triceps I do tricep pullovers while laying on a bench press. I put two 45 pound plates underneath the bench press (at the end of the bench where my head is positioned) so the bench press has a little bit of a decline. The elevated angle of the bench press helps to put more stress on my triceps and less stress on my elbows and shoulders. I use the e-z bar curl bar when doing tricep pullovers.

[1quick1]

thanks im going to be sure to try dips tomorrow when i workout my triceps =)

Sounds good man. Do you have a journal? Let me know how it goes. Some people can do body weight dips right away and some need to start on the assisted machine. Either way stick with it and let me know how it goes. Dips are where it's at.

[bdiesel]

tri set -

bar pushdown > rope ext > reverse grip pulldown

10 reps of each with no rest between. rest 1-2 min do it again. 3 x total, hence the tri set. it hits all heads of the tri's and smokes em good. i do these, skullcrushers, and reverse grip bench presses.

[Mr. Awesome]

Dips are fine.

[hardcoreoffense]

Try this:-

Close grip bench press 5x6
Reverse grip bench press (use a smith machine) 5x10
Incline bench dumbbell french press (3x15)
Rope Pushdowns (3x25)

[NoFlag]

Dips are fckn cool, i love doing them. Too bad they won't be included in my new routine. (Advanced Rippetoe's) Yeah, and I hate messing with the programs.

[Mr. Awesome]

Try this:-

Close grip bench press 5x6
Reverse grip bench press (use a smith machine) 5x10
Incline bench dumbbell french press (3x15)
Rope Pushdowns (3x25)

Wow that's pretty ultra-high volume there.

[ironwill2008]

Try weighted dips (6 reps), and French presses. These two will hit all three heads.

[mojo18]

If you want an awesome pump try bench dips with feet up and weight on your lap and drop set till you have to put your feet down and help yourself up

[hammer54]

this is my current tri workout

Skull crunchers( on last rep use the same weight and close grip bench it-super set) 3x8

Push downs 3x8

1 arm cable pull downs 3x8

dips superseted with close grip pushup
3- failure

[cockywop]

DIPS.....hands down. Close grip bench press is great too but I guarentee if you base your tri work around dips and then weighted dips you will make progress. I made more progress in 6 months with dips then I did in 8 years doing rope pulldowns, skullcrushers, kickbacks, etc etc. I think there is still a vid in my profile doing bw + 100lbs for 5 or 6 reps. My best is bw + 115lbs for 3.

I concur. I only wasted a 1 year fooling around with ropes though.

6 months ago I could only do 3 dips, now I'm doing 5 sets of 8 with 50lbs.

[RickRolld]

Try running the rack with dumbbells or on machines for pressdowns.

Also, try doing 50's. This is where you take your 10 rep max weight for an exercise and do the first 10 reps, then take only 15 seconds of rest and repeat. Do this for as many sets as it takes to get to 50 reps. You can also modify this to 40's and 30's.

Also, try adding in endurance sets near the end of your workout for an extreme pump.

[Pairunoyd]

good old basics like dips and close-grip are probably your best bet. However, if you wanna mix it up...

Pre-Exhaustion:

Pushdowns 3-4 x 10-15
Dips 3-4 x 6-15

You could also superset them:

Pushdowns 3-4 x 10-15
superset w/
Dips 3-4 x 6-15
and top it off w/ straight sets of
Close-Grip Bench 3-4 sets of 4-6


I'd suggest low reps on the benches because your tris are already fried and the lower rep count will allow your the power of your pecs and delts to overload the tris w/ substantially more weight. Once you start getting up into a moderate or higher rep range, at this point in your workout, your poundages will suffer too much and youll lose the benefit of the compoundedness of the movement. And since your tris are so pumped you can more safely pile on the lbs w/ less elbow worry.

[Wes9]

for the best tri pump i alwasy go with sum kickbacks to top off my tricep work out my routine constantly changes but this is what i feel is my besroutine.......weighted dips (with added weight), on to some rope pull downs....and some kicks to top off the pump....OHH YEAH along with some gaspari PLasma jet ....cant beat it

[Charuto222]

dips and close grip bench presses are awesome, I'm glad to see people advocating those instead of mostly kickbacks and whatnot, but I have to chime in with what IMO is the most underrated triceps exercise on the face of the earth http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=2109001