Triceps

If you're looking for stronger triceps, put these exercises, tips and techniques to use in your workout.

Replace Triceps Dips With This Bodyweight Exercise…

July 14, 2014 By 4 Comments

Picture-24Bodyweight exercises have many great advantages. Most notably, they’re convenient; you don’t need any equipment and you can perform them pretty much anywhere. Especially for beginners, bodyweight exercises can produce awesome results.

But not all bodyweight exercises are created equal.

A great example of this are triceps dips. Many people perform the dips with crappy form and thus increase the risk for shoulder injury. Here’s an alternative worth trying.

It’s called a plank-to-triceps extension. And here’s how you do it:

  1. Start in a push-up or plank position.
  2. Bend your elbows and come down onto your forearms in one fluid movement.
  3. Keeping your body in a straight line, contract your triceps and press your palms into the floor. Lift your elbows off of the floor.
  4. You should now be back in the starting push-up or plank position.
  5. Repeat as necessary.

If it’s too challenging, try doing the exercise standing with your forearms against the wall. This will decrease the amount of resistance and make the exercise much easier.

Though triceps dips can still be part of your workout (I sometimes use them in mine!), the plank-to-triceps extension is a great alternative that I find more effective. Give it a try!

For more equipment-free workouts, give my Davey Wavey Bootcamp Workout a try!

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5 Most Important Exercises.

September 21, 2012 By 6 Comments

There are no shortage of exercises to add variety to you workout - and switching things up can prevent a stale workout and plateaued results. By incorporating kettlebells, changing the base of stability, taking a new class or trying new exercises, it’s easy to keep you workout fresh and challenging.

Having said that, there are five tried and true exercises that every workout regime should include. These exercises have passed the test of time and have been used by bodybuilders, powerlifters and workout enthusiasts for generations.

  1. Bench press. The godfather of strength training, any gym worth your time will have a handful of bench presses. Some are flat, some are inclined and some are declined - but all are a great way to build strong and powerful chest muscles. In fact, the bench press is one of the three lifts in the sport of powerlifting. Though this exercise primarily works your pectoralis major muscle (i.e., your pecs), supporting muscles like the anterior deltoids, serratus anterior, coracobrachialis, scapulae fixers, trapezii, and the triceps are also trained.
  2. Barbell bicep curl. Of all the bicep exercises that I’ve tried, none compare in their effectiveness to the barbell bicep curl. By adding a barbell, you’re able to increase the amount of resistance that your muscles work against - and the results speak for themselves. Though you’ll primarily work your biceps brachii muscles, your brachialis (lower biceps) and brachioradialis (forearm) are also trained.
  3. Squats. Want a bigger and stronger butt? No exercise compares to the squat in its effectiveness. Also performed in powerlifting, squats primarily work your gluteus maximus, quadriceps and hamstrings. Your erector spinae, transverse abdominus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, adductors, soleus and gastrocnemius will also get some love. Proper form is essential for a safe and effective squat, so it’s important to do your homework or consult with a trainer before you jump into your gym’s squat rack or power cage.
  4. Shoulder press. Sometimes called the overhead press, there are innumerable variations of this popular exercise. In terms of building size or strength, there are no shoulder exercises that can touch the effectiveness of a good barbell or dumbbell shoulder press. Specially, this exercise is great for your deltoids - but it also engages your triceps brachii and trapezius muscles.
  5. Deadlift. Also one of the three powerlifting exercises, the deadlift is a compound exercise that engages a large number of muscles including your latissimus dorsi, trapezius, erector spinae, gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps and hip flexors. In other words, your leg, butt and back muscles will all be screaming after a good set of deadlifts. Even your forearms, to a lesser degree, and obliques will be engaged. Though the deadlift is extremely effective, it’s not for everyone. For individuals with back injuries or certain joint issues, other exercises may be a better fit.

Of course, you don’t want to do each of these exercises in every workout. It’s best to break your gym sessions out so that each workout targets different muscle groups. Incorporate the bench press on a chest day, the barbell bicep curl on arm days and so on.

In my opinion, these are the top five exercises to include in any workout regime - but I’d love to hear what you think. Which five exercises top your list? Let me know in the comments below.

Filed Under: Arms, Back, Biceps, Butt, Chest, Exercises, Forearms, Legs, Shoulders, Triceps Tagged With: , ,

Best Triceps Exercise for Muscle Growth.

August 3, 2011 By 8 Comments

Holy triceps! Try drop sets of tricep rope extensions for muscles like these.

Dear Davey,

I want to get bigger triceps. What exercise would you recommend that I try at the gym?

From,
Michael

Dear Michael,

The tricep (short for triceps brachii muscle) is the large muscle at the back of your upper arm. It’s responsible for extending your elbow joint and straightening your arm.

