WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MASS-BUILDING TRICEPS WORKOUT?

WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE MASS-BUILDING TRICEPS WORKOUT?
Many people think that in order to build huge arms, you must focus exclusively on biceps... how wrong they are. Did you know that your triceps make up roughly 66% of your arms?

What are some time-proven techniques to shock the triceps?

What is the most effective mass building triceps workout? (include sets, reps, etc)

What are your personal favorite triceps exercises? Why?

BONUS QUESTION:
Q WHO HAS THE LARGEST AND MOST DEFINED TRICEPS ON THE CURRENT IFBB CIRCUIT?
Show off your knowledge to the world!


TRICEPS ANATOMY & FUNCTION
As I mentioned before, the triceps has three muscle heads. They are:

The lateral head - This is the head responsible for the horseshoe shape of the triceps.
The medial head.
The long head - the largest of all three.

TRICEPS ANATOMY
Most gym goers would have a fair idea of the main function of the triceps which is to extend the elbow, or straighten the arm. This is what is occurring when you perform a set of pushdowns. The second lesser know function is adduction. That is bringing the arm down towards the body. Only the long head is responsible for this function and it is shared with the lats.

5 OF THE TRICEPS EXERCISES.
One can think of an almost endless supply of top exercises for the triceps. Between the basic movements and minor variations on each, you could almost go a year without using the same triceps exercise twice. However, some exercises are simply better than others. Here are 5 of the best exercises to get your guns growing.

1. DIPS:
Dips are simply to perform and don't require much equipment. All you need is a dipping bar or two flat benches. Simply set yourself up on the dipping bar or in between two benches, lower yourself until your arms are at 90 degrees and drive back to lockout.

BENCH DIPS.

To add weight simply use a belt or place it in your lap. It is important to remain as upright as possible during dips. Leaning forward takes the focus off the triceps and hits the chest muscles more.

2. CLOSE GRIP BENCH PRESSES:
This movement is identical to a bench press however; you place your hands closer together so your index fingers are just off the smooth part of the bar. You can vary this movement by performing just the top 1/3 lockout to really hit the tris.

CLOSE GRIP BENCH PRESSES.

3. PUSHDOWNS:
The number one triceps exercise in the world. Almost every trainee in every gym performs this movement. Grab a rope, bar or handle and extent your arms straight down until lockout. It's simple and effective. The variations for this movement are almost limitless. Different bars, hand positions, 1 hand etc the list goes on.


PUSHDOWNS

4. FRENCH PRESSES OR LYING TRICEPS EXTENSIONS OR SKULL CRUSHERS:
No one movement in weight training has so many names. Whatever you want to call it, it is great for the triceps. Simply lie on a flat bench with arms fully extended to the sky. Now while keeping your upper arm perpendicular to the ground, lower a barbell or dumbbells towards you head (hence skull crusher). Once you reach you head, extend your arms back you to the starting position.


LYING TRICEPS PRESS.

5. OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS:
Overhead extensions are about the only true stretch position movement for the triceps. You can perform this movement one arm or two arms at a time. For the one arm variation, start with a dumbbell in the finish position for a dumbbell press (i.e. arm straight up in the air). Then lower the weight down behind your head without moving the upper arm (so it remains vertical). Once you feel a good stretch in the triceps, reverse the movement to lockout.


OVERHEAD EXTENSION.

For more info and videos on these triceps exercises and many more check out Bodybuilding.com's body part database.

Q SHOCK TECHNIQUES: WHAT ARE SOME TIME-PROVEN TECHNIQUES TO SHOCK THE TRICEPS?
Personally, I find the triceps an odd muscle group to train. This is because on top of being involved in the working of other muscle groups (i.e. chest and delts) I find them hard to really isolate. I have often found I need to shock them, using the methods described below, because straight sets of 6-12 reps won't cut it.

It is worth considering that not all shock methods can be effectively applied to the triceps. For example eccentric (often called negatives by bodybuilders) are very hard to perform for the triceps.

