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Target the Back of Your Arms with These 8 Effective Triceps Exercises
Together, these moves work all three parts of your triceps muscles.
By Alyssa Sparacino, Team Peloton•
What Are the Triceps Muscles?
Why Are Your Triceps Important?
How to Prepare for Your Triceps Workout
The 8 Best Triceps Exercises for Strong Arms
How to Incorporate Triceps Exercises Into Your Routine
Tips for Advanced Triceps Training
The Takeaway
A well-rounded strength training routine balances upper body, core, and lower body exercises. If you want to take your workouts to the next level, you can strategically target each one of your major muscles—yes, that includes the ever-important triceps.
Take it from us: Working out the muscles spanning the back of your upper arms is essential to any upper body strength training plan, regardless of your fitness level. Below, learn more about the triceps muscles, the benefits of strengthening them, and the best triceps exercises to slot into a new or existing routine.
What Are the Triceps Muscles?
Located on the back of your upper arms (opposite your biceps), your triceps muscles help you bend and extend your elbows and move your forearms. Although the triceps are one big muscle, they're made up of three different parts: the long head, the lateral head, and the medial head. The long head runs from your shoulder blade down to your elbow, the lateral head is positioned closer to the outer part of your upper arm, and the medial head is more toward the inner side of your upper arm.
Because these three heads start and end in different places, it’s important to choose a combination of exercises that hit your triceps muscles from all angles.
Why Are Your Triceps Important?
Your triceps muscles’ main function is to serve as a lever for your arm, allowing it to bend and straighten at your elbow. When your triceps contract, or shorten, your elbow is able to extend, in turn straightening your arm. When your triceps extend, or lengthen, your elbows are able to bend.
We already mentioned that your biceps are located opposite your triceps, and the two muscles work in opposition. So when your triceps extend, your biceps contract (and vice versa). Specifically, “triceps play an integral role in push exercises, while biceps are responsible for pull movements,” Tunde Oyeneyin, a Peloton instructor known for her ultra-effective arm workouts, says.
Maintaining a harmonious relationship between your biceps and triceps ensures your arms are strong and well-defined from all angles. “Triceps make up a large portion of your arm and play a huge part in daily activities, including holding body weight,” Tunde says. “They stabilize the shoulder joint, and training triceps helps improve shoulder and elbow strength and performance overall.” You probably use this muscle in everyday life without even realizing it (like when you're lifting heavy grocery bags, for example).
How to Prepare for Your Triceps Workout
Before you jump headfirst into triceps exercises, it’s crucial to properly prepare. Your warm-up should accomplish two key things: It should raise your heart rate and get your body ready for the upcoming exercises with specific, functional movements.
With that in mind, repeat the following upper body-focused warm-up three times before your next set of triceps exercises:
30 seconds of jumping jacks
30 seconds of forward arm circles, gradually increasing the size of your circles
30 seconds of banded pull-aparts
30 seconds of modified triceps push-ups on your knees, shooting your elbows back along your ribcage instead of bringing them out wide
The 8 Best Triceps Exercises for Strong Arms
Now that you have an understanding of why you should work your triceps, let's get into how to do it. Below, Tunde provides some of her favorite triceps exercises. If you’ve ever taken a class with her on the Peloton App or have done the Arms with Tunde program, you know she’s a pro when it comes to building upper body strength.
Bodyweight Triceps Exercises
1. Triceps Dips
There are endless ways to modify this triceps exercise to make it more or less difficult. What's more, it targets multiple areas of your upper body, including your shoulders.
Stand facing away from the side of a bench. Bend down and place your palms on the edge so they’re flat on the bench with your fingers curved around the side. To make the move more difficult, straighten your legs. To make it a bit easier, bend them.
Bend at the elbows, bringing your arms to a 90-degree position.
Push back up through your palms, squeezing your triceps at the top of this position.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
2. Diamond Push-Up
By simply changing the positioning of your hands in a standard push-up, you can target your triceps. Be warned: This move is fairly advanced. “When knocking these out, I always feel like I'm pushing myself, especially when I add a weight to my back,” Tunde says.
Begin in a high plank position. Place your palms on the ground in a diamond shape, meaning your thumbs and pointer fingers are connected and positioned directly beneath your chest. Your knees can be on the ground to modify this move (it’s tough!), or you can be on your toes to make this triceps exercise even harder.
Engage your core and bend at the elbows, pausing at the bottom of your push-up.
Push through your palms and use your triceps to lift your chest back up to the starting position.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
3. Plank Up
This triceps exercise combines cardio and strength. Not only will you strengthen your triceps by pushing your body up and down repeatedly, but you’ll also elevate your heart rate—especially if you pick up the pace.
Begin in a high plank position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists and your hips in line with your shoulders. If you’d like to take a modification, bring your knees to the ground.
