10 exercises to strengthen your triceps

Muscle of the posterior part of the arm, the triceps, or brachial triceps, extends from the scapula (formerly scapula) to the ulna (elbow). It consists of three chiefs: the long chief, the medial chief, and the lateral chief. The entire triceps allows the extension of the elbow, unlike the biceps (antagonistic muscles) which allow the flexion of the elbow.

There are a multitude of movements to strengthen the arms,and more particularly the triceps. Whether you aim to gain muscle volume,or simply to tone the underside of your arms,it is above all essential to select exercises adapted to your level, and especially to vary your movements. Rather than only performing isolation exercises (work targeted at the triceps), integrate into your training sessions poly-articular exercises, which offer a more global muscle strengthening, while soliciting the triceps.

Here we present two types of poly-articular movements (dips and tight grip push-ups), followed by isolation exercises for the triceps. If you want to benefit from a personalized bodybuilding or muscle toning program, do not hesitate to call on a sports coach from where you live. 

Complete exercise to strengthen the upper body, dips mainly solicit the triceps, pectoral and anterior deltoid muscles (front of the shoulder), and secondarily the great dorsal, trapezius and abdominals.

Material: this exercise can be performed between two chairs or two trestles, on parallel bars, or on a dips device.

Instruction: the main thing is to have a hand gap slightly greater than the width of the shoulders. The exercise then consists of performing flexions-extensions of the elbows, lifting the whole body with the strength of the arms. During this movement, the bust is slightly oriented forward, and the rib cage "swollen".

A variant of traditional dips, there are exercises that are easier to perform, which can be performed using two chairs, two benches, or simply a single chair.

The dips between two benches (or two chairs) is a more difficult variant of the chair dips. Also interesting to muscle the triceps, this exercise consists of raising your legs.

Variant of the traditional pump movement, tight grip pumps promote the work of the triceps, but also the anterior bundles of the shoulders, pectorals and abdominals.

Instruction: from a hand gap slightly less than the width of the shoulders, body sheathed, do your push-ups by keeping the elbows tight along the body.

This exercise is an isolation movement that allows you to target the triceps muscle.

Triceps isolation exercise,vertical extension with dumbbell or neck extension is a movement that can be performed with one or two arms simultaneously. This exercise particularly solicits the long head of the triceps.

Instructions: sitting on a chair, back straight, dumbbell in one or both hands, arms bent behind the head, make an extension of the elbow(s) keeping the arms facing upwards.

This exercise is ideal for isolating the medial and lateral heads of the triceps. It requires the use of a high pulley machine.

Instructions: standing in front of the pulley, grasp the handles in pronation grip, then make an extension of the elbows while keeping the arms tightly packed along the body.

The "forehead bar" is a basic exercise to isolate the work of the triceps.

This movement is particularly suitable for women who want to tone their triceps. It is an isolation exercise that allows you to work one arm after another. It requires to have a fitness elastic.

Instructions: grab your elastic with both hands and place it behind your back. Perform an upward elbow extension while firmly holding the elastic with the other hand.

To progress faster and avoid making big mistakes, do not hesitate to contact a professional sports coach.