8 Best Tricep Exercises for Strength and Muscle Mass + Workout

Best Tricep Exercises for Strength – Introduction

What are the best tricep exercises for strength and size? 

Ask even a non-exerciser to identify a muscle, and they’ll probably point at the biceps.

As muscles go, the biceps are probably the most famous in the human body.

Even kids can throw up an arm and flex their biceps!

But, if you want bigger, more muscular arms, you can’t just focus on training your biceps; you must also work your triceps.

In fact, the triceps make up about 55% of your upper arm mass, while the biceps contribute only 30%.

The remaining size comes from smaller muscles, such as the anconeus and the brachialis, as well as the humerus or upper arm bone.

The triceps are also a critical muscle for function and performance.

The triceps extend your elbow AND your shoulder, so they play a role in pulling and pushing exercises and movements.

In addition, the triceps stabilize your shoulders during things like abs wheel rollouts, pullovers, and other overhead extension exercises.

Weak triceps can lead to shoulder instability and pain.

So, it’s time to stop neglecting your triceps and show them the care and attention they deserve!

This article reveals the best exercises for the triceps and provides you with two triceps-building workouts to develop strength and size in this crucial muscle.

Triceps Heads 101 

The triceps (full name – triceps brachii) have three origins and one insertion point.

As such, the triceps have three distinct parts, called heads.

The three triceps heads are:

• The long head of the triceps
• The medial head
• The lateral head

All three triceps heads work together and cannot be isolated from one another.

However, it IS possible to emphasize each one by altering the position of your upper arm relative to your torso.

Most lifters don’t need to take a head-by-head approach to triceps training, as their triceps are generally underdeveloped anyway, and general workouts are all that’s needed.

But, if you feel you would benefit from targeting one particular part of your triceps more than the others, you’ll need to know which arm position emphasizes each head.

So, to put more tension on the long head, you should do triceps exercises with your arms raised overhead.

To work the medial head of the triceps more, you should focus on exercises where your arms are perpendicular (extended at a right angle) to your body.

To target the lateral head, you should do exercises with your arms down by your sides.

However, remember that regardless of your arms’ position, all three heads of the triceps are working.

So, if you don’t feel the need to emphasize particular parts of the triceps, just do whatever triceps exercise you enjoy the most.

The 8 Best Triceps Exercises for Strength & Mass

Choosing the best exercises for particular muscle groups is not usually easy.

That’s because all exercises work to some degree, and “the best” is often based on subjective opinion.

However, with the triceps, science may actually have the answer!

The American Council on Exercise performed an electromyography (EMG) study to measure the electrical activity of the triceps muscle group during numerous strength training exercises to determine which one produced the most muscle fiber recruitment.

Their results may finally reveal which exercises are best for building bigger, stronger triceps.

So, in reverse order, the best triceps exercises (according to science) are:

#8. Close-grip bench press

There is a reason that powerlifters do close-grip bench presses to improve their regular bench press performance – they are GREAT for building big and strong triceps.

However, don’t use a super-narrow 80s-style bodybuilding grip.

Instead, place your hands about 8 to 12 inches apart.

This narrow-ish grip is easier on your wrists, elbows, and shoulders while still emphasizing your triceps.

How to do it:

1. Set up for the traditional bench press with your hands approximately shoulder-width apart.
2. Unrack the barbell and lower it down to your chest.
3. Keep your elbows tucked and near to your sides.
4. Pause a few seconds if you want to.
5. Push the bar back up and repeat.

Close-grip bench presses

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#7. Lying triceps extensions, AKA skull crushers 

You can do lying triceps extensions with a barbell, dumbbells, or EZ bar and make it a little more taxing for your triceps by working on a slightly declined bench.

However, this exercise is called skull crushers because a failed rep could result in a bang on your head!

So, doing this exercise with a spotter or using a set of dumbbells if you are training alone is the best practice.

How to do it:

1. Lie on your back on the floor or on an exercise weight bench.
2. Hold a pair of dumbbells or an Olympic bar over your chest, with your hands roughly shoulder-width.
3. While holding your upper arms vertically, flex your elbows and lower the weight(s) to your forehead.
4. Extend your arms and repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
5. Be cautious when doing this exercise, and do NOT train to failure.
6. They are named skull crushers for a good reason!

Skull crushers with an EZ Curl Bar

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#6. Triceps pushdowns (bar handle) 

Triceps cable machine pushdowns are a popular exercise.

Because you do them using a machine with a selectorized weight stack, they’re perfect for muscle-building drop sets.

Keep your upper arms tucked in close to your sides and use a full range of motion, moving from full elbow flexion to complete elbow extension, to get the most from this exercise.

