Building a pair of guns that look as impressive in your winter sweater as they do in a tank top means paying as much (if not more) attention to the backs of your arms as the oft-hailed biceps muscle. Your triceps is a three-headed muscle complex that’s responsible for about two-thirds of the upper-arm mass. So in order to be in constant “gun show” mode, even when relaxed, you must make sure the tri’s are maximally developed.
With that in mind, keep these triceps tweaks up your sleeves (and expect them to get a little bit tighter).
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Edgar Artiga
Triceps Extension
THE TWEAK:
Extend shoulder-height cable sideways.
THE EXECUTION:
Standing with your back facing a cable pulley set at shoulder height, grab the bottom of the cable, grasping the rubber stopper near the end. If starting with your right arm, at the beginning of the movement your right hand should be directly in front of your left shoulder (palm facing the floor). Without moving your elbow or shoulder out of position, slowly extend the arm until you reach the fully locked-out position. Flex the triceps for 1 to 2 seconds before beginning a controlled eccentric contraction.
THE RESULT:
The unique angle helps recruit different sets of muscle fibers, allowing you to break through plateaus and realize the full genetic potential of the triceps.
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Edgar Artiga
Cable Push-out
THE TWEAK:
Performing pushdowns on an incline bench.
THE EXECUTION:
Set an incline bench to approximately 45 degrees a few feet in front of a cable pulley, set high. Attach your bar or rope of choice to the cable and lie back on the bench. Tuck your elbows into your sides and make sure they remain there throughout the set. Rather than pushing the bar straight downward, you will instead push in a way that mimics both an extension and pushdown, hence the name of the movement—push-out. Squeeze to full lockout and hold this position for 1 second.
THE RESULT:
The unique method of pressing will allow you to load more weight for a greater stimulus to your triceps.
3 of 5
Edgar Artiga
Triceps Pushdown
THE TWEAK:
Perform it with one arm, hammer-grip style.
THE EXECUTION:
Grab the rubber stopper at the end of a cable pulley with a neutral grip. Bend over at a 90-degree angle to the floor, with legs slightly bent and the nonworking hand resting on your hip. Starting with the triceps at full stretch, slowly extend the elbow until the arm is straight and the triceps is fully con- tracted. Hold this position for 1 to 2 seconds, squeezing forcefully.
THE RESULT:
It’s like a concentration hammer curl for the biceps, allowing for a strict movement and a stronger contraction.
4 of 5
Edgar Artiga
Smith Machine Close-grip Bench Press
THE TWEAK:
Rotate your hands inward to force your elbows to turn outward.
THE EXECUTION:
Place a flat bench under a Smith machine, as if you were going to perform a bench press. Grasp the bar with a close grip, letting the bar rest in your palms. Lower the bar in line with your upper pecs until your forearms contact the biceps. Then push with your triceps to complete the lockout.
THE RESULT:
By rotating the hands and forcing the elbows outward, you will remove some recruitment of the pecs and anterior deltoids, focusing purely on triceps. Additionally, this exercise works the hard-to-hit long head, which is the largest portion of the triceps.
5 of 5
Edgar Artiga
Single-arm Triceps Extension
THE TWEAK:
Perform a triceps extension on an incline bench.
THE EXECUTION:
Place an incline bench set to approximately 45 degrees a few feet in front of an upper-cable pulley. Grasp the end of the pulley and lie back on the incline bench. Tuck the elbow of the working arm tightly into your side and make sure it remains there throughout the set. With the hand held in a semipronated position (hammer grip), extend at the elbow until the arm is completely straight. Take advantage of the constant tension that a cable provides by squeezing the triceps hard before a controlled return to the starting position.
THE RESULT:
Similar to the triceps push-out, this exercise feels like a combination of a pushdown, extension, and kickback, all in one move.
