RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Dumbbell tricep exercises: extensions, kickbacks and close-grip presses

Published October 19, 2026

The best dumbbell tricep exercises are the overhead extension, the skullcrusher and the kickback for isolation, plus a close-grip press such as the floor press or squeeze press for heavy work. The overhead extension stretches the long head, the largest part of the triceps; the skullcrusher takes the most load of the extensions; the kickback works the triceps hardest with your arm straight. Pair one press with one or two extensions, take each set to 0 to 2 reps in reserve, and do 8 to 16 hard sets a week.

  1. Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension Triceps
  2. Dumbbell Skullcrusher Triceps
  3. Triceps Kickback Triceps
  4. Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press Chest
  5. Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press Chest
  6. Decline Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Press Chest
  7. Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Shoulder Press Shoulders

Dumbbell triceps extensions

Extensions bend and straighten only the elbow, so the triceps is the one muscle doing the work. The three here split the range: the overhead extension stretches the long head the furthest, the skullcrusher sits in the middle and takes the most weight, and the kickback is hardest with your arm locked straight. One extension per session is enough; two that load different positions is better.

Long head, overhead stretch

Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Triceps

With your arm overhead, the long head of the triceps is stretched at the bottom of every rep, which is the position it grows from best. One dumbbell held in both hands is enough, and you can do it on a chair, a bench or standing.

How to do it

  1. Sit tall on a bench or sturdy chair and cup the top plate of one dumbbell with both palms, thumbs wrapped around the handle.
  2. Press it straight up until your arms are locked out above your head, biceps beside your ears.
  3. Bend only at the elbows and let the dumbbell sink behind you until your forearms pass parallel to the floor.
  4. Straighten your elbows to bring it back over your head, then repeat.

Cues

  • Elbows point at the ceiling
  • Deep stretch behind the head
  • Ribs stay down

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbows drift wide: keep them roughly shoulder-width so the triceps, not the shoulders, does the work.
  • Arching your lower back to finish the rep: brace your abs and pick a lighter dumbbell.

Swap for: Overhead Cable Triceps Extension, Dumbbell Skullcrusher

Build a session with Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Long and medial heads, lying extension

Dumbbell Skullcrusher

Triceps

Lying on a bench lets you load the triceps heavier than overhead and keeps your lower back out of it. Bringing the dumbbells beside your head rather than to your forehead adds stretch and spares your elbows.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench holding one dumbbell per hand, palms turned in, arms straight above your shoulders.
  2. Tilt your upper arms slightly back toward your head and hold that angle for the whole set.
  3. Bend your elbows and lower the dumbbells until they sit beside your ears.
  4. Extend your elbows to return the dumbbells over your face, stopping just short of locking out.

Cues

  • Upper arms angled slightly back
  • Dumbbells beside the ears
  • Lower for two seconds

Common mistakes

  • Moving the upper arms on every rep: that turns it into a pullover. Fix them in place and only bend at the elbow.
  • Going too heavy too soon: elbows tolerate this lift best in the 10 to 20 rep range.

Swap for: Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension, Triceps Kickback

Build a session with Dumbbell Skullcrusher

Lateral head, short position

Triceps Kickback

Triceps

The kickback is hardest with your elbow fully straight, the position where overhead work is easiest, so it fills the gap at the end of the range. It works with very light dumbbells, which makes it a good finisher.

How to do it

  1. Brace your free hand and same-side knee on a bench, or your hand on a chair seat, so your back is close to flat.
  2. Raise the working elbow so your upper arm is level with your torso and pinned against your side.
  3. Straighten your elbow until your whole arm is in a line, and hold the lockout for a second.
  4. Bend the elbow back to about 90 degrees without letting the upper arm drop, then repeat.

Cues

  • Upper arm stays parallel to the floor
  • Hold the lockout
  • Small weight, full squeeze

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the dumbbell up with the shoulder: if the upper arm moves, the load is too heavy.
  • Cutting the range short at the top: the last few degrees of straightening are the reason to do this exercise.

Swap for: Cable Triceps Kickback, Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

Build a session with Triceps Kickback

Close-grip dumbbell presses for triceps

Any press that ends with straight elbows trains your triceps, and keeping the elbows tucked shifts more of it off your chest. These presses let you lift far heavier than an extension, so put one first in a triceps session while you are fresh, and use the floor press if you have no bench.

Heavy compound, no bench

Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press

Chest

Pressing from the floor stops your upper arm at the ground, so the top half of the press, which is mostly triceps, does the work. One dumbbell at a time also gets twice the work out of a light pair.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with knees bent and one dumbbell held over your shoulder, arm straight.
  2. Bring it down until the back of your upper arm rests on the floor, elbow tucked about 45 degrees from your side.
  3. Pause for a moment with the arm relaxed against the floor.
  4. Drive the dumbbell back up until your elbow locks. Finish all reps, then switch arms.

