I recently saw a thread concerning tricep pulldowns, and it someone mentioned symmetry and different tricep exercises hitting different heads of the muscle. Now I’m curious as to what exercises hit what heads of the tricep.
If anyone could list any tricep exercises where he or she knows what head(s) they hit and how well, that would be great.
Search for some Poliquin stuff. he mentions that.
I think the long head of the tricep is hit by heavier loads, so the Close Grip Bench Press (with elbows out) is what Poliquin suggests.
Close-grip and regular bench presses will hit all three.
Don’t forget to do kickbacks, and make sure you feel the burn! They will make you swole.
[quote]Der Candy wrote:
Don’t forget to do kickbacks, and make sure you feel the burn! They will make you swole.[/quote]
lmaoooo
[quote]Der Candy wrote:
Don’t forget to do kickbacks, and make sure you feel the burn! They will make you swole.[/quote]
Great, someone else to hate on kickbacks. Seriously, do you think a guy with 13" will do 80lb kickbacks?
As for the OP, pressdowns and kickback movements favor the medial and lateral heads of the triceps, whereas overhead movements favor the long head of the triceps.
I believe that Dips also hit all three heads (not gironda style v-bar - the parallel bar)
I believe that doing a variety of tricep exercises will hit all 3 heads.
Just do presses (Bench, Overhead, ect.) and dips. A muscle either flexes or it doesn’t. You don’t isolate a certain part of a muscle. Lift heavier and heavier weights.
[quote]CFH0319 wrote:
Just do presses (Bench, Overhead, ect.) and dips. A muscle either flexes or it doesn’t. You don’t isolate a certain part of a muscle. Lift heavier and heavier weights.[/quote]
On the contrary. If you study anatomy, you’ll notice that the tricep heads operate differently depending on their position with respect to their origin. I forgot which head is which, but at a certain shoulder angle, one of the heads would still be “short” even if the elbow is fully flexed. That head won’t be able to contract and the other heads have to take over. It’s similar to the gastroc not being able to contract while the knee is flexed.
OP, here’s a pre-post exhaust superset I do once in a while. I sometimes use it to break a bench platteau. They hit my triceps from different angles. Try it and you can feel it.
A1. California press, 8 reps (static origin, elbows near torso)
A2. Dips, BW to failure (dynamic movement of origin)
A3. Standing tricep extensions, 8 reps (static origin, elbows near head)