One of the major muscles of the arm, the triceps, acts to extend or straighten the arm (while the biceps perform the opposite motion, flexing). The muscle runs from the shoulder to the elbow at the back. It is named for its three heads, or points of attachment.

The three lobes are 1) the long, 2) lateral, and 3) medial heads. They originate at different points on your upper arm and shoulder girdle and form a tendon near the point of your elbow.

The arms are important to all kinds of sports movements - lifting, throwing, pushing, hitting and so on - that you'll realize the benefits of building them as soon as you develop a program.

Do your triceps after a heavy chest training session, so that way they're thoroughly preexhausted. In other words, they've been given a workout already, anything more you do to them is going to have greater impact and achieve better results.

Tricep Dips

AKA Bench Dips

Standing with your back to a bench, place your hands behind you on the bench, palms down and fingers pointed forward. Ease down, bending your knees, until your butt is resting up against the edge of the bench, just below the level of your hands. Check for correct posture: Look directly in front of you, shoulders back, spine perpendicular to the ground, feet flat on the floor, thighs and shins perpendicular to each other. Descend two inches or so, with your butt traveling along the edge of the bench. Do not roll your shoulders forward or allow your buttocks to come away from the edge of the bench. Come back up to the top, contract your triceps, pause for a moment and then repeat descending movement.

This exercise allows a greater range of motion than any of the other triceps exercises. Hold a dumbbell with both hands as if you were doing a pullover: Support it against the webbing between your thumb and index finger. Lift the dumbbell over your head with your elbows as close to your head as possible. Do not tuck your chin! Bend your elbows until the dumbbell touches the top of your back, then extend the weight directly overhead — not forward or backward —to the starting position. Contract your abs as you lift the weight to relieve the pressure on your lower back. Never bounce at the bottom, as this will surely lead to an injury.

AKA Tricep Pulldowns

Tricep Pushdowns and Tricep Pulldowns are the same thing. While you are technically pushing down on the rope/cable, it is being pulled down from above. On the lat pulldown bar, take an overgrip, your hands nearly touching. Keeping your elbows in, pull the weight straight down as far as you can, then release it very slowly back to the starting position. These provide the greatest intensity of any triceps exercise. If you use a rope handle, separate the ropes as you come to lockout, which will really put a burn into the muscle for growth and cross striation.

AKA Tricep Press

This exercise works an area very difficult to get at - the outer undersides of your upper arm. The elbow of your supporting arm should be locked. Hold a dumbbell in your free hand with the weighted ends facing front and back. With your elbow close to your body, bend it at least 90 degrees. Then extend your arm backward and upward as far as possible. Slowly return to the initial position and repeat.

• Biceps
• Chest
• Deltoids
• Forearms
• Calves
• Hamstrings
• Quadriceps
• Glutes
• Lower Back
  
• Abs
• Lats
• Trapezius
• Obliques
• Serratus