I have chosen some basic and simple exercises that will strengthen and add a lot of definition like the tricep V-shape into this muscle group (as in the triceps picture below). In order to build strong, defined and great looking arms you also need to focus on working out these muscles.
I’ve chosen 2 triceps exercises that will work out these different muscles and most importantly, from different angles – a pushdown and a pulldown. One is for bulking and strenghtening the muscle group, the other is for adding definition and fine tuning.
Triceps Pulley Pushdown
This exercise works the entire triceps muscle with emphasis placed on the outer head. Good for bulking up the entire muscle.
Method of Performance
- Use a small curved bar and attach it to the clip of the pulley machine.
- Choose a suitable weight. Beginners should start with a relatively light weight to get the feel for this exercise.
- Find a suitable grip with your hands on top of the bar and bring the bar down with your hands on top and your arms straightened out. This is the starting position.
- Keep your elbows and upper arms at your sides and not flying out to your sides. This will prevent injuries and focus on the push down thus working your triceps and not fatiguing your arms.
- Release the bar and bring it just a little bit above your elbows (the top part of the movement), stop and push down on the bar resulting in your arms straightening out at your sides again.
- Remember breathe out as you push down on the bar and breathe in as you bring the bar up.
- Do 3-4 sets of 12-16 reps.
Variations of this exercise include using a rope instead of the curved bar.
One Hand Triceps Pulldown with Supination
This really fine-tunes and strengthens the triceps muscle, especially for defining the V-shape in the muscle and it adds supination to the movement.
Method of Performance
- Find a square-shaped bar (the kind you would use for a cable crossover) and attach it to the pulley machine.
- Choose much lighter or very light weights.
- Grasp the bottom of the square bar with palms of your hands facing upwards at the top of the movement.
- Elbows and top of the arm at your sides and forearms just a little above your elbows in height, this is your starting position.
- Pull down on the bar and as you bring the bar downwards, bring your palms inwards so that they face your body at the bottom of the movement. You can also just bring it straight down, but I like to do it this way for variation. It’s basically a pull downwards with a twist.
- Bring your arm back to the starting position with your arm twisting and hands supinating on the upward part of the movement so that your palms face upwards. This is the supination part of the movement. This adds a little variation to the movement but you can also do the exercise straight up and down with palms always facing upwards.
- Breathe out on the downward movement and breathe in on the upward movement.
- Do 4 sets of 16 reps.
If you don’t have time to do individual triceps exercises you can do a combination of full-body exercises that will also hit your triceps including the renegade dumbbell row plus work your abs and entire body at the same time.
