The best workout for triceps pairs an overhead extension, which trains the long head at a long muscle length, with a heavy close-grip press and a pushdown for the lateral and medial heads. Do 2 to 3 hard sets of each, 8 to 20 reps, stopping 0 to 2 reps short of failure, and spread it over two sessions a week.
EquipmentAdjustable Cable, EZ Bar, Flat Bench, Barbells
You already train push or upper body twice a week and want your triceps to grow faster without a separate arm day.
Your bench and overhead presses already work the triceps, so the add-on spends its sets where pressing falls short: the stretched long head and the lockout. Two short blocks of 7 sets give about 14 direct hard sets a week across two sessions, which suits an intermediate on top of their pressing volume.
Add Triceps A after your presses on your first push or upper day and Triceps B on your second, at least 48 hours apart. If your session already has a close-grip press, start B at the overhead extension.
How to progress
When you hit the top of the rep range on every set at the target RIR, add the smallest weight jump next session and build back up the range.
You train at home or in a hotel gym with a pair of dumbbells and a chair, and no cable or bench.
Without a cable you get the long-head stretch from a seated dumbbell extension and the heavy work from a floor press, then finish with kickbacks to load the lockout. Dumbbells jump in bigger steps than a cable stack, so the rep ranges run wider to leave room to progress before the next dumbbell. Two sessions of 8 sets give 16 direct sets a week.
Your elbows complain on skullcrushers, dips, or heavy close-grip pressing, but you still want to build your triceps.
Lighter loads taken close to failure build muscle about as well as heavy ones, so this plan drops the barbell extensions and presses and gets its stimulus from cables at 15 to 25 reps. It opens with a pressdown to warm the joint, keeps the long-head stretch with a lighter overhead extension, and leaves 2 reps in reserve on the first two moves so the last reps stay smooth. Done twice a week it gives 16 direct sets.
Run the same session twice a week, as its own block after your push or upper days or on an arm day. If any rep causes sharp elbow pain, shorten that exercise's range or swap it.
How to progress
Add reps before weight, and take the next pin on the stack only when every set reaches the top of the range at the target RIR without elbow pain.
With your arms overhead, the long head is lengthened at the bottom of every rep, and in one 12-week trial that position grew it about 1.5 times more than the same extension done with the arms at your sides. The cable keeps tension on through the whole range.
How to do it
Clip a rope to a cable set at about hip height, face away from the stack, and take the rope over one shoulder with both hands.
Step forward into a split stance until the weight lifts off the stack, and lean your torso slightly forward.
Start with your elbows bent and pointing ahead, hands behind your head, feeling the stretch along the back of your arms.
Straighten your elbows until your hands are in front of your forehead, then let the rope travel back behind your head slowly.
Cues
Elbows point forward, not out
Own the stretch at the bottom
Ribs down, no low-back arch
Common mistakes
Turning it into a pullover by moving your upper arms. Fix the elbows in place and only move at the elbow.
Cutting the bottom short to use more weight. Drop the load until you reach the full stretch every rep.
It lets you load the triceps heavier than any extension, so it is the fastest way to add strength that carries over to bench and overhead pressing.
How to do it
Lie on a flat bench and grip the bar with hands about shoulder-width apart, slightly narrower than your normal bench grip.
Unrack, set your shoulder blades back and down, and hold the bar over your shoulders.
Lower the bar to your lower chest with your elbows angled about 30 to 45 degrees from your sides.
Press back up and finish with your elbows fully straight.
Cues
Shoulder-width hands, not touching
Elbows tucked on the way down
Lock out hard
Common mistakes
Hands too close together, which strains the wrists. Keep them about shoulder-width.
Flaring the elbows wide and turning it into a regular bench press. Tuck them so the bar touches lower on your chest.
Swap for: JM Press, Machine Triceps Dip, Close-Grip Push-Up
Long head, heavy extension
EZ-Bar Skullcrusher
Triceps
Lowering the bar behind your head puts the long head under load in a lengthened position, and the EZ-bar's angled grip is easier on the wrists than a straight bar.
How to do it
Lie on a flat bench holding an EZ-bar on the inner angled grips, arms straight over your shoulders.
Let your upper arms tilt slightly back toward your head so the bar sits above your eyes.
Bend your elbows and lower the bar in an arc toward the top of your head, or just past it.
Extend your elbows to bring the bar back to the start, keeping the upper arms tilted back.
Cues
Upper arms angled back, not vertical
Lower to the crown, not the nose
Slow on the way down
Common mistakes
Upper arms perfectly vertical, which takes tension off at the top. Keep them tilted back a few degrees.
Letting the elbows flare out wide. Keep them about shoulder-width apart.
Swap for: Dumbbell Skullcrusher, Landmine Lying Triceps Extension, JM Press
Lateral and medial heads, high reps
Cable Triceps Pressdown
Triceps
It is easy to learn, progresses in small jumps on the stack, and lets you take sets close to failure without the bar near your face, which makes it the best place to finish.
