Failing to train your triceps in favor of bulking up your biceps results in uneven tone in your arms. Your triceps cover two-thirds of your upper arm, yet more people worry about how their biceps look. Train your biceps, too, but work your triceps equally hard for a balanced, strong upper arm.
Three Heads
Triceps training should exercise all three heads of your triceps, which are simply the three muscles that make up your triceps. The "tri" in triceps is for the three heads, just like the "bi" in biceps indicates that there are two muscles in the front of the upper arm. When training your triceps, it is useful to understand that these three heads work together, but one of the three heads does something the other two don't. The long head of the triceps extends your shoulder -- the only part of the triceps used for this action. All three heads extend your elbow. Triceps training must include a variety of exercises so that all three heads get stronger.
Body-Weight Exercises
One way to train your triceps is to perform exercises using only your body's weight -- no equipment necessary. Body-weight dips, or bench dips, are an effective exercise for working triceps. To perform a bench dip, position two benches or chairs parallel to each other with a distance slightly shorter than your leg's length between them. Place your feet on top of one bench while holding the edge of the opposite bench so that your legs are straight and your arms are in line with your shoulders. Bend your elbows to lower your buttocks toward the floor before pushing your arms straight again. Close-grip pushups and suspended triceps extensions are other examples for body-weight exercises.
Exercises With Weight
Weight machines and free weights can also be used to target your triceps. Overhead triceps extensions, triceps kickbacks, seated machine extensions, lying barbell extensions and pronated cable pushdowns all use your triceps as the prime mover. Other exercises like bent-knee pushups and overhead shoulder presses use your triceps along with your chest and shoulder muscles.
The triceps pushdown works your triceps in a completely different manner than body-weight dips. To perform this exercise, stand facing a cable machine, and hold the bar attached to the high pulley with your palms facing the floor and your elbows against your sides and bent at 90-degree angles. Push down on the bar and straighten your arms to bring the bar toward your legs.
Triceps Workout
Triceps training workouts either strengthen your triceps so that they are bigger and can lift more weight, or increase the muscular endurance of your triceps, allowing you to use them repeatedly before fatiguing. For strength training, perform three to six sets of one to 12 repetitions. To increase triceps endurance, perform two to three sets of 12 to 25 repetitions.
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