Supersets for powerful triceps

Have your arms stopped growing? Aim at each triceps head with these supersets for dramatic increases in strength and explosive muscle growth!

Author: Alex Nurse

You have already gained a lot of muscle mass, but for some reason it was at this moment that your progress hit an invisible wall? Nothing is more frustrating than the snail’s pace of progress on arm training days because we all want to add inches to our arm circumference. And if you’ve already tried every method – both necessary and unnecessary – to develop titanic arm muscles, it might be time to consider taking advantage of several biomechanical benefits.

Let’s use the immortal advice “divide and conquer”. Divide, that is, isolate – as far as possible – each triceps head due to strategic redistribution of the load – and conquer, that is, grow!

Three-headed horseshoe

Triceps accounts for more than half of the muscle mass of the arms, and this muscle consists of three heads. All heads are involved in extension and stabilization of the elbow joint. Let’s take a close look at the techniques to help you target each of these heads. Remember, you cannot completely isolate a single head, but the position of the arm and hand will help you shift the focus to one or even two triceps heads.

Aim for the long head

The long head of the triceps is the only head that originates above the shoulder joint. The long head is fully extended only when the arm is extended over the head. Pay attention to this because a muscle will not be able to contract as much as possible unless it has been fully stretched first. Exercises in which the arms are placed along the body do not overload the long head, but movements over the head, for example, do this task perfectly!

Even – in which the arms are perpendicular to the torso – uses the long head to a certain extent. By doing the exercise on an incline bench, you can further mix the emphasis on the long head. Not surprisingly, the long head of the triceps is also involved.

The most rational approach would be to start with bilateral (simultaneously with two hands) multi-joint movements. These movements will allow you to create significant stress; they should be followed by unilateral and single-joint movements. If you want to really rip that long head off, don’t do the one-arm overhead extension before the overhead press!

Seated French press

Aim for the medial head

The medial triceps head is the most active of all the heads during most strength training exercises. It works in all planes and at all possible angles both during pressing movements (bench press or seated press) and during triceps extensions. All it takes to hit this head accurately is good old fashioned intensity. However, this head is comparatively small, so if you are not King Kong, you will not be able to reach large weights in an attempt to isolate it.

There is ongoing debate as to whether the position of the hand actually affects the involvement of the medial head in contraction. Some argue that the reverse – or lower – grip shifts the focus to the fibers of the medial head. However, consistent use of the upper grip in triceps exercises also provides sufficient range of motion; you should try to work the muscle at different angles for more harmonious development.

Most guys can’t handle heavy weight in reverse grip exercises, so I recommend moving these movements to the end of the training session.

Aim at the lateral head

This head is most active in the final phase of the movement – when you fully extend your arm. If you never fully extend your arm, guess which head you are shorting?

Neutral grip movements (dumbbell extensions or a rope grip on the block) along with an overhead grip are best for targeting this part of the triceps. The lateral head is active when performing multi-joint movements (,), as well as during the French press on an incline bench.

Push-ups on the bars

Raising the intensity with supersets

While you will most likely do many of the exercises as simple sets – doing one set and waiting about a minute before starting the next – you can increase the intensity by combining two exercises that target the same triceps head but attack from different angles. By doing this, you lengthen your time under stress, which stimulates the secretion of anabolic hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.

In addition, a high pace will help you hit your workout plan faster. By combining all three supersets, you can deliver an aimed strike at each of the target zones in the shortest period of time.

The first exercise in each superset is multi-joint, that is, the elbow and shoulder joints are involved in the process, and the second is a single-joint movement in the ligament. In multi-joint movements, I recommend using a relatively high working weight so that the failure occurs between 6 and 8 repetitions.

On the second exercise, work with less weight, which will push you to muscle failure between 10 and 12 repetitions. Heavy weight in the first set will be a powerful trigger for testosterone secretion. At the end of the superset, you will need more recovery time so that in subsequent sets you can handle the maximum possible weight.

Divide and rule. Try this approach and see if your arms start growing again.

Attacking triceps with supersets

Below are three supersets to help you focus on all parts of your triceps. Choose the working weight with which you will reach muscle failure in the planned repetition range. Repeat the sequence 4-5 times, minimizing the rest between supersets as much as possible. After completing two exercises, rest for 2 minutes before the next set.

Triceps workout program

4 steps to titanic triceps

Want to enjoy the best triceps workout of your life? Here are 4 guaranteed ways to get a monstrous triceps boost.

1. Get off the horizontal bench

Bench press with a narrow grip and extensions performed on a bench with a 30-45 ° negative incline will help reduce deltoid involvement and slightly increase the load on the medial and lateral head of the triceps. The same exercises on a bench with a positive incline will activate the long head to a greater extent.

2. Leave your thumb away

Grasping the bar tightly with your thumb, holding the projectile in your fist, you engage the brachioradialis muscle (Musculus brachioradialis). This steals a fraction of the load from the triceps. If your palms and hands are intact, use a thumb grip on the same side of the bar as your other fingers.

Thumb grip on the bar steals some of the load from the triceps

3. Use isometric hold and pump

Fixing the arm in the position of maximum muscle contraction – the last centimeters of the trajectory of movement – increases neural activity in the triceps region, and this is transformed into an increase in contraction. Another way to burn out muscle is tempo pumping in the upper range of the trajectory of movement, especially effective after failure, when you are no longer able to complete a full-range repetition.

4. Use high-intensity training techniques

Negatives, or eccentric repetitions, are high-intensity training techniques. The technique is based on a slow lowering of the projectile after reaching muscle failure. You can also use the rest-pause technique: take a relatively large working weight (say, a weight with which you can finish 8 reps) and do only 5 reps with it. Place the projectile on the stops, rest for 15-20 seconds and resume the approach, performing 5 more repetitions. Combine 4-5 of these work / rest stretches and you have 25 reps with 8 rep weights. This will be your ticket to rapid muscle growth!

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