Fill Your Shirt Sleeves With Gigantic Guns! Part 1: Gigantic Triceps!

[Armed-Soldier]

FILL YOUR SHIRT SLEEVES WITH GIGANTIC GUNS!

PART 1: GIGANTIC TRICEPS!

Dreaming about filling your shirt sleeves with huge arms for a body building contest or just impressing the beautiful girls out there? Well, then your dream comes true if you give more respect to your triceps than the biceps. Because it's the three headed monster that gifts you the giant cannons. And that's why I thought to write the Part 1 of this article about the triceps. But the biceps should not be avoided too. We will treat them soon, but for now it's the triceps? Here I am going to explain to you the best triceps exercises and workout which gifted me good gains in my skinny arms.

So, firstly let's take a brief look on the anatomy and function of the triceps.

ANATOMY AND FUNCTION OF THE TRICEPS:

The Triceps Brachii has three heads which connect the humerus and scapula bones to the forearm bone called the ulna. These three heads are known as the Lateral, Medial, and Long heads.

The lateral head is responsible for the horse shoe shape of the triceps and the long head as the name suggests is the largest of all. The primary function of the triceps is to extend the elbow. The secondary function of the triceps is fulfilled only by the long head of the muscle, which brings the arm down towards the body. It's important to ensure you incorporate exercises that hit all three of these heads to fully develop the meat of the upper arms. Simply performing one exercise for triceps probably won't be enough.

Now, let's take a look on the best triceps exercises and how they are performed:

BEST TRICEPS EXERCISES:

Here's a list of best triceps exercises which I selected from a vast list at Bodybuilding.com and I think they are the best for anyone who wants that massive triceps.

Decline Close-grip bench press:

This is the best mass building exercise than the flat bench version of this exercise. Lie on a decline bench. Hold a barbell with both hands with a close grip, about 13 inches apart. Keeping your arms close to your sides, lower the bar until it is touches your chest, approximately 1 inch below your nipples. Return to starting position, concentrating on using your triceps to push.

Lying triceps extension:

Sit on a flat bench holding an EZ-Curl bar with an overhand grip. Lie back so that the top of your head is even with the end of the bench. At the same time, extend your arms over your head so that the bar is directly over your eyes. Keep your elbows tight and your upper arms stationary throughout the exercise. Holding your upper arms in a fixed position (this is key), slowly lower the bar until it almost touches your forehead. Then press the bar back up in a slow, sweeping arc-like motion. At the finish, lock your elbows completely. This exercise when done on a decline bench yields even good results for triceps.

Close-grip triceps push down:

Using a high-cable pulley, grasp a short straight bar with an overhand close grip. Your hands should be about 10 inches apart. Position your forearms so they are parallel to the floor. Keep your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly. Keep your elbows locked in close to your body and your wrists straight. Keep your WHOLE body steady, push the bar down as far as possible towards your legs, locking your arms and feeling the triceps full contract. Keep the upper arms close to the body. Return to the starting position using the same motion. Never move your elbows or torso! Stay standing straight up. At the bottom of the exercise, push the bar towards the ground by dropping your shoulders slightly. This gives an extra squeeze on the triceps and increases peak contraction.

Parallel bar dips:

Using the parallel bars, grip the handles and push yourself up to your starting position. With elbows close to body and hips straight, lower body until shoulders are slightly stretched. Push body up in same posture and repeat. You can bend and cross your legs or keep them straight. To work the triceps, keep your body STRAIGHT up and down and do not lean over. Leaning over would work more of the lower chest. You can add weight by using a Dip Belt. When performing the negative portion of this exercise, lower your body as far as possible in between the bars. Don't stop until your biceps make contact with your forearms. This is important for getting a full stretch in your triceps.

Weighted bench dips:

Place a heavy weight with which you can do 6-10 reps on your lap. Place your hands on the edge of a bench, feet on adjacent bench. Lower body until full stretch or rear end touches floor. Raise your body and repeat.

Decline close grip bench to skull crusher:

One of my favorite triceps exercises. It combines the explosive power of the close grip bench press with the unmatched stretch and concentration when doing skull crushers. Form is extremely important, stress on the eccentric (lowering) portion of the movement and contract at the top of the movement. Start with a bench press from the lower chest, then as you lockout, contract and begin lowering for the eccentric portion of the skull crusher. Now raise the barbell again and do the eccentric portion of the bench. Do this really heavy and you will see what triceps contribute for giant cannons.

Old school reverse extensions:

It's a great angle to hit the triceps hard and induce muscle growth, lie down on a bench and grab a barbell with an underhand grip. Keep your upper arms in a straight line with your body as opposed to perpendicular as in skull crushers. Lower and raise the weight. On the last set ask for a spotter to force you to do a few more reps to really blast the triceps.

Triceps dumbbell kickback:

This is a good exercise to do at the end of any triceps workout. I used to perform this movement with a weight that allows me to get 12 reps out of each set and this made my triceps to bulge outward like my biceps, displaying huge size. To perform, stand to the right of a flat bench. Bend your left knee and rest it on the bench, and place your left hand ahead of you on the bench for balance. Your back should be as straight as possible. Pick up a dumbbell in your right hand. Bend your arm and raise your elbow up to shoulder height. Make sure the elbow stays close to the side of your body. Let the dumbbell hang. Press the weight back until your forearm is parallel to the floor. Squeeze your triceps and then slowly return to the starting position. After you finish the set, switch sides. To avoid swinging the weight for momentum, keep your shoulder stable, moving only at the elbow. Look straight ahead at all times.

Now let?s move along to the part you've all been waiting for?

MY WORKOUT ROUTINES:

Now, I am going to give you 2 routines which I followed. You should do both workouts once a week, with 2-3 days rest between each and you will be on your way to a pair of giant cannons. Be sure to do a warm-up set with light a weight before every exercise and you should also skip compound movements from chest and shoulder workouts to make sure that you don't overtrain the triceps. Remember, this routine is not for whose goal is a massive chest or cannonball delts, we can get them later. But for now it's the sleeve stretching tri's. With that said, here are my workouts?

Workout 1: For Mass

Close-grip triceps push down: 3-4 X 8-10 reps
Decline Close grip bench press: 3-4 X 8-10 reps
Decline Lying triceps extension: 3-4 X 8-10 reps
Parallel bar dips: 3-4 X 8-10 reps (Alternate with weighted bench dips every week)

Workout 2: For Crazy Definition

Decline close grip bench to skull crusher: 3-4 X 12-15 reps
Old school reverse extensions: 3-4 X 12-15 reps
Reverse triceps push down: 3-4 X 12-15 reps
Triceps dumbbell kickback: 3-4 X 12-15 reps

Next comes an important aspect?

NUTRITION:

This is the main part of any training. I will explain this part briefly. 70% of your progress comes with nutrition and only 30% with training. So you need to eat like an animal and not just anything. As everyone knows, you need PROTEIN, PROTEIN and a lot of it. I prefer taking at least 1-2 grams of high quality complete protein per each pound of bodyweight. Your daily food intake should be split into carbs, protein and fat - 40%, 40%, and 20%. If you prefer, you can take a protein powder and a multi-vitamin also.


CONCLUSION:

Yes that's it guys. By following my routines and being strict in nutrition, you can pack on huge mass for that tape-stretching giant cannons. Believe that it?s the triceps that gifts you the massive guns. So hit them hard and soon everyone's eyes will be on your giant cannons that tear your old shirt sleeves? If you have any more doubts, feel free to mail me.

Armed-Soldier
massive.sharon@rediffmail.com