Lower one forearm to the floor at a time to enter a low plank position, bringing your shoulders over your elbows. Keep your hips stable and avoid opening up to one side as you lower.
Hold for a few seconds. Then, press one palm into the ground at a time to return to a high plank position.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
4. Press Up
This exercise might initially look like a glorified stretch, but don’t be fooled. It takes serious work to press your entire upper body off the floor, and your triceps are bearing the brunt of that load. If you practice yoga, you’ll likely notice the similarities between this triceps exercise and Upward Facing Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) or Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana).
Lie facedown on the ground with your hands slightly in front of your shoulders.
Exhale and drive your palms into the ground as you straighten your arms to lift your upper body off the ground. Keep the tension in your triceps as they fully contract.
Slowly bend your elbows to lower back down to the ground.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
Dumbbell Triceps Exercises
1. Overhead Extension
This classic dumbbell triceps exercise targets all three heads of the triceps, with an emphasis on the long head. Tip: Drop one weight if two is too much load.
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand. Lift both arms to bring the weights overheard. Then, bend your elbows so your biceps frame your face and the weights are behind your head. This is your starting position.
Engage your triceps to extend arms so they're fully straight, with your palms facing inward.
Bring the weights back to the starting position.
Do 3 sets of eight to 12 reps.
2. Preacher Curl
“I love this triceps exercise because it works both the biceps and triceps, shredding the upper body,” Tunde says. It’s easiest to do this move at the gym, where you can use the preacher curl machine or an angled bench to work your triceps with proper form.
Begin by holding dumbbells or a mini barbell with your upper arms and elbows resting on the cushion of a preacher curl machine. Extend your arms, slightly bending your elbows to protect the joint.
Squeeze your biceps while maintaining contact between the back of your arms and the padding as you curl the weights up.
Lower back to the starting position, keeping your triceps engaged throughout the lowering phase of the movement.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
3. Skull Crusher
You’ll want to move slowly through this triceps exercise to maintain tension on the triceps throughout each rep. “I enjoy switching out a barbell for an EZ bar occasionally,” Tunde says, referring to an angled barbell design meant to ensure proper alignment and prevent joint injury.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Holding a dumbbell in each hand, raise your arms to bring the weights above your chest and keep your palms facing inward. Your arms should create the shape of an “L” with your torso.
Bend your elbows to 90-degree angles, bringing the weights to either side of your head. Be careful not to move the weights directly over your face.
Engage your triceps to straighten your arms back to the starting position.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
4. Triceps Kickback
This dumbbell triceps exercise targets all three heads of the muscle with an emphasis on the lateral head. “I love these because they’re simple yet extremely effective,” Tunde says.
Stand with a dumbbell in each hand, facing your palms inward. Hinge at the hips, bringing your butt back while maintaining a flat back. Row the weights back to bring your bent elbows backward. Tuck your arms in close to your midline. This is your starting position.
Extend both arms out long to “kick” the weights back. Be mindful not to overextend your elbow joint.
Engage your triceps at the top before returning to a 90-degree angle.
Do three sets of eight to 12 reps.
How to Incorporate Triceps Exercises Into Your Routine
You might be tempted to hit these triceps exercises every day, but don’t overdo it. Training these muscles three days per week is plenty—just make sure you switch up your triceps exercises to hit all three heads of the muscle.
Want to narrow your options down even further? A study by ACE Fitness found that diamond push-ups, triceps kickbacks, and triceps dips were the triceps exercises that led to the most muscle activity in the a group of 15 women between the ages of 20 and 24.
Tips for Advanced Triceps Training
Ready to take your triceps exercises to the next level? Here’s how to boost the intensity.
Increase reps and weight. Start by doing eight reps of dumbbell triceps exercise in a set and gradually increase that number by two reps each session. Once you get to 12 reps, increase your weight and go back to doing eight reps.
Play with time under tension and tempo. Time under tension refers to the amount of time a muscle is activated during a set. Tempo, meanwhile, is how quickly or slowly you move the weight. Both time under tension and tempo can be adjusted for more difficult triceps exercises. For example, while doing diamond push-ups, try lowering to the ground for a slow count of three, then exhaling to press up in one smooth motion.
Incorporate compound exercises. Many triceps exercises are isolation exercises, meaning they only work one joint at a time. Up the difficulty by adding compound exercises into your routine. For example, instead of a triceps kickback, try a bent-over row and triceps kickback combo. Your muscles will fatigue at a faster rate.
The Takeaway
When it comes to training your upper body, you should make sure to include a variety of triceps exercises to increase your functional strength and add definition to your arms. Beginners can start with Arms and Light Weights Classes on the Peloton App (trust us, even light weights can pose a challenge), or you can dive right into Upper Body Strength classes. For a fleshed out plan, join the Arms with Tunde program, which covers 19 classes in four weeks for a progressive build. Your strongest self is just around the corner.
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