Strengthening The Triceps: Effective Exercises

Would you like to have stronger triceps so that you can lift heavier weights or do more push-ups? Then we have exactly the right exercises for you! They help you to define your upper arms and at the same time prevent injuries.

Would you like to have stronger triceps so you can lift heavier weights or do more push-ups? Then we have exactly the right exercises for you! They help you to define your upper arms and at the same time prevent injuries.

The triceps are not only necessary for more power during sport, but are also used whenever you, for example, push open a door or push a shopping cart. It works with the biceps and other arm muscles to stabilize your shoulder during certain movements.

Therefore, promoting the triceps goes beyond looking strong and self-esteem: it can also prevent injuries. So if you want to strengthen your triceps too, the following exercises are perfect for you!

How are the triceps strengthened?

The triceps is a muscle that, as its name suggests, has three heads: the medial, the lateral and the long. Together they allow the elbow to be stretched. The long head also helps stabilize the shoulder.

Therefore, exercises that allow the elbow to extend and the shoulder to be kept stable are required to strengthen the muscles of the upper arm. Those that use all three muscle areas are best suited for this. We introduce them to you below.

Exercises to strengthen the triceps

Before you start right away, you should consider the following recommendations:

• First, warm up sufficiently.
• Pull your shoulders back throughout the movement. This prevents shoulder injuries and increases the efficiency of the exercise.
• If you are new to these exercises, you should 10 – Do 20 reps without weight so your body can get used to them. This is another way of avoiding possible injuries.

• Visualize the movement as you perform. This way you can create a connection between your mind and body.
• Stop the exercise if it causes pain and it doesn’t go away during the repetitions.

Strengthen your triceps with a pulley

This exercise is fairly simple and suitable for people of different levels of training: from beginner to advanced. It has many variations that you can try at will to raise the level. Here’s an example:

• Change the position of the pulley (high or low) to work the muscle at different angles.

• Vary your own position by standing in front of the pulley or with your back to it.

Regardless of what you choose, it is important that the shoulder blades remain retracted and that you concentrate the movement on the elbows.

Triceps extension

You can preferably do this exercise with dumbbells. You proceed as follows:

• Hold the barbell with one hand.
• Support your knee and arm on the side of the bench that you are not lifting the barbell on.
• Pull your shoulder blades back.
• Extend your elbow so that it is level with your shoulder. You should keep this alignment throughout the exercise.
• Straighten your elbow.

A common mistake with this is often that the alignment between the elbow and shoulder is lost. Above all, however, it is important to prevent injuries. Therefore, you should do the exercise in front of a mirror to make sure you are doing it correctly.

Skull-Crusher or French Press

You will need a barbell for this exercise. It is best to use a barbell so that you can position your wrist in a neutral position.

Typical mistakes with the skull crusher or the French press are:

• The weight is shifted to the forehead. Slowly lower the weight over your head to get the exercise done properly.
• The shoulder is moved too much. Remember, the triceps are used to straighten the elbow and stabilize the shoulder. Focus on moving your elbow while keeping your shoulder perpendicular to the ceiling.

Strengthen your triceps with push-ups

Push-ups not only serve the core, but also strengthen the shoulders and arms at the same time. Before you do the variant for strengthening the triceps, it is important that you have mastered the classic push-up first.

In the triceps variant, the support is changed by the hands. Instead of these being positioned perpendicular to your shoulders, they will remain perpendicular to your chest.

Final recommendations

• If you are not 4 – If you can easily do 5 repetitions with your chosen weight, you should reduce it.
• If you are unable to do repetitions with weight, you can simply do them without or change your posture. For example, push-ups are easier to do if you do them on the wall instead of the floor.

Remember that the goal should be to strengthen your body and prevent injury. Gaining weight doesn’t make sense if you’re not doing the exercises correctly. Internalize them first before increasing the resistance.