Cues

  • Tuck the elbow
  • Dead stop on the floor
  • Lock out hard

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the elbow off the floor: settle it, then press.
  • Flaring the elbow straight out: tucking it puts more of the press on the triceps and less on the shoulder.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press

Close-grip press with a bench

Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press

Chest

Pressing the two dumbbells together keeps your elbows tucked by your sides, the dumbbell version of a close-grip bench press. You can handle much more weight than on any extension, so it is the heaviest triceps work on this page.

How to do it

  1. Set the bench to a low incline and sit back with one dumbbell per hand, palms turned in.
  2. Bring the dumbbells together just over your lower chest so they touch along their length.
  3. Press them up as one block until your arms are straight, keeping them in contact.
  4. Lower them back to your chest, still pressed together, with elbows brushing your sides.

Cues

  • Crush the dumbbells together
  • Elbows by your ribs
  • Finish with locked elbows

Common mistakes

  • Letting the dumbbells drift apart: once they separate, your chest takes over the press.
  • Shortening the last few inches: the triceps does most of its work as your elbows straighten.

Swap for: Close-Grip Bench Press, Close-Grip Push-Up

Build a session with Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press

Short-range press, palms in

Decline Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Press

Chest

The decline angle and neutral grip shorten the press and keep the elbows tucked, so the triceps gets a big share of the work with less strain on the front of the shoulder.

How to do it

  1. Hook your feet under the pad of a decline bench and lie back with the dumbbells at your lower chest, palms turned in.
  2. Keep your elbows tucked by your sides and your shoulder blades pulled down.
  3. Drive both dumbbells up above your lower chest until your elbows lock.
  4. Lower them under control to the sides of your lower ribs and repeat.

Cues

  • Palms face each other
  • Elbows close
  • Press toward your hips slightly

Common mistakes

  • Letting the dumbbells crash down on the descent: lower for two seconds.
  • Flaring into a wide press: keep the neutral grip and tucked elbows that make this a triceps press.

Swap for: Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press, Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press

Build a session with Decline Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Press

Flat press, one arm at a time

Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press

Chest

Holding one dumbbell up while the other presses keeps your triceps under tension for the whole set, so a pair you have outgrown for two-arm presses is useful again.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench holding both dumbbells pressed up over your chest.
  2. Keep the left arm straight and lower the right dumbbell to your chest, elbow tucked.
  3. Press it back up to meet the other dumbbell.
  4. Lower the left dumbbell next, and keep switching sides for the set.

Cues

  • Top arm stays locked
  • Tuck the moving elbow
  • Same depth each side

Common mistakes

  • Letting the locked arm drift down: it should stay straight and still while the other arm works.
  • Rotating your torso toward the working side: keep both shoulder blades on the bench.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor Press

Build a session with Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press

Overhead pressing for triceps

A shoulder press with your palms turned in lets you lock out overhead with your elbows in front of you. Use it when your triceps work has to share a session with shoulders.

Overhead press, palms in

Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Shoulders

Overhead pressing finishes with a full elbow lockout, and the palms-in grip lets you keep your elbows in front of you, which puts more of the lift on the triceps than a wide-elbow press.

How to do it

  1. Sit against an upright bench, or stand, and hold the dumbbells at shoulder height with palms turned in.
  2. Keep your elbows pointing forward, in front of your torso.
  3. Press the dumbbells straight up until your elbows lock above your shoulders.
  4. Lower them back to shoulder height and repeat.

Cues

  • Elbows forward, not out
  • Lock out overhead
  • Ribs down

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to grind out the last rep: stop the set there instead.
  • Stopping short of lockout: the final straightening is where the triceps works hardest.

Swap for: Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Landmine Press

Build a session with Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

One pair of dumbbells, no bench

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You train at home with a fixed pair of dumbbells, a chair and floor space.

Without a bench, the floor press is the heavy lift: one arm at a time doubles the load per arm, and the floor cuts the range to the triceps-heavy top half. The seated overhead extension on a chair gives the long head its stretch, the kickback braced on the chair seat covers the lockout, and the palms-in overhead press adds a second compound. A fixed pair stops getting heavier, so reps run high and every set ends 0 to 1 short of failure. Each session is 11 working sets.

