[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
Every exercise in my routine has a specific purpose… Of course if I just want to pump my tris up at the end of a session, pushdowns work perfectly well… But for heavier/progression work, I just have better options…
Same story as standing military press. Too many superior options in every aspect which matters for what I’m trying to accomplish.
[/quote]
Right. Really isolated exercises can work great as finishers, if you have some specific part of a muscle that you just can’t seem to hit with more “compound” movements, or to be used to “pre exhaust” a muscle that you simply can’t seem to stimulate with compound movements (some people swear by this, others don’t like it, do what works for you).
Personally I don’t do “finisher” pump style movements anymore (used to and they definitely do give you a good pump), so more isolated movements just don’t serve my purposes as well as more compound ones. But that’s just a personal preference. Not trying to tell anyone else not to do them or that they don’t give some people results.
While posting the above video, I saw this in the related videos. Comments on this variation? Would I be hitting the triceps differently (for what benefit?) or is this more to train obliques at the same time (which would not be desirable to me)?
this was from tonight… i’m really liking the reverse grip bench with my own little twist. i take a wide grip and actually turn my hands out so they are facing the plates. i place the bar right in the middle of my palm. my index fingers are inline with the bar, thumb bracing the bar and other fingers curled. i think a lot of people find this movement uncomfortable becuase they take too narrow a grip and take reverse grip literally. the grip is more in between a normal and a reverse grip. anyway, for those interested, give it a go.
I’ve had a problem finding a good heavy triceps movement because I have a pec injury that prevents me from going heavy on most bench variations. On triceps extensions I can go heavy for a while but in the long run my elbows don’t like it, so that’s not a good option. I’ve been doing partial OH press or so called “helmet press” lately and while that has been working ok I haven’t been completely satisfied with it. Got triceps on thursday and I think I will try JM press on HS incline press, that looks promising. I’ll also try reverse grip bench in smith, if I push towards the feet like you guys mentioned it might work out (maybe use a band for this?).
[quote]maraudermeat wrote:
this was from tonight… i’m really liking the reverse grip bench with my own little twist. i take a wide grip and actually turn my hands out so they are facing the plates. i place the bar right in the middle of my palm. my index fingers are inline with the bar, thumb bracing the bar and other fingers curled. i think a lot of people find this movement uncomfortable becuase they take too narrow a grip and take reverse grip literally. the grip is more in between a normal and a reverse grip. anyway, for those interested, give it a go.
I like the way Bob Cicherillo does his dumbbell kick backs. I couldn’t find a video of it, but he does them in a way that seems to isolate the tricep and limits the momentum you get from swinging the dumbbell forward and then back. Basically, he has his opposite arm on the bench, slightly bent at the knees, and the arm he’s working straight down about to his knees. He lifts the weight straight back, then back down to the knees.
[quote]Matsa wrote:
Great thread! Got some good ideas reading it…
I’ve had a problem finding a good heavy triceps movement because I have a pec injury that prevents me from going heavy on most bench variations. On triceps extensions I can go heavy for a while but in the long run my elbows don’t like it, so that’s not a good option. I’ve been doing partial OH press or so called “helmet press” lately and while that has been working ok I haven’t been completely satisfied with it. Got triceps on thursday and I think I will try JM press on HS incline press, that looks promising. I’ll also try reverse grip bench in smith, if I push towards the feet like you guys mentioned it might work out (maybe use a band for this?).
Once again, great thread![/quote]
I’ve trained triceps twice since this post and I’ve tried a few of these exercises. Here’s the verdict.
JM machine press: I liked this a lot, I could go quite heavy without my pec giving me issues. Feels pretty good in the triceps too.
JM press in smith: This one was also damn nice. I think I like this better than the machine version because you can add bands.
Reverse grip BP in smith: Holy crap this is the bestest thing ever! Very little discomfort in the pec even on heavy triples and the contact in triceps was amazing. This is probably going to be my main triceps movement for a good while even though I’m probably throwing some JM presses in there once i a while too.
Now that I’m armed (pun intended) with these exercises I’m confident that I will have triceps like Levrone by 2011! Well, maybe not… but at least arm training haven’t been this good in a long time.
Speaking of triceps, what ever happened to pro bodybuilder Ernie Taylor? He had some pretty freaky triceps, although somewhat questionable depending who you asked. (synthol?)
Which exercises do you guys think would fit together best without being redundant for someone who’s unable to do presses (or really just anything that would aggravate the shoulder)?
Then appologies on me!