My current favorite exercise is performing drop sets of tricep rope pulldowns (sometimes called the tricep rope extensions). Here’s how you can do it:

  1. Locate a cable machine at your gym and adjust the pulley so that it’s as high as possible. Use a rope attachment as pictured in the animation below.
  2. Select an amount of weight that will fatigue your triceps after 8 - 10 repetitions.
  3. Grip both ends of the rope with thumbs facing up.
  4. Keep your arms locked in at your sides, and pull the rope down.
  5. Fully extend your arms and pull the ends of the rope 6 - 12 inches apart at the bottom (for an extra contraction).
  6. Slowly return to the starting position and complete the remaining repetitions until muscle failure.
  7. Immediately reduce the weight by one level on the cable machine and complete another set until failure.
  8. Then, immediately reduce the weight again by one level. Continue until weight amount becomes insignificant.

Once you’re done, take a break and try doing the whole drop set all over again.

While the tricep rope pulldown is a great exercise in and of itself, combining it with the drop set technique will leave your triceps screaming. It’s absolutely great for muscle growth - and I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

Love,
Davey

Filed Under: Arms, Ask Davey, Exercises, Triceps Tagged With: , , , ,

What is Progressive Overload?

January 15, 2011 By 17 Comments

Many fitness enthusiasts are fairly committed to the gym and working out, but often perform the same routines with the same weights over and over again. They don’t see any changes in their bodies or increases in strength, and often excuse their lack of results with the mistaken belief that it takes many years to see any real changes.

As it turns out, the human body doesn’t change unless it is forced to do so. If your body doesn’t need to adapt by getting bigger or stronger, then it won’t.

Enter a concept known as progressive overload. Developed by Thomas Delorme, M.D. to help rehabilitating World War II soldiers, progressive overload is the the gradual increase of stress placed on the body during exercise training.

The concept is beautifully simply and scientifically proven: In order for a muscle to grow, it must be overloaded. Doing so activates the natural adaptive processes of the human body, which develops to cope with the new demands placed on it. In addition to stronger and larger muscles, stronger and denser bones, ligaments, tendons and cartilage are all resulted through progressive overloads.

There are 7 techniques to incorporate progressive overloads into your workout:

  1. Increase resistance. This means lifting more weight. If you normally do 8 repetitions, but are now able to do 9, it may be time to increase the weight. If you are new to working out, you may be able to increase weight by 5% - 10%. If you are more advanced, 2% - 5% may be more appropriate.
  2. Increase repetitions. If you normally do 6 repetitions of an exercise, try for the 7th rep. Once you can do the 7th rep, try for the 8th.
  3. Increase the sets. If you normally do 2 sets, try for a 3rd set. While the first set will get you a majority of the results and benefits, there are some additional benefits that can be yielded from additional sets. I generally don’t do more than 4 sets.
  4. Increase frequency. If you train your legs every 10 days, perhaps you can train them more often. It’s generally unwise to train a muscle that is still sore from a previous workout, but there may be an opportunity to hit certain muscle groups - especially those that are lagging - more frequently.
  5. Increase intensity and effort. Instead of going through your workout like a zombie, really crank up the effort. Sometimes working with a good partner or trainer can be a big help. Push yourself - or find someone that can do the pushing for you!
  6. Increase exercises. Maybe you do 3 different exercises for your biceps, or any other muscle group. Try introducing a 4th or 5th exercise to yield increased results.
  7. Decrease rest time. By doing more exercises in the same amount of time, your body will have to work harder and more efficiently.

You’ll need to map these 7 techniques to your exercise goals. For example, increasing the resistance is great for people that want larger muscles. Increasing the repetitions or decreasing rest time may be better suited for people that want increased definition or endurance training.

Whatever your goals, make this powerful time-tested technique work for you.

Filed Under: Abs, Arms, Back, Biceps, Chest, Forearms, Legs, Shoulders, Tips, Triceps Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Shake Weight Review: Does It Actually Work?

January 9, 2011 By 17 Comments

A good laugh? Yes. But does it actually work?

By now, you must have seen the hilarious shake weight infomercials - or the countless parodies on YouTube. With the sexually suggestive motion of the device, it’s easy to forget that it was design for working out.

After purchasing a shake weight for a recent YouTube video and getting a zillion emails from interested blog buddies, I decided to put the product to the test. The shake weight is 2.5 pounds, and has springs at either ends. The back-and-forth motion - which they called “dynamic inertia” - allegedly helps tone the arms and shoulders - in just six minutes!

I tried the 6-minute shake weight workout. And after six minutes, I got more exercise from laughing than the alleged “dynamic inertia”.

Because of the shake weight’s light size, it’s unlikely to provide much of a workout for most men. (Though to be fair, the shake weight is marketed to women). Moreover, because the shake weight is available in just one size, it’s impossible to progress to higher weights and build muscle.

For a woman that doesn’t exercise, she may see and feel some very initial results. But for active women and most men, the shake weight doesn’t offer anything except a a good laugh.

Sure it’s inexpensive, convenient, easy to use, and better than sitting on the couch eating potato chips - but as a piece of exercise equipment, the shake weight falls short. Great gag gift? Yes! Secret to toned arms? No. Fortunately, it comes with a 30-day money back guarantee.

But, for a good chuckle, check out the infomercial below:

Filed Under: Arms, Biceps, Forearms, Shoulders, Triceps Tagged With: ,
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