MBD, if you do it right you lock your shoulders and elbows, just like with a real triceps extension.
The trick is in positioning your feet and hips so that it’s challenging, not too easy or too hard. Elevating the feet makes it unbearably hard, while bringing them closer to the point of leverage (elbows/forearms) makes it easier.
You can, of course “press” more than extend, but that’s kind of cheating. For people who appreciate full body tension though, it’s awesome! Your lats and abs will most definitely be sore. My abs always get more sore than my triceps. It’s like doing the plank.
Basically what I mean to say, though, is that your rotator cuff should be okay if it can handle isometric tension.
[quote]MBD wrote:
Conwict: Thibaudeau’s bodyweight tricep exercise looks interesting. I wonder if my rotator cuff could handle it. I’m gonna try it out. [/quote]
Those are brilliant - I used them everyday when I went on holiday once (no gym) and they actually gave me some serious growth, when all I was expecting was maintenance. My arms were already around 17" at the time, so that’s not too shabby for a bodyweight exercise.
Hagar, keep your body perpendicular to the ground, and your elbows tucked. Keep your scapulae tucked and low. Don’t let the shoulders roll forward at the bottom. Narrower is better. Opposite applies for a chest emphasis. Shoulders will be hit hard no matter what.
[quote]HotCarl28 wrote:
malonetd wrote:
I used to do a lot of heavy dips and liked them a lot, but didn’t see much carryover. I just got better at heavy dips. Of course, I was a lot weaker all around, so maybe that was part of it. Now, it has to have been close to two years since I dipped. Maybe I should get back into them.
What I do now is mostly pushdowns, close grip bench, and board presses.
dont see much carryover into what? bench?.. i have def seen good carryover into other triceps esercises
[/quote]
Yeah, I didn’t see much carryover into my presses. I honestly don’t remember what kind of carryover I got for other triceps movements. I don’t know, maybe I’ll try and start doing dips again.
I think the thing about dips is you just have to know when to add em and when to take them away. If you do a dip variation 1-2x a week in conjunction with other pressing movements to reach your goal…it works. Like any other exercise, you can stagnate with it too though.
For example, I’ve never noticed any “carryover” from bent-over rows, overhead presses, or push-ups…I still think they’re all fabulous though. Just use multiple assessment tools and you will see the results. Whether your squat, bench, and dead increase is not the most important measure for a well-rounded physique and body.
i am sooooooooo pumped, in random conversation with a guy i’d never met before in my neighborhood i found that he has some dip bars he’ll give to me for free. his RC is all screwed up, so he can’t do dips anymore. i’ve been debating whether to just spend the money, or stick with close grip bench press and skullcrushers for triceps, and now i don’t have to choose. that’s really the last piece of equipment i’ve been needing to make my little home gym complete. anyways, i figured this was relevant enough to go in the triceps thread…
Triceps are definitely the easiest muscle for me to grow, while biceps are some of the worst. I love decline BP, plate loaded dip machine, pushdowns, overhead pressing, you name it.
If my post doesn’t make sense I’m sorry, my Mountaineers just lost and it’s pretty hard to type while you are crying all over the keyboard.
With that warning, my absolute favorite triceps exercise is wide reverse grip press in the smith(hiss! boo! smith machine, yeah save it). For compound movements I say the best one is the exercise you can get the strongest on for medium reps. For me it’s that movement, others it might be close grips, dips, or any variation of those. Anyone who tries this out forget your ego and do it with a slow negative bringing the bar right about to the nipple line and press “towards the feet”. Obviously locked in the track of the smith you won’t be able to, but try none the less. Do them with your ass off the end of the bench and lock your shoulders onto it and you will be putting your triceps in the prime position to dominate this move. Do them like the third movement in this video…
and train to double/triple your weights over time and you’ll benefit greatly. I learned this exercise from Dante of DC fame.
As per more “isolation” movements, anything you can do to stretch the long head of the triceps without damaging the shoulders(or elbows) will be the best movement. Larry Scott has a FANTASTIC cable movement that puts you in the deepest stretch and allows you to destroy the arm without that tendon pain skull crushers can cause when you start getting up there in weight. He describes it(in nearly nauseating detail ha) here… http://www.larryscott.com/bio/newsletter/97summer_2.cfm
I pimp these two movements to everyone who asks, or even if they don’t haha, when it comes to triceps.
Close grip, dips, reverse grip bench, skull crushers, pushdowns, partial presses (overhead, bench, etc…), really any exercise that allows you to overload the triceps and make significant improvements as far as training weights is good.
Right now I’m really liking reverse grip bench (I do them on a Smith machine) as they really work the medial head of the triceps (the part right by the elbow) better than anything I’ve found to this point. And they allow for a much greater increase in weights than reverse grip pushdowns.
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
i am sooooooooo pumped, in random conversation with a guy i’d never met before in my neighborhood i found that he has some dip bars he’ll give to me for free. his RC is all screwed up, so he can’t do dips anymore. i’ve been debating whether to just spend the money, or stick with close grip bench press and skullcrushers for triceps, and now i don’t have to choose. that’s really the last piece of equipment i’ve been needing to make my little home gym complete. anyways, i figured this was relevant enough to go in the triceps thread…
can you guess what my favorite tri exercise is?[/quote]
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
i am sooooooooo pumped, in random conversation with a guy i’d never met before in my neighborhood i found that he has some dip bars he’ll give to me for free. his RC is all screwed up, so he can’t do dips anymore. i’ve been debating whether to just spend the money, or stick with close grip bench press and skullcrushers for triceps, and now i don’t have to choose. that’s really the last piece of equipment i’ve been needing to make my little home gym complete. anyways, i figured this was relevant enough to go in the triceps thread…
can you guess what my favorite tri exercise is?[/quote]
partial range of motion kickbacks with pink dumbbells
