Importance of Long Head Triceps
The Long Head Triceps Exercises are the most essential part of our upper arms. If we don’t train them properly, our upper arms will not grow and get in good shape. Triceps make up ⅔ of our arms. They are the largest muscle group in our upper arm.
The Triceps comprise three bundles of muscles, meaning they have a better chance to grow if we train them properly. The most visible are the lateral and the long head tricep exercises, which run from the shoulder to the elbow joint. Triceps help in complex weight training exercises.
Stronger Triceps, resulting in better and more muscular arms, can help an individual perform tasks with hand more efficiently. The triceps heads help to maintain shoulder stability and functional movements. Strong Triceps can help stabilize the shoulder joint at the top of the humerus.
1. Triangle Push-Ups: Upper Arm Muscle Boost
The triangle pushup can be the single best exercise that helps to add muscle mass to your upper arm.
Because your upper arm is close together while performing this exercise, there is almost no contribution from the pectorals.
Hence the Triceps need to compensate. An interesting thing about this exercise is that there will be a more considerable amount of elbow flexion to increase the range of motion of the triceps movement.
Pushups are the most simple yet effective exercises to perform for the growth of any triceps muscle groups in our body.
But if not done with utmost precision, it can result in the shoulder joint getting damaged and might also yield no result if not done correctly.
2. Dips: Complete Triceps Engagement
The very next thing to do is a dip. It targets all our upper arms’ triceps muscles – the long head, the medial head, and the lateral head. To put in other words, dips will destroy everything.
A lot of variations are available when it comes to drops. One needs to use triceps dips, also known as vertical dips, to target the Triceps.
Due to the body’s positioning, steep dips activate the Triceps much more significantly than any other forms. When people hear the word “dips,” they think about triceps dips.
When you are in the top position of the dip, you will feel like coming down with the least amount of lean in your torso.
Allow your body to come forward to the point enough to complete the movement comfortably.
3. Close Grip Bench Press: Triceps Loading
The close grip bench press was one of the movements studied in the Bohler study. There are eight exercises in this particular study, and the close grip bench press came in last.
Although this study used the literal best exercises, being on the list indicates that the close grip bench press is highly effective at training the Triceps.
We prefer the close grip bench press because one can load the triceps muscle groups.
To bring to light that the above-written exercises are bodyweight movements and this implies loading weight according to your strength and convenience.
One can load a barbell with much or as little weight as one wants. This might result in lesser effectiveness than the other movements, but you can pack the consequences appropriately.
While gripping the barbell, you need to take a grip so the shoulder width is closer than the traditional bench press.
Grab the bar so your hands are marginally narrower than shoulder-width apart. When you grip the bar, you should feel the need to slightly angle your arms inwards.
You will find your elbows to have come down much closer to the body instead of a traditional bench press while going down.
When in the bottom, your hands must stay on both sides of your rib cage. You will face a balance issue if your grip is too close.
On the other hand, if your grip is too broad, the activation will be transferred back to the chest. Note that for maximum tricep activation, the key is a lockout.
Therefore, make sure that every single rep is 100% locked out and give a little pause before descending again.
4. Suspended Push-Ups: Shoulder Stability & Triceps Activation
Suspended pushups are a prime example of how understanding the anatomy of muscle groups can help with exercise selection.
We already know that pushups are excellent for training long head tricep exercises. That’s why we included triangle pushups at the top.
So why have another suspended pushup exercise? You now know that long head tricep exercises are involved in shoulder stability, so what do balance pushups require?
Shoulder support! In fact, during suspended pushups, the best triceps exercises are activated to a greater extent.
However, if you choose this exercise, you should choose a height of around 65cm (study), as differences in triceps activation aren’t always seen at lower elevations.
Note:
One training variable training to note. While choosing exercises, try not to train in the triangle and suspended pushups on the same day because the movement pattern is more or less similar.
5. Rolling Dumbbell Extension: Enhanced Triceps Activation
The roll bar extension is labeled “Lateral Head.” If you’re unfamiliar with the rolling triceps exercise, it’s the Skull Crusher or French Press on steroids.
Anyway, wait until you get to the bottom to ensure you know what we’re talking about and that you should do rolling tricep extensions.
To perform rolling dumbbell extensions, build in precisely the same way as you prepare to complete the Skull Crusher.
These are commonly done with dumbbells, but your choice doesn’t matter.
Choose what is most comfortable (dumbbells, barbells, EZ bars, etc.) and stand on the floor or bench with your arms straight above your head. Now you can start.
Bend your elbows to lower the weight. The elbow joint should remain stationary until the component reaches an angle of approximately 90 degrees.
At this point, the Skull Crusher becomes a rolling triceps extension. Instead of reaching up, slide your arm back over your lateral and medial heads like a pullover. Lose as much weight as possible.
You should be able to feel a stretch in your Triceps. Then bounce a little to activate the stretch-shortening cycle and pull your arm forcefully back until your upper arm is vertical.
This is the original position. Once you’ve got this far, explode the weight with a powerful elbow extension.
The rollback portion and stretch-shortening cycle allow you to use momentum to propel heavier weights compared to the regular Skull-His Crusher.