Triceps A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Single-Arm Dumbbell Floor PressPer arm. Elbow tucked, pause on the floor. 4 × 8–15 1 90 s
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps ExtensionSeated on a chair. One dumbbell, both hands. 4 × 10–20 1 1 min
Triceps KickbackPer arm. Free hand on a chair seat. 3 × 12–25 0 1 min

Open Triceps A in the session builder

Triceps B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Neutral-Grip Dumbbell Shoulder PressStanding or on a chair. Palms in. 4 × 8–15 1 90 s
Triceps KickbackPer arm. Hold each lockout 1 s. 3 × 12–25 1 1 min
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension3 s down. Full stretch. 4 × 10–20 0 1 min

Open Triceps B in the session builder

How to run it
Do Triceps A and Triceps B once each per week, two or more days apart, or add one of them to the end of an upper-body day.
How to progress
Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range at the target RIR. Then slow the lowering to three seconds, and after that add a one-second pause at the bottom of the extensions before buying heavier dumbbells.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Adjustable bench and dumbbells you can load up

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells, Incline Bench, Flat Bench, Decline Bench

You have a bench that inclines and dumbbells you can make heavier, at home or in a gym.

With a bench and heavier dumbbells, the squeeze press and the decline press can carry real load in the 6 to 12 range, and the skullcrusher replaces the floor work as the main extension. Each session pairs a press with two extensions that load different parts of the range. Compounds stop 1 to 2 reps short of failure because a missed press is hard to bail out of; the extensions go to 0 to 1. That is 10 sets per session and about 20 per week, the upper end of what most lifters recover from for one muscle.

Triceps Heavy
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Incline Dumbbell Squeeze Press2 warm-up sets firstLow incline. Dumbbells touching the whole rep. 4 × 6–12 1 2 min
Dumbbell SkullcrusherDumbbells to the ears. 3 × 8–15 1 90 s
Triceps KickbackPer arm. 3 × 12–20 0 1 min

Open Triceps Heavy in the session builder

Triceps Volume
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Decline Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Press1 warm-up set firstPalms in, elbows tucked. 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps ExtensionBack supported. Deep stretch. 4 × 10–15 1 75 s
Alternating Dumbbell Bench PressPer arm. Top arm stays locked. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s

Open Triceps Volume in the session builder

How to run it
Run Triceps Heavy and Triceps Volume on separate days, for example after chest on one day and after shoulders on another.
How to progress
When the presses hit 12 reps at 1 RIR, add weight and drop back to 6 to 8. On the extensions, go up a dumbbell size once every set reaches the top of its range.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Ten minutes left after a chest or shoulder workout

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets12 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentDumbbells

You already press in your main workout and want direct triceps work in the time left at the end.

After pressing, your triceps already has several hard sets in it, so this adds only the positions presses miss: the overhead stretch and the straight-arm lockout. Doing them as a superset fits 6 hard sets in about ten minutes. Both go to 0 to 1 RIR because a light extension carries little risk when you are tired, and fatigue from the presses means you will use less weight than when fresh.

Triceps Finisher
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
A1 Seated Dumbbell Overhead Triceps ExtensionSuperset with kickbacks. 3 × 10–20 1 45 s
A2 Triceps KickbackPer arm. Then back to the extension. 3 × 12–20 0 1 min
How to run it
Do it at the end of each push or upper-body day, once or twice a week. Alternate the two exercises with a short rest between them.
How to progress
Add a rep per set each week. Once both reach 20, use the next dumbbell up or slow the lowering to three seconds.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How can I work my triceps with dumbbells?

Pick one press that keeps your elbows tucked, such as the floor press or the squeeze press, and one or two extensions: an overhead extension for the long head and a skullcrusher or kickback. Do 3 to 4 sets of each, ending 0 to 2 reps short of failure, two times a week.

What is the best dumbbell exercise for triceps?

The overhead extension, because it trains the long head, the biggest part of the triceps, in its stretched position. If you only do one more, add the skullcrusher, which lets you use more weight.

What dumbbell weight should I use for triceps?

Use the weight you can lift for the rep range with 0 to 2 reps left. For most people that is a much lighter dumbbell than they press with: often 5 to 15 lb for kickbacks, and one heavier dumbbell held in both hands for overhead extensions. If you get more than 25 reps, go heavier or slow down.

Is a 2 kg dumbbell enough for triceps?

For kickbacks, a 2 kg dumbbell can work for a beginner if you do slow, high-rep sets close to failure. For overhead extensions and presses it runs out fast, usually within a few weeks. Expect to need heavier dumbbells to keep progressing.

Can flabby triceps be toned?

Yes, in the sense that training adds muscle under the skin and losing body fat lets you see it. Triceps exercises do the first part; fat loss happens across the whole body and comes mostly from diet, not from working one area.

How many triceps exercises should I do?

Two or three per session is plenty: one press and one or two extensions. What matters is the weekly number of hard sets, about 8 to 16 for triceps, counting presses at roughly half if you already train chest and shoulders.

Can I do dumbbell triceps exercises without a bench?

Yes. Do the floor press on the floor, the overhead extension seated on a chair or standing, and the kickback with your hand on a chair seat. A bench adds the skullcrusher and the incline and decline presses.