Forget the whole “don’t bend your elbows past a 90-degree angle gym myth – half reps equals half results!

Super productive Arm Workout Curls/Tricep pushdowns cable machine/rope handles

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#5. Triceps pushdowns (rope handle) 

Using a rope handle allows you to extend your arms outward and increase triceps muscle activation, albeit only slightly.

The range of motion is also slightly larger compared to using a bar.

However, these benefits may be somewhat offset by the fact that you won’t be able to use as much weight.

Regardless, you can use a rope handle to add some variety to your triceps workout, which may help stop your progress from stalling.

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#4. Overhead triceps extensions, AKA French press 

This is a challenging exercise that demands good shoulder mobility and triceps flexibility.

But, if you can do it, the overhead triceps extension or French press is an excellent move for packing on triceps mass.

You can do this exercise with a single dumbbell, barbell, EZ curl bar, or low cable machine.

Do it seated to avoid arching your lower back and to lower your risk of lumbar spine injury.

Overhead triceps extensions

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#3. Parallel bar dips 

Dips are to your upper body strength and conditioning, what squats are to your legs.

They work your chest, shoulders, upper back, and triceps and are ideal for building functional muscle size and strength.

You can do dips with just your body weight or load them by using a weighted dipping belt or weighted vest.

Regardless, to emphasize your tricep muscles rather than your chest, you should try and keep your torso upright and your hips somewhat below your shoulders.

Leaning forward and pushing your hips to the rear puts more stress on your pecs.

How to do it:

1. Grab a set of parallel bars or handles on a Power Tower with your palms facing inward.
2. Support your weight and keep your arms straight.
3. Keep your legs straight or bend them and cross your feet.
4. Lower yourself until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor.
5. Drive yourself back up and repeat.
6. That’s one rep!

Dips for chest and triceps form differences

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#2. Tricep kickbacks 

You don’t need a lot of weight to get a good triceps workout with kickbacks.

That’s because you must engage your triceps to hold your arm up against gravity while simultaneously extending your elbow.

This creates an intense triceps contraction whether you use dumbbells or a low cable machine.

On the downside, you won’t be able to use a lot of weight for this exercise, so while it’s good for building muscle and endurance, it’s not such a useful strength exercise.

Triceps kickbacks

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#1. Triangle push-ups, AKA diamond push-ups 

Good news for home trainers and calisthenics fans; according to ACE, the triangle or diamond push-up is THE most effective exercise for tricep strength and mass around.

With triangle push-ups, you place your hands together, so your thumbs and first fingers form a triangle shape on the floor.

This makes them the bodyweight equivalent of close-grip bench presses.

Training at home is no excuse for having weak, small triceps!

How to do it:

1. Place your hands on the ground in the shape of a diamond, so your thumbs and first fingers touch each other.
2. Get into a push-up position.
3. Engage your core.
4. Bend your arms, lower your body, and touch your chest to the back of your hands.
5. Drive yourself back up and repeat.

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Best Tricep Workouts 

Here are TWO triceps workouts for strength and muscle mass.

Each one has a low rep, high tension strength builder, a moderate weight/medium rep hypertrophy exercise, and a low weight, high rep finisher to ensure all types of muscle fibers are fully exhausted.

Each workout routine also involves the three different arm positions required to target each triceps head.

In short, these workouts should provide a high degree of all-around triceps development.

Do each one once per week, several days apart, to allow time for rest and recovery.

You can do them at the end of your regular workout, preferably after training your upper body pressing muscles, e.g., at the end of your chest workout and then after your shoulder workout.

That way, you won’t need to warm up very much before each one.

Workout one

Workout two

Best Triceps Exercises for Strength and Muscle Mass – Wrapping Up 

You need to train your tricep muscles if you want to bench press or overhead press more weight.

Bigger, stronger triceps can also help you get more from push-ups and even pull-ups; they’re a vital muscle group.

That said, for some exercisers, compound pressing exercises are enough to build decent triceps.

In the same way, compound pulling movements, like rows and chin-ups, are more than enough to build respectable biceps.

So, don’t feel that you have to think about your muscles as a series of links in a chain, each one needing to be trained individually.

In most cases, you can train the entire chain with just a few well-chosen movements.

Work hard on your upper body strength with pushing and pulling exercises, balanced with some squats and deadlifts, and you can develop your entire body (including your triceps!) with just three compound exercises.

Then, if you notice any lagging body parts to accomplish your body transformation and fitness goals, you can fix them with a couple of well-chosen isolation exercises, like the triceps builders in this article.

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