Not only is it hard to isolate the triceps while performing eccentrics, but this type of training can really mess with your elbows. Therefore, I recommend anyone wishing to 'shock' their triceps, I recommend sticking to the methods I discuss here.

1 DROP SETS
Drop sets are a personal favorite of mine when training the triceps. The whole purpose of this exercise is to increase the time under tension of the muscle. They are also very simple to perform.

Take an exercise to concentric (positive) failure within the desired rep range, then immediately reduce the weight and perform another set, again to concentric failure. You can perform a third set if you wish, but often feel the weight reduction is too much to be effective.

Say you get 8 reps with about 77-80% of your 1RM then drop to 70-73% and rep out, your next drop will take you below 70% which is simply to light for hypertrophy purposes. Drop sets are suited best to exercises on machines and with dumbbells, although can be done on barbells if you have a few capable spotters.

The reduction is weight needs to occur immediately this is why barbells are hard to use. My favorite exercise for drop sets is the triceps pushdown. Simply perform the reps, move the pin and go again, it's simple.

Include drop sets on the last set of an exercise, in a shock routine as discussed below or if you performing only one triceps movement on an upper body day to really hit the muscle group.

2 CLUSTERS
Cluster training is my favorite way to increase the mechanical load while lifting. Using cluster training is traditionally for strength purposes, but can also be used for growth. Besides a bigger muscle has greater potential to get large than a weaker one.

Let's say you've been using a 5x5 routine for close grip benches or dips, with 85% of your 1RM. To make this a cluster program you simply up the weight to 90% but take a 10 second pause between reps. Make sure you rack the weight between reps.

You do 5x5 in this fashion. e.g. 1 rep, rest 10s, 1 rep, rest 10s, 1 rep, rest 10s, 1 rep, rest 10s, 1 rep, rest 3 mins. Repeat.

Therefore at the end of your 5 sets, you have completed 25 reps with 90% of your 1RM as opposed to 85%.

Clusters are best performed with pushing movements such as close grip benches and dips as they may increase the chance of injuring an elbow on an extension exercise.

3 REST-PAUSE
A favorite of the HITers, rest pause training allows you to take a set beyond failure. I often use this method on pushdowns if I don't reach my target reps. To use the rest-pause principle, simple take a set of an exercise to failure.

Then rest about 10 seconds and try to squeeze out another rep or two, then rest again for another 10 and try to get another rep. The reps after the pauses should be extremely hard and if you can get more than 2 reps, you didn't work hard enough before having a pause.

4 SUPERSETS
Supersets can take three forms: performing for opposite muscle groups, the same muscle group or completely unrelated muscle groups. For the purpose of specifically training the triceps we are going to focus on a triceps exercise + a triceps exercise. Mike Mentzer had arguably the best triceps of all time.

His routine was based on supersets and very simple. Mentzer's supersets consisted of dips and either machine extensions or cable pushdowns.

I think if you are going to superset any exercises for the same group it is vital to mix the type of exercises. For example: compound + isolation, or stretch + isolation. NOT compound + compound.

5 PARTIAL MOVEMENTS
Partials are a great way to overload any muscle group, but in particular the triceps. The nature of triceps movements means that there is a large involvement from the chest and delts. By simply limiting the range of motion we can hit the triceps much more effectively.

A common example of this is people performing bench press rack lockouts to hit the tris. Close grip rack lockouts are an even better option. When doing benches or bench variations (such as close grip) the triceps are not worked as the prime movers until the top 1/3 of the movement. Using a power rack or boards can isolate this region of the stroke.

6 X-REPS, POWER PARTIALS, BURNS
These are all basically the same thing. At the end of a regular set continue with partial movements at the strongest point to extend the load/time. For example perform a set of pushdowns to failure than continue with just the bottom 1/3 of the movement for as many reps as you can.

It is important to remember with all these techniques that they are high intensity and should be used sparingly, not ever set or even every session.