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Tricep Exercise Articles: This weeks feature tricep workout & tricep muscle building articles are located on the tricep articles page. We update our tricep workout articles often so check back for updates. Recommended reading
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Tricep Exercise Techniques: Avoiding InjuryUnfortunately tricep injuries are becoming increasingly common amoungst professional and amateur muscle builders. Unlike the biceps, the triceps are hard to train using strict tricep exercise technique. Using strict technique does not feel natural when you're trying to move heavy weights. But, if you are not using correct tricep exercise technique you are putting youself at risk of a serious (and possibly recurring) tricep injury. The good news is that tricep injuries can easily be avoided by using strict technique. Each tricep exercise has it's own set of common technique mistakes that should be avoided. In this article we're going to go through all the common tricep exercises and tell you what you shouldn't be doing! Before we get started it's worth mentioning that the easiest way to prevent serious tricep injuries is to correctly warm up and stretch your tricep muscle before you start training. You should do at least 5 minutes warm-up and 5 mins stretching before you start lifting any weights. On your first tricep exercise do 30 reps of a really low weight just to make sure they're ready to do. Lying tricep extension (aka skullcrusher) The lying tricep extension is one of the best tricep building exercises there is but it's also notorious for causing tears in the lower tricep near the elbow. When you're lifting heavy weights with pretty much all tricep exercises your elbows tend to flair out. This takes some of the emphasis off your triceps and onto your shoulders but also because of the angle of your body and the close grip on the bar this puts your triceps in a twisted and strained position. To avoid a tricep injury your should keep your elbows pointing towards your hips. If you find that you're flairing your elbows out for more than the last 2 reps you need to drop the weight down a bit. [mofe info] Tricep dip Tricep dips tend to cause more shoulder injuries than tricep injuries. To avoid both shoulder and tricep injuries you need to look at 2 things. first is the width of the bars. You want the bars to be no more than 5in away from your hips when doing tricep dips. Having the bars too wide strains your triceps, shoulders and chest muscles. Second, don't dip to far down. This is the most common way to cause a shoulder injury. The position that your body is in when doing tricep dips is unnatural for the shouders. Only do down until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Any further and you're causing unnecessary strain. [more info] Close grip bench press The close grip bench is a big strength building tricep exercise that allows you to lift heavy weights. This also puts you at more risk of tricep injury. Like we mentioned earlier, flairing your elbows out is not a good idea. Not only can this lead to injury but it takes that strain off your triceps and recruits your shoulders. So keep your elbows tucked in for the whole movement. Also, don't have your hands to close together on the bar - this will encourage your elbows to flair out. Put yourarms straight up when you're lying on the bench - there's your grip. Wherever possible always train with a spotter. It's always a good idea incase your triceps fail mid way through the exercise. [more info] Tricep push downs, extensions & rope extensions Out of all the tricep exercises the cable push downs are probably the safest, especially using the rope. The grip used with the rope is 100% natural and because your triceps are totally isolated most people cannot shift heavy weights using the rope. The supinated grip press down (with palms facing upwards) is also very safe. The only thing you have to look out for is flairing elbows (again!). But even with your elbows flaired the tricep injury risks are still minimal. [more info] Behind neck dumbell extensions If done incorrectly, behind the neck dumbell extensions can really strain your neck, traps and triceps. To aviod possible injuries you need to make sure you're sitting straight up, your upper arm is vertical and the only part of your body that moves throughout the exercise is your elbow. If you need to, use your other arm to support your mid section or upper body for stability. Don't let the weight pull your arm across the back of your neck - this will really strech and strain your tricep muscle. You can get a good workout with relatively lights weights from this tricep exercise so don't be tempted to keep adding weight when you're not ready. And that's it, some tips to help you avoid a tricep injury. The other tricep exercises that are not mentioned here are considered "safe" - meaning you would have to do something terribly wrong to hurt yourself. Remember to always warm up properly and push yourself, but not too far!
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