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IF YOU WANT to blow up your arms, your workouts should include a few triceps exercises.
To maximize your gains, you want to target the muscle that makes up the bulk of the arm. That’s the triceps. Besides the aesthetic of getting swole, triceps are also important for a key function of everyday movement: elbow extension. In other words, your triceps fire up every time you straighten your arm—making it critical for pushing/pressing exercises.
But not all movements are created equal. So, what are the best triceps exercises? MH fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. and exercise physiologist and strength coach Dr. Pat Davidson reveal three super-effective triceps workouts—and one overrated triceps move to retire. In the video, they also discuss what fitness influencers get wrong about arm-building and the importance of protecting your joints in triceps exercises.
First, Davidson says there needs to be a press involved when working the triceps. It’s why he recommends the JM press, using either a barbell or Smith machine. The JM press creates constant tension in the triceps and allows you to lift heavier than other triceps workouts.
You may be wondering why skull crushers wouldn’t be the go-to push exercise for triceps. While effective, Davidson’s concern is managing the elbows.
“To me, skull crushers are always tough on the elbows. The JM press is a little bit more elbow friendly,” he explains. “It’s very rare for that to be the case, so you can still accumulate a good amount of volume and stimulus for the triceps and leave the joints alone.”
Another elbow-friendly but triceps torching exercise should be a classic pushdown exercise. Samuel notes the triceps pushdown using a cable are simple to set up and are largely adjustable. If your elbows are in pain, you can stop at 90 degrees or get a little bit more stretch on the muscle. Davidson’s preference is to use a V-bar attachment for pushdowns. “It’s the most stable implement that allows you to be able to use the most weight,” he explains. “Force is going to be the answer more times than not.”
The third exercise is an overhead cable exercise. Davidson says the workout puts your triceps in the greatest position of stretch. Now you can swap a cable for a dumbbell—Davidson notes it’s all a matter of preference—but both experts agree a cable provides more space if you have longer arms.
“Overhead cable is the biggest stretch of all the movements, and it’s a direct line on the tricep,” Davidson says. “It’s going to hit more of that medial head, which is the biggest of all the triceps heads.”
All of the above exercises are helpful in building strong, bulky arms. The one that won’t give you the most bang for your buck, however, is the dumbbell triceps kickback. As Davidson explains, triceps kickbacks are short position dominant. When you’re in the stretch position of the exercise, there’s a lack of tension.
“With a dumbbell, there’s ways that you could rig a cable up to get some tension there, but it’s kind of a pain in the butt,” he adds. Even then Davidson says it’s still not a strong enough position where you can work with a lot of force. “You’d probably get a lot more from doing something else.”
Want more deep-dive fitness wisdom from Samuel and other celebs and experts who’ve been on our Strong Talk podcast? Check out all our episodes here.
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