By now, we all know that if you want big arms, you have to train your triceps. As the name indicates, the triceps consist of 3 parts while the biceps consist of only 2. Simply based on that fact, it’s foolish to neglect doing your tricep exercises as they make up the majority of your upper arm.
The 3 parts of the triceps are the medial head, lateral head and the long head. You can specifically target certain parts of the triceps through your exercise selection. However, the best tricep exercises for mass are ones that recruit all 3 heads. All 3 heads of the triceps are recruited when you’re using a heavy load.
The best tricep exercises to add mass are the ones that allow you to utilize a lot of weight. Based on that, you’d want to replace the tricep kickback exercise with skull crushers or close grip presses. Below is a listing of 3 best tricep exercises for adding size to your arms.
Best Tricep Exercises #1: Decline Skull Crushers
I had been doing skull crushers for years using a flat bench before I saw the decline version in one of Tudor Bompa’s conditioning manuals. In the book (serious strength training), Bompa and his colleagues did an study to determine the most effective exercises for each body-part. They determined the effectiveness of the exercises based on the recruitment of motor units. Without getting too detailed, an increased recruitment of motor units equates to an increased recruitment of muscle fibers. The decline skull crusher exercise triggered the greatest training response and therefore, it tops the list of the best tricep exercises.
Best Tricep Exercises #2: Weighted Dips
Your triceps are at their strongest when your elbow is positioned below your shoulder. What makes dips one of the best tricep exercises is that the favourable alignment of the arm enables you to lift a lot of weight. When performing dips on the parallel bars, keep the torso upright to optimally target the triceps as the more you lean forward, the more the chest will be involved in the movement.
Best Tricep Exercises #3: Close Grip Underhand Bench Press
This is also one of the best tricep exercises. You’ll most likely need a spotter to help you get the barbell off the rack. It may feel awkward at first but after a couple sets, you’ll get used to it and it’ll feel natural. Keep in mind that for this version, you should bring the barbell down towards your sternum rather then the middle to upper portion of your chest as you would with the regular bench press exercise.
So there you have it. 3 of the best tricep exercises for you to implement into your workout routines.