Effective Training of the Triceps

Arm day at the gym usually means incorporating a tricep exercise variation. However, the triceps brachii muscle group consists of three separate heads. This begs the question, which exercises do we need to ensure that we stimulate sufficent hypertrophy for all three? Is there one exercise for all of them, or do we need to do three different exercises to work on each head?

The triceps brachii is a large fast-twitch muscle group with its primary function being to extend the elbow (straighten the arm). However, due to the different origins (where the muscle starts), different exercises will focus on different heads.

How to Target Specific Triceps Heads

You can target the long head (innermost head) with exercises that involving having your arms by your side such as standing triceps pushdowns or bent over tricep extensions.

The medial and lateral heads (inside and outside parts of the tricep respectively) are specifically targeted when we include exercises in a position of shoulder elevation such as overhead tricep extensions and skull crushers.

Summary

In conclusion, this means that to effectively train all heads of the triceps brachii muscle group, we need to incorporate at least one exercises with the arms by our side and one that includes shoulder flexion. As we have discussed in previous discussions, remember the most crucial aspect determining muscle hypertrophy is training with high levels of effort to muscle fatigue!

Additional information

For additional information refer to the Instagram post below originally posted by Braydon Vo it includes a reference to back up our claims. Another useful reference is this article by Chris Beardsley.