Improving your posture and increasing muscle strength and stamina in your arms is essential for daily activities. But how much can an average person lift? Those who are looking to build strong, toned triceps should look into the top 5 tricep exercises that will not only help maintain good posture but also increase the number of push-ups you can do.
These five exercises focus on developing the back side of your upper arm, targeting all three heads of the triceps muscle and activating even the smallest stabilizing muscles.
The best part about these exercises is that they require no special gym equipment, so you can easily do them at home or outside.
Whether you're a beginner or an experienced lifter looking for a specialized exercise routine, these top 5 tricep exercises will instantly have your back and arms looking their best.
Related Article: Weighted Dips: Your Ultimate Solution to Building Your Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps Muscles
The Best Way to Work Your Triceps
The triceps are the muscles at the back of your upper arm. Tricep exercises focus on these muscles and increase their strength, helping you maintain good posture throughout your daily activities. The best way to work your triceps is by performing the following:
Mix Up Things With Weights
Any fitness program should incorporate both weighted and unweighted exercises. Although bodyweight triceps workouts are great for beginners looking to strengthen their arms, it's still beneficial to grab some weights every once in a while.
By introducing an external weight like a dumbbell, you can personalize your exercises, such as altering the angle and load on your triceps. This ability to experiment with different weights produces diversity in your workouts, ultimately helping safeguard yourself from injury.
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Train in Three Different Sections
Maximize your triceps workout by thinking of it in three pieces. Initially, incorporate heavy loads such as weighted extensions and bodyweight dips while executing movements. Subsequently, strive to cause muscle destruction with slow eccentric lifts like skull crushers.
Lastly, use light weights for high reps in exercises, including kickbacks and pushdowns, to enhance blood flow and bring a "pump" to the muscles!
Pair It With Shoulder Work
Unsurprisingly, just working on triceps exercises alone will not be enough to keep your arms strong—you should also consider adding shoulder-strengthening activities to your routine. Your triceps are heavily involved during all pushing movements like pushups and bench presses.
To maximize your strength gains in various exercises, you must ensure that your shoulders and triceps are strong.
By giving support and stability during strenuous lifts, the shoulder muscles will allow for more weight on the triceps—thus resulting in more incredible overall progress. Consequently, integrating these two muscle groups into a comprehensive fitness plan will produce ideal outcomes!
Best Tricep Exercises for Your Posture & Push-Up Count
Developing strong triceps is essential to having good posture and improving your push-up count. The triceps are on the back of the arm that help extend the elbows, which play a critical role in activities such as lifting, pushing, and pulling.
Incorporating tricep-building exercises into your routine will strengthen the triceps, improve support for the upper body, and allow you to stay in the correct posture for long periods.
1. Tricep Push-Ups
Tricep pushups are a great way to target the muscles in your triceps, giving them an intense workout. Tricep pushups are also beneficial for increasing arm size and definition if performed regularly with varying rep ranges. These pushups should be incorporated into an exercise routine to maximize the potential benefits of each workout.
How to Do It?
- To properly do a tricep pushup, you need to start in a standard plank position before bending the elbows to lower the body towards the floor.
- Keep the arms close on sides and offer stability with your core as you perform each rep.
- By targeting this particular muscle group with tricep pushups, you can build strong arms while working on shoulder strength and stability.
2. Side Push-Ups
Side pushups are a great way to strengthen the chest, arms, and shoulders. They also help improve stability and balance on one side of the body. Side pushups are excellent for honing unilateral strength levels, as each rep strengthens only one arm at a time.
Regular practice with side push ups will increase upper body endurance in its entirety while simultaneously increasing foundational stability throughout multiple muscle groups.
How to Do It?
- To do a side pushup, start by lying on the left side with the feet piled on each other, your left arm will be holding on to your opposite side waist, and your right hand will be placed on the ground in front of you.
- Engage the core and press through your right hand, lifting half of your body off the ground.
- Once you have reached maximum height, slowly return yourself towards the ground.
3. Dumbbell Incline Skull Crushers
Dumbbell incline skull crushers are an easy, effective weight-training exercise for working the muscles in your triceps.
When completing a dumbbell incline skull crusher, the primary movement is elbow flexion. Because of the inline nature of this exercise you will be working the fully lengthened range of your tricep.
Doing this exercise correctly can help increase muscle growth and also help develop a strong posture and improved balance.
How to Do It?
- Choose a set of adjustable dumbbells to perform this exercise.
- Next, lie down on an inclined bench.
- Extend your arms up the straight overtop of your shoulders.
- From here, flex your elbows allowing the dumbbells to slowly come down next to the sides of your head.
- With control and power, extend them back up to the starting position, overtop of your shoulders.
4. Plank-To-Pike
Planking and piking are great exercises for core strength and overall flexibility. Planking requires you to hold your body in a rigid position off the ground, on your forearms and toes with straight legs; you should contract your abdominal muscles and form a straight line from shoulder to toe.
Holding a plank for an extended period will better sculpt your core muscles, give you balance and stabilize your joints.
On the other hand, Piking activates abdominal and back muscles and helps develop shoulder stability. Still, there is widespread agreement that planks build more stability than pikes—that said, alternating between both movements can improve both strength and flexibility of the core area.
How to Do It?
- Start in a plank position on your forearms. Make sure your core is tight and legs are locked out.
- From here, push back into a pike position. The pike position will resemble and upside down V.
- Hold each position for a few seconds.
5. Tricep Kickbacks in a Plank
Tricep kickbacks in a plank are an advanced move that works both the triceps and core muscles simultaneously. The benefit of doing this move is twofold: it tones and strengthens the triceps while also working the core.
Planking increases your stability, which helps isolate and strengthen the all-important underside muscles of the arms. Plus, regular practice can improve your posture for a longer, leaner look throughout your body.
How to Do It?
- Start by getting a pair of hex dumbbells and enter the high plank position while holding the weights underneath you.
- Gradually pull one weight towards your armpit.
- Next extend your elbow fully, kicking the dumbbell back and straightening out your arm.
- Bring the weight back down slowly and repeat on the other side.
- Repeat this motion 12–15 times on each side for the best results.
FAQs
1. What are Tricep exercises good for?
Tricep exercises are great for strengthening the muscles in your back, improving posture and balance, sculpting and toning your upper body muscles, and developing shoulder stability.
2. What is a good Tricep exercise to do?
Incline skull crushers, plank-to-pike, and triceps kickbacks in a plank are all excellent tricep exercises you can add to your workout routine. Be sure to consult an expert if you need help with performing any of these exercises before attempting them.
3. How often should I do Tricep exercises?
Triceps exercises should be completed twice weekly to ensure you get the most out of them. Increase reps and weight as your strength and endurance improve to maximize results.
The Bottom Line
Tricep exercises are a great way to improve posture and increase your push-up count. By targeting the muscles in your triceps and shoulders with specific exercises such as tricep pulldowns, plank-to-pike, and triceps kickbacks in a plank, you can strengthen your core and improve your overall upper body strength.
Regular practice of these exercises will help you build stability, balance, and muscular endurance to achieve a stronger, leaner look in no time at all. So what are you waiting for? Get started with tricep exercises today to reap the many benefits they provide for your posture and overall strength.