How to do it
Attach a rope or straight bar to a high pulley and stand close to the stack with a slight forward lean.
Pin your elbows to your sides with your forearms about parallel to the floor.
Push the handle down until your elbows are fully straight; with a rope, pull the ends slightly apart at the bottom.
Let the handle rise back until your forearms pass parallel, without letting your elbows drift forward.
Cues
Elbows glued to your ribs
Full lockout every rep
Only your forearms move
Common mistakes
Leaning over the handle and pushing with body weight. Stand taller and use a load you can move with your arms alone.
Elbows sliding forward on the way up. Stop the handle where your elbows start to move.
Pulling each cable across your body lets each arm move in its own path, which many lifters find smoother on the elbows than a fixed bar, and it fixes side-to-side imbalances.
How to do it
Set both pulleys of a cable crossover to the top and take the left handle in your right hand and the right handle in your left hand, so the cables cross in front of you.
Stand in the middle, step back slightly, and bring your elbows to your sides with your hands at chest height.
Straighten your elbows by pushing your hands down and out past your hips.
Return slowly until your hands are back at chest height, keeping your elbows still.
Cues
Hands finish wide of your hips
Elbows stay by your sides
Smooth, no bounce
Common mistakes
Letting the shoulders roll forward to finish the rep. Keep the chest up and the movement at the elbow.
Going too heavy and losing the lockout. Use a weight you can fully straighten your arms with.
It is the heavy triceps press you can do at home with only dumbbells: the floor stops each rep at a safe depth and shifts the work toward the lockout, where the triceps do most of the job.
How to do it
Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat, a dumbbell in each hand.
Press the dumbbells over your chest with your palms facing each other.
Lower them until the backs of your upper arms rest on the floor, elbows tucked about 30 to 45 degrees from your sides.
Pause briefly with your arms on the floor, then press back to straight arms.
Cues
Palms facing each other
Dead stop on the floor
Press to full lockout
Common mistakes
Bouncing the elbows off the floor. Let the arms settle for a beat before pressing.
Elbows flared straight out. Tuck them toward your sides.
It works the triceps hardest with the elbow almost straight and never asks for a heavy load at a deep elbow bend, so it is one of the easiest triceps moves to tolerate when elbows ache.
How to do it
Set a single pulley at about knee height and hold the handle, or the cable end, in one hand.
Hinge forward slightly and bring your upper arm back until it is in line with your torso, elbow bent.
Straighten your elbow behind you until your arm is fully extended.
Let the cable pull your forearm back down slowly while your upper arm stays still.
Cues
Upper arm locked by your side
Finish with a straight arm
Slow return
Common mistakes
Pulling with the shoulder so the whole arm swings. Keep the upper arm still and use less weight.
Standing too close so the cable goes slack. Step back until there is tension at the start.
Count your bench, overhead press and dips toward triceps work. If you run a high-volume push day, start the add-on at the lower end (2 sets per exercise) and add a set only when your triceps recover by the next session.
Triceps lagging behind your chest?
Move the overhead extension to the start of your push day, before the presses, so it gets your freshest effort. Keep the rest of the session the same.
Short on time
Superset the overhead extension with the pressdown: one set of each back to back, then rest 90 seconds. You keep the same sets in about half the time.
Progress without a bigger dumbbell
When the next dumbbell is too big a jump, add reps until you reach the top of the range, then slow the lowering phase to three seconds before moving up.
Questions
What is the best exercise for triceps?
No single exercise covers everything, but if you pick one, make it an overhead extension. It trains the long head at a long length, and in one 12-week trial it grew the whole triceps more than the same extension done with the arms at your sides. Pair it with a press or pressdown to train the lockout.
How do you hit all three heads of the triceps?
Every elbow extension trains all three heads, but the long head also crosses the shoulder, so it needs overhead work to reach a full stretch. Use one overhead extension, one heavy press such as the Close-Grip Bench Press, and one pressdown or kickback.
How often should you train triceps?
Twice a week works well for most lifters. With the same weekly sets, training a muscle twice a week grows it at least as well as once, it keeps each session short, and triceps also get indirect work on every push day.
Is 3 or 4 sets better for triceps?
Count weekly sets, not sets per exercise. Around 10 to 20 hard sets a week across all triceps work, including some credit for pressing, is a solid range for intermediates. Start lower and add sets only if your triceps recover well.
Are triceps hard to grow?
Not if you train the long head. Many programs rely on pressing and pressdowns, both done with the arms at your sides, which never fully stretch the long head. Adding overhead extensions and taking sets within 0 to 2 reps of failure is where to start with lagging triceps.
What muscle makes up most of your upper arm?
The triceps. In an MRI study of adult arms, it was the largest muscle crossing the elbow, with about 2.6 times the volume of the biceps. If you want bigger arms, triceps work pays off more than another round of curls.
How do I train triceps if my elbows hurt?
Switch from barbell skullcrushers and heavy close-grip presses to cables, use 15 to 25 reps, and stop 1 to 2 reps short of failure. Light loads taken close to failure build muscle almost as well as heavy loads.
