Triceps exercises
Roughly two-thirds of arm size comes from the triceps, not the biceps — which makes an arm day that splits time evenly between curls and pushdowns a math problem before it's anything else, weighted toward the muscle doing less of the work. Fixing that ratio takes understanding where the stimulus actually needs to go: the triceps has three heads, and only one — the long head — crosses two joints at once, the elbow and the shoulder. That's what decides how to train it. Keep the arm pinned to the torso, the way a pushdown does, and the lateral and medial heads carry the set, since they only act at the elbow; take the arm overhead, as on a dumbbell skull crusher, and the long head stretches and finally gets pulled in fully, being the only one of the three that also crosses the shoulder. On a bench press, an overhead press, a dumbbell shoulder press, a dumbbell bench press, or dips, the triceps only steps in to finish the elbow extension at the very end of the range — never the prime mover there the way it is on an isolation exercise, so compounds alone, no matter how many sets, leave all three heads short of full work. Let the elbow float away from the torso and climb during a pushdown, and the movement quietly turns into a partial shoulder press that gives up the exact tension the cable was built to hold; on dips, keeping the torso upright rather than leaning forward is what keeps the load on the triceps instead of letting it drift onto the chest.
Exercises
1. Overhead press
The prime mover is the front delt, which starts and carries the press through the whole range.
2. Dumbbell shoulder press
The prime mover, same as the barbell version, is the front delt, which carries the press through the whole range.
3. Incline dumbbell press
The prime mover is the clavicular head of the pec major, the upper chest right under the collarbone, which activates harder at this angle than in any other press variation, because the fiber's pulling angle lines up more directly with the direction of the push.
4. Arnold press
The front delt is still the prime mover, but here it works through a longer range than in a straight press: it kicks in from the very start, when the dumbbell sits in internal rotation close to the shoulder, and it stays active through the outward rotation that follows as the arm rises.
5. Bench press
The prime mover is the pec major, mainly its sternal head, the middle and lower portion of the chest, which does the most work through the flat bar path.
6. Triceps pushdown
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, and here all three heads work fairly evenly since the arm stays pinned to your side the entire time.
7. Dumbbell skull crusher
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, and here the long head, the one that crosses the shoulder as well as the elbow, takes on a role it doesn't get in exercises where the arm stays at your side, like cable pushdowns.
8. Dumbbell bench press
The prime mover is the pec major, with more of the work landing on the sternal head, the middle and lower chest, because the flat angle lines the muscle fiber up with the direction of the horizontal press.
9. Dumbbell pullover
The pec major and the lat share the lead role, and the split between them depends on elbow angle and the exact arm path, not fixed the way it is in most exercises.
10. Dips
How the work splits between chest and triceps depends almost entirely on torso angle, and that's what sets dips apart from nearly any other pushing exercise.
11. Chest press machine
The prime mover is the pec major, mainly its sternal head, once the seat is set so the handles come out at chest height.
12. Bench dips
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, mainly its lateral and medial heads, finishing elbow extension against the weight of the body.
Workouts with these exercises
- Chest workout routine
- Push pull legs routine
- Arm workout: biceps and triceps
- 3-day full body workout
- Beginner gym workout plan
- Shoulder workout routine
- Back workout routine
Frequently asked questions
Which exercise works the long head of the triceps?
The ones done with the arm raised, like the dumbbell skull crusher, where the dumbbells go down behind your head: the long head is the only one that crosses the shoulder, and with the arm up it gets stretched. With the arm at your side, as in the cable pushdown, the other two do a bigger share of the work.
Cable pushdown with a bar or a rope?
The bar lets you move more weight; the rope lets your hands rotate and spread apart at the bottom, and is usually easier on the wrist.
Is the bench press enough for the triceps?
It works them, but the chest or shoulders usually tire first, so the set ends before the triceps reach their limit. That's why push pull legs finishes push day with cable pushdowns.
Dips or cable pushdowns?
Dips move your bodyweight and bring in the chest and shoulders; with an upright torso they load the triceps more. The cable isolates the triceps and adjusts in small steps, without asking as much of the shoulder. If your shoulder bothers you, the cable is usually the more comfortable option.
Other muscles
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