Training the Triceps

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I can not seem to establish the necessary mindmuscleconnection while working the triceps. In most instances i train them to failure with three sets after i destroy my chest.

should i devote an entire day to working arms? should i increase reps or weight? i feel like i could train them every time i go to the gym and nothing would ever happen. i’ve gained quite a bit of mass while squatting, deadlifting, and eating right, but my left arm still looks weak, mainly in the triceps area. i need help because what i have been doing is not working.

please and thank you

2

You dont need an Arm day, though i would recommend one. Establish some mind muscle connection on any tricep exercises of your choosing. A tricep pushdown, tricep extension, or a skullcrusher are my favorites for a good stretch and contraction. I would lower the weight and just focus on feeling the tricep working. Focus more on the stretch portion of the movement, or the negative part and you should feel a good contraction as well. Once you feel the muscle working properly you should then increase the weight and or reps to progress in whatever exercise your doing.

3

I would also not worry about your left arm and just worry about getting big all over. Your left tricep will get bigger in time with movements like presses, dips, and isolations.

4

What exercises do you choose? I would not up the weight if you can’t feel the target muscle working.

In fact I’d recommend some very light warm up sets to actually feel and fully isolate the tricep so you know what to look for in your working sets.

5

[quote]austin_bicep wrote:
What exercises do you choose? I would not up the weight if you can’t feel the target muscle working.

In fact I’d recommend some very light warm up sets to actually feel and fully isolate the tricep so you know what to look for in your working sets.[/quote]

Seconding this.

If your triceps are lagging, why would you FINISH your chest/tri workout with triceps? That’s stupid; start with triceps, with something light like cable pushdowns, pullovers, PJR pullovers, something you feel almost entirely in triceps and nothing else. Do multiple warmup sets on that exercise until you can feel just your triceps working well, don’t be afraid to fatigue them a little. THEN move on to something like close grip bench, and feeling your tri’s doing the work shouldn’t be an issue.

6

You want above average arms, devote a whole day to them. They are like any other muscle and should be trained independently, the accessory work they get in compound movements is just a bonus.

7

^ What hungry4more said. Doing very light sets on muscles that you have a hard time developing a mmc with will strengthen that connection pretty quickly and you will be able to utilize the full contraction.

8

[quote]bnkNando wrote:
I would also not worry about your left arm and just worry about getting big all over. Your left tricep will get bigger in time with movements like presses, dips, and isolations.[/quote]

OP, I think if your left arm is obviously smaller you should do an extra set of excersizes for that arm every workout until it catches up. It’s not good to have muscle imbalances. I was the same way when I first started but my left arm eventually caught up to my right by doing that.

9

I was mostly anti-machines until lately, I get my best MMC with the dip machine.

10

What are you doing for triceps, currently?

11

[quote]Cron391 wrote:
You want above average arms, devote a whole day to them. They are like any other muscle and should be trained independently, the accessory work they get in compound movements is just a bonus.[/quote]

Seriously… why would someone want to improve a muscle with only three direct sets per week? Dedicate an entire day to arms. Start with triceps. Get all sorts of crazy blood into the muscle, and find out what exercises do that best. I just don’t think it’s all that complicated.

12

I give my tris their own day. You need to really focus on contracting the muscle and holding it for a second on each rep. Your arms will be super pumped with blood at the end of your workout if you do that. Also, if you are getting 10-12 reps in your third set of an exercise then you arent pusing enough weight. Challenge yourself!

13

[quote]Cron391 wrote:
You want above average arms, devote a whole day to them. They are like any other muscle and should be trained independently, the accessory work they get in compound movements is just a bonus.[/quote]

Eh, I go a different way with this. Biceps, yeah I think if you want above average biceps you work them on their own. Triceps though…it depends on a couple things. First it depends on how developed you are in the first place–frankly I don’t think there’s ANY fucking need for a beginner to have a “triceps” day (or arm day in my personal experience, but I am aware I am treading on hallowed ground here…and in any case I just got finished saying you need serious amount of direcr bicep work to get them above average).

Any amount of “long head of the triceps” isolation focus is absolute bullshit because there is no amount of fucking kickbacks thst will give you the stimulation close grip bench or close grip overhead pressing will…ESPECIALLY for a beginner with no muscle in the first place. A tricep only day spent on isolation is completely wasteful for a beginner.

Note i’m talking about the majority of people with posts like the OP’s, not guys like Stu, zraw, X, or other intermediate people. I do think arm dsys serve a purpose, but for a guy who hasn’t even touched his real recovery threshold or potential for moving weights, or for that matter havong,any idea what real effort in the gym means…well he could spend that day of “arms” doing bench and back, or overhead pressing, or something bigger and more useful.

In the OP’s case I completely agree with Hungry4more. A lack of mind muscle connection is a big problem, and I am not against cirect arm work, if that wasn’t clear…i just feel like the amount of people worrying about their “medial head of the triceps isolation” oughta worry more about,their lack of any fucking triceps at all, ya dig? That’s where the compound movements come in, and are the very primary source. You have to have something to sculpt before you can spend time with the fine tuned chisel you know?

Personally for me I do so mucj pressing work that I just don’t much in the say of tricep isolation. At one ppint I was doing something on the order of 50-60 pressing sets a week. As recently as a month ago I was doing something close to that (probly in around 40 ish sets). Of course if you do less pressing you’ll need more arm isolation work, but my point was a general one there, to say that is IS possible to get all the tricep work you need from compound pressing for many many people not lacking a mind/muscle connection.

