Hey guys, I’d like to just say I’ve been browsing the forums for some time and decided to make an account. I’ve been training for two years consistently and feel like I’ve built a decent foundation and want to focus more on my weak points, namely quads, calves, and triceps.
I’m currently doing a push pull legs split, as it fits my schedule nicely. I hit bench heavy with low reps, incline the same, and weighted dips. however I’m curious: after these compound movements that involve the Tris to some extent, should I hit them with compounds in the triceps section of my training session (triceps dips,cgbp) or stick to isolation exercise to kind of “finish em off.”
[quote]Kauzs wrote:
I hit bench heavy with low reps, incline the same, and weighted dips. however I’m curious: after these compound movements that involve the Tris to some extent, should I hit them with compounds in the triceps section of my training session (triceps dips,cgbp) or stick to isolation exercise to kind of “finish em off.”[/quote]
it depends a little bit on what you’re doing for shoulders that same session, but generally, after doing three heavier/lower rep pressing exercises, it’s fine to kill off the tris with one or two isolation movements. By doing tricep-focused compound lifts, you’d increase the shoulder/elbow wear and tear without really gaining that much benefit.
If you play around with the sets and reps (like moderate to higher rep work on compound tri stuff), you could probably get away with it a bit, but you also have to consider the energy you’re spending at that point. Do you need to be doing five or six types of presses (flat bench, incline bench, chest dip, maybe shoulder press, close-grip press, tri dip, etc.) in one workout to achieve your goals?
If anything, I’d hit the tris in a way that’s different than their role as pressing assistance, like kickbacks and overhead extensions.
Your Push day exercise selection actually looks a lot like my current one.
Bench 5x5
Inc DB Press 3x10
Dips 2xfailure (up to 15 for both then add weight back to 8)
Side Raises 5x10
Lying Tri Ext 4x8 (make sure you take these back to a point above the top of your head, this hits the long head of the tri more and that’s really the only thing you might be lacking after all that pressing. Adding a little incline moves it even more to that long head.)
I say this to answer your question with, if you choose a compound over an isolation (my preference) figure out a tweak to that compound that stresses the inner long head a little more than the outer.