Training every single muscle in your body is important to improve your strength and increase your size but the triceps are often overlooked when it comes to your arms. Many people look at the biceps as the primary muscle they need to work out and they put so much pressure and effort into training that they completely forget about the triceps. However, the triceps are actually very important and they contribute quite significantly to the size and strength of your arms. They also give you more pushing power so you can increase your bench press weight.
Here are the best triceps exercises that you can do to quickly increase your strength.
Parallel Bar Dip
Doing dips on the parallel bar will engage your triceps and help you increase your power on the bench press. The parallel bar dip is easy to do but it requires some level of fitness before you can do many repetitions. It’s a bodyweight exercise that you can do in the gym or at home if you put two high chairs together. If you are a beginner and you are having trouble doing this exercise fully suspended you can use elastic bands to support your feet which will help you build up strength till you can do it without any help at all. The main benefit of this exercise is that you don’t need any special equipment to do it and your triceps will be fully activated because your arms are closer together.
Skull Crusher
This is another classic exercise that you can do using a barbell or dumbbell. Some people like to do it with a kettlebell as well but barbells and dumbbells work better. You also need a bench to lie down on. This exercise is one of the best triceps exercises because it can isolate the triceps area completely. The skull crusher is simple to execute. You just need to lie down on a bench with your back flat to the bench, grab a barbell and hold it over your head with both of your hands. Start slowly bending your elbows toward your forehead and stop before you touch your head. Raise the barbell to the starting position and you’ve done 1 rep of skull crusher.
Close-Grip Barbell Bench Press
The most basic exercise you can do in the gym to get the best triceps possible is the close-grip barbell bench press. It’s an exercise that everyone recommends for building triceps strength and growing your muscles. All you need for this exercise is a barbell with weight and a bench. To execute the exercise you need to place your hands closer together on the barbell and position it over your chest. From there you need to push directly upwards to do 1 repetition. This exercise is one of the best triceps exercises because the position which you are in is comfortable for the shoulders and the exercise has a direct impact on developing your triceps muscles.
Triceps Pushdown
Another common exercise you can do in a gym that develops the best triceps power. It isolates your triceps when you do the exercise to the point where you can feel the muscles contracting and getting stronger. It can be done with an elastic band or a cable pulley in the gym. The exercise is very easy to do as it is one of the most basic ones for triceps. Just walk up to the cable pulley in the gym, set the weight you want to work with, and grab the bar connected to the cable. Once you have the bar in your hands, step back a bit and bend your elbows fixing your arms next to your body. By pulling down on the cable you activate your triceps significantly and improve the strength.
Decline Bench Cable Extension
This exercise is a combination of the skull crusher and the triceps pushdown exercise. To do this exercise you will need a bench positioned next to the cable pulley. Decline the bench and lie facing upwards, then take the bar attached to the cable pulley in your hands and work with your elbows to activate your triceps. This exercise is excellent for your triceps because it stretches the muscles more than the rest of them and the angle creates extra tension in the muscles.