14

Sorry dor typos, thats my phone

15

[quote]Aragorn wrote:

[quote]Cron391 wrote:
You want above average arms, devote a whole day to them. They are like any other muscle and should be trained independently, the accessory work they get in compound movements is just a bonus.[/quote]

Eh, I go a different way with this. Biceps, yeah I think if you want above average biceps you work them on their own. Triceps though…it depends on a couple things. First it depends on how developed you are in the first place–frankly I don’t think there’s ANY fucking need for a beginner to have a “triceps” day (or arm day in my personal experience, but I am aware I am treading on hallowed ground here…and in any case I just got finished saying you need serious amount of direcr bicep work to get them above average). Any amount of “long head of the triceps” isolation focus is absolute bullshit because there is no amount of fucking kickbacks thst will give you the stimulation close grip bench or close grip overhead pressing will…ESPECIALLY for a beginner with no muscle in the first place. A tricep only day spent on isolation is completely wasteful for a beginner.

Note i’m talking about the majority of people with posts like the OP’s, not guys like Stu, zraw, X, or other intermediate people. I do think arm dsys serve a purpose, but for a guy who hasn’t even touched his real recovery threshold or potential for moving weights, or for that matter havong,any idea what real effort in the gym means…well he could spend that day of “arms” doing bench and back, or overhead pressing, or something bigger and more useful.

In the OP’s case I completely agree with Hungry4more. A lack of mind muscle connection is a big problem, and I am not against cirect arm work, if that wasn’t clear…i just feel like the amount of people worrying about their “medial head of the triceps isolation” oughta worry more about,their lack of any fucking triceps at all, ya dig? That’s where the compound movements come in, and are the very primary source. You have to have something to sculpt before you can spend time with the fine tuned chisel you know?

Personally for me I do so mucj pressing work that I just don’t much in the say of tricep isolation. At one ppint I was doing something on the order of 50-60 pressing sets a week. As recently as a month ago I was doing something close to that (probly in around 40 ish sets). Of course if you do less pressing you’ll need more arm isolation work, but my point was a general one there, to say that is IS possible to get all the tricep work you need from compound pressing for many many people not lacking a mind/muscle connection.[/quote]

This was a great post, I am surprised lately how much Close Grip Benching has been downed lately. I have found it to be great pushing movement for tris, especially from the floor or with a shorter ROM. Its also remarkable how my tris get fried from OH Pressing.

I will add possibly adding 100-150 total reps of band push downs at the end of a pressing day is a great finisher

16

It would help alot if you actually showed your working routine so we can see why your arms are lagging.

if you squat day1, deadlift day3, chest day 5 with armisolation after. Im not surprised at all.

17

I definitely agree with needing to feel a muscle working, especially if it’s not progressing on its own simply from a solid foundation in compound movements. What I’d like to add, is the fact that some people just don’t respond to certain exercises. I don’t know if this was addressed (skimmed really quickly, sorry), but in my own experience, I never felt anything from CGBPs, or traditional Skull Crushers or many of the exercises most people would migrate to. I had to experiment a bit with handles, angles, etc, all the while really focusing on ensuring that I felt the stress where I wanted it to be.

Also, 3 sets after a chest workout? Really? What exercise do you use that you feel that you’re completely addressing your triceps with just 3 sets (even after a chest workout)? If I had to hit my tris after chest, I’d seriously consider how tris get worked with the chest exercises, and then hit them in a different manner afterward.

S

18

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I definitely agree with needing to feel a muscle working, especially if it’s not progressing on its own simply from a solid foundation in compound movements. What I’d like to add, is the fact that some people just don’t respond to certain exercises. I don’t know if this was addressed (skimmed really quickly, sorry), but in my own experience, I never felt anything from CGBPs, or traditional Skull Crushers or many of the exercises most people would migrate to. I had to experiment a bit with handles, angles, etc, all the while really focusing on ensuring that I felt the stress where I wanted it to be.

Also, 3 sets after a chest workout? Really? What exercise do you use that you feel that you’re completely addressing your triceps with just 3 sets (even after a chest workout)? If I had to hit my tris after chest, I’d seriously consider how tris get worked with the chest exercises, and then hit them in a different manner afterward.

S[/quote]

Sorry if this has been answered somewhere else Stu, but do you have a separate arm day or train tris and bis with other muscle groups?

19

Angles are key for me, but everyone is different.

20

first of all, thank you for all of your responses, i have read them and will incorporate the ideas that i like. sorry that i was not here to provide you all more information more quickly, i have been busy as of late.

i have a fluid routine. i don’t like to live my life according to that which is bound or fixed, so naturally my training fluctuates from week to week.

i start the week doing mostly rowing movements for my back. after this workout i train my biceps to failure, which i can feel, and perform with great confidence and mental power.

on the following day, i will go in and do chest and triceps. currently, my triceps routine consists of skullcrushers on a decline bench, narrow grip bench press, and some form of a pull down. when i use light weight on the skullcrushers i feel as if i could do them for days and days. i.e. i feel nothing when i go heavy i feel as if my shoulders and pecs do too much work. i’m using a contorted bar, with a very narrow grip while performing the SC’ers. i stay away from dips because it tends to aggravate my shoulder. FWIW i’m still recovering from tendinosis.

i might take a day off here

then it’s time for my favorite kind of training day, leg day. i start with back squats, depending on how i feel i might throw in three sets of front squats and overhead also.

day off

i have another back day here usually, on this day i focus on pull ups or pull downs. i start out by deadlifting as much weight as i can, for as long as i possible can. i will throw in some weighted pull ups/reverse grip pull downs/pull downs using various grips.

i can’t workout my shoulders using traditional movements without feeling some degree of pain so i have been neglecting them, unfortunately

i work abs on days that i have the energy left to do so

i know this is not a “professional” routine, or even a “smart” routine, i don’t know that much honestly. please feel free to critique whatever you think i need to be aware of. i want to learn how to be the biggest, baddest, strongest man i can

thanks again