Three muscles (long head, lateral head and the medial head) make up the tricep. The function of the tricep is for elbow extension, shoulder extension and adduction. The triceps originate onto the scapula and the superior and inferior radial groove of the humerous (posterior). The triceps insert onto the olecranon process of the ulna.

Training and Notes

  • Keep in mind that when you push something you use your chest and triceps.
  • Your triceps may be weaker after you complete a chest workout.
  • Triceps are one of the smaller muscle groups and should not be trained more than larger muscle groups.
  • Since triceps are used in most sports you could complete isolation exercises for sport training.
  • Training all angles with different types of exercises and grips is important.
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The V or horseshoe as some people might call a well developed tricep is a result of a lower body fat percentage mixed with good tricep muscle development. A sample could be working out by doing tricep extensions with the rope, reverse one arm pulldowns and then finally tricep kickbacks.

It all depends on your goal. The following recommendations are broken down by your goal:

1. Muscle mass workouts Triceps are a smaller supporting muscle and should be limited to 2-3 exercises while doing 3-4 sets for each one.

2. Strength workouts usually do high sets for each muscle but very low reps. Try to do 5-6 sets keeping your reps low and increasing your rest time to two-four minutes between sets.

3. Sports workouts should not be isolating tricep exercises too much as it's really as important as major muscles. Instead you could do more functional exercises that mimic the sporting action. For example, if you are a hockey player you should focus on a lot of pushing exercises and mimic movements such as pushing away an opponent or a 'punching' type exercises with a cable.

Since you are using your chest and tricpes any time you are pushing something you can switch the tricep exercises up on Back and Chest days. This will prevent overtraining and also give your biceps a chance to recover and use all available ATP (energy) during the Chest/Bicep days. Here is an example bicep mass building routine:

  • Decline Bench Tricep Extensions (8-12 reps) JUMP TO ->
  • Tricep Pressdowns JUMP TO ->
  • REST for 2 minutes and then start over for three sets.
  • When you have completed the above you can focus on doing sets of concentration curls until failure (but aim for 8-12 reps) with 2 minutes between each set.

Tracking Your Weights


Tricep Exercises By Muscle Activation | Read More

Decline Bench Extensions 92%
Tricep Pressdowns 90%
Dips with a Bench 87%
One -arm Cable Extensions (Reverse-Grip) 85%
Overhead Rope Extensions 85%
Seated one-arm DB Extensions 82%
Close-Grip Bench Press 72%