Note that this move includes shoulder extension and elbow extension, two of his shoulder joints that make this a compound move. Is it really like two quarantines in a row? Well…it doesn’t matter.
Importantly, these are the two movements for which the long-head triceps brachii is responsible. That’s why this exercise is the best exercise for long-head tricep exercises.
6. Bentover Triceps Kick Back: Targeting the Long Head
With your ego at the door, it’s time to grab a small weight and kick back your Triceps. The tricep kickback is a great exercise to target the long head of the triceps.
Again, this is because the upper arms are in a backbend position and pulled back over the back. This movement makes the lateral head more active and throws the elbow extension upwards.
Remember the Boehler study? Kickbacks turned out to be his second most effective exercise for a lateral head.
Dumbbell kickbacks are great isolation exercises for building the lateral head. As mentioned earlier, when performing tricep kickbacks, start with light weights.
A small amount of weight is enough because of the significant mechanical drawbacks. Bend your torso slightly above parallel.
You need a little leeway as you have to pull your arms back towards your back, so they are parallel to the floor. Bend forward and stretch your arms back as far as you can comfortably.
Hold your elbows and extend your upper arms until they are straight. Squeeze it a little and then slowly undo it.
7. Rope Pushdowns: Activation of Long Head Triceps
Rope pushups are the fourth best exercise for building long head tricep exercises, according to Böhler’s study.
Interestingly, looking at the EMG measurements, there is a significant difference in the activation of the long head (81) and the temporal head (67) by rope pressure.
The same phenomenon was seen with bar press downs (75 vs. 59) and to a lesser extent with overhead tricep extensions (81 vs. 72). Most other exercises differ by only 1-5%.
This is likely due to the above observations showing that the lateral head has higher activation when shoulder height is at 0 or just below.
With that said, do a rope extension! Set the rope as high as possible when preparing the pulley because you want the force to come from above.
With that in mind, we want to be just a few steps away from the reels. Grasp the rope and pull down until one elbow is fully bent and the elbow is at the side of your body.
Lower the rope to the ground. The key is to stroke the string slightly outward to fully activate the Triceps.
Note:
It’s also very effective at targeting the long head of the tricep exercise, so you can do straight bar pushdowns.
While rope pushdowns (Rope Pushdowns) seem better (primarily due to that last little trick), adding a little variety to your workout is always a good idea.
8. Overhead Triceps Extensions aka Long Head Triceps Exercise
The overhead triceps extension ranks right behind the rope pushdown on our list of the most effective long-head exercises.
With your ego at the door, you need to start with a lightweight cable machine or small dumbbells to do it properly.
This can take some time. To perform a tricep extension, you must be able to hold your upper arm downright upright over your head.
Then lower your arms behind your head, keeping your elbows stationary. At the end of the movement, your Triceps should be perfectly vertical and your elbows pointing up.
Then fully extend your arms so that they return to their original position directly over your head.
Once you can efficiently perform this move, you can introduce heavier dumbbells. Please. From there, you can proceed to weights.
9. Swimmers (Straight Arm Pulldowns): Complementary Triceps Exercise
Floating (we call it what we like, but most people call it the straight-arm pulldown) is a tremendous back-strengthening exercise.
So why add triceps back exercises to this list? You can only perform a limited number of press movements in a week or even a session.
If I can find activities for other triceps muscle groups that work, I’d like to use them. This is the swimmer.
A swimmer is an isolation exercise movement, similar to freestyle swimming, which is performed by simply extending the shoulders.
Therefore, they are called “swimmers.” But as we now know, shoulder extension is also driven by long head tricep exercises. It makes a great exercise choice to use during the day.
How Can You Implement Long Head Tricep Exercises In Your Training?
When choosing how to use these exercises, you should decide your goal or what you want to achieve.
For example, if you want an all-around workout and evenly engage each muscle, use these exercises at least once or twice during each press or chest/triceps session.
However, remember that all these exercises work with other forces so that you can use more power.
However, if you feel that your long head is behind you, devise a program in which most of the exercises you use in your push or chest/try sessions come from this list.
It also works on your triceps head. These exercises only provide the most essential activation of the Long Head Tricep Workout such as:
- Dips: 4 sets x 6 reps
- Triangle Push-ups: 3 sets x 7 RPE
- Rolling Dumbbell Extensions: 3 sets x 6-8 reps
- Close-Grip Bench: 2 sets x 8-12 reps
- Overhead Triceps Extensions: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Rope Pushdown: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
- Kickbacks: 3 sets x 12+ reps (failure)
This particular workout routine will result in better long-head triceps exercises and help to grow the Triceps Brachii. Try to include different activities so that you can train with additional repetitions.
Doing only low or high reps will do you a disservice. During your training time (not every session), you should prepare the entire 3-20+ range.
Also, note if any other arm muscles need special attention.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations:
Consider including dumbbell arm exercises targeting your biceps, tricep exercise, and shoulders.
Remember that you must prioritize each body part you want to work on, which means you will have to change something in your current program.
Well, you have more than enough to build an impressive set of Tricep exercises with an excellent long head. Now all that’s left is translating the above information into a real workout.
Frequently Asked Questions –
