Ladies, seeking to construct a physique that clearly shows you recognize your way around a set of dumbbells?
By targeting the triceps, you will develop functional strength and your upper body physique. Fabricated from three heads that carry different functions, the triceps brachii will be targeted in specific ways for optimal results. And I guarantee you will like to see the horseshoe-shaped muscle on the back of your upper arm showcased each time you throw on a tank top.
Follow this guide to read more concerning the triceps function, probably the most effective exercises to perform, and one of the best workout you’ll be able to do to focus on this muscle group.
Table of Contents:
- Why Should Women Perform A Tricep Workout?
- How Can Women Add Definition To Their Triceps?
- The Best Tricep Workouts For Women
- Programming Suggestions For Tricep Workouts For Women
- Triceps Anatomy
- 8 Best Tricep Exercises For Women
Why Should Women Perform A Tricep Workout?
Have you ever ever heard, don’t lift heavy or else you’ll get bulky? In terms of constructing muscle for girls and gaining strength, women greatly profit from strength training. The common misconception in strength training is the fear of looking “too bulky” or masculine.
The very fact is, women have significantly lower amounts of testosterone than men together with anatomically smaller muscles and lower amounts of lean tissue. The likelihood of girls’s bodies developing massive amounts of muscle is unrealistic.
Unless you’re specifically training for a physique or bodybuilding competition, you don’t want to fret about looking too muscular. It takes pure drive and exertions to construct an upper-body physique. Constructing the triceps is a vital component of constructing a functional and powerful upper body.
The triceps assist in elbow extension, which incorporates exercises like push ups, triceps dips, bench press, and more functional movement patterns like getting off of the bottom or pushing a heavy object away from you.
As well as, constructing the upper body will help increase lean body mass and help lose fat stores. The larger the ratio your body has of lean mass as compared to fat mass, the more metabolically energetic your body becomes.
Increasing your metabolic rate plays a vital role in calorie burn and fat oxidation, and you’ll be able to burn more calories by simply carrying more muscle. With the physiological advantages of constructing muscle come the emotional and mental advantages of improving self-esteem and confidence in your appearance.
How Can Women Add Definition To Their Triceps?
Constructing muscle and adding definition to the triceps, together with every other muscle of the body, takes exertions and consistency.
A correct strength and conditioning program that includes progressive overload and specific training outputs like variable intensities, different variations of exercises, and consistent training of your complete body can get you results.
In terms of adding definition specifically to the triceps, incorporate tricep exercises into your routine, at the very least 2-3 times per week. These exercises will be added in full-body days or upper-body workouts.
Getting enough recovery in between training the upper body, at the very least 24-48 hours of rest in between sessions, is really helpful. approach to gauge for those who’re fatigued is clear soreness from the upper body or feeling like you might be unable to lift as heavy as you usually do.
Make sure that you might be getting quality rest and are benefiting from your rest days for light movement, mobility work, and stretching parts of the body which might be especially sore.
Together with exercise variation, frequency of working the triceps and recovery, nutrition plays a vital part in restoring the muscle and ensuring it’s fueled post-session and thru your recovery days.
If you may have trouble eating enough protein to satiate your needs, protein supplements are an ideal place to begin. The typical protein advice for girls is 1.6–1.7 g protein per kg body weight.
The Best Tricep Workouts For Women
Let’s get into your triceps workout! After, I’ll cover programming information and undergo step-by-step directions for every exercise.
The workouts below deal with upper body push with the triceps brachii muscle because the essential muscle getting used. The primary workout is particular for the gym, requiring equipment and lets you easily increase weights once you feel comfortable. This workout will be an ideal place to begin to seek out your baseline strength.
The second workout is an at-home option where each movement is either body weight or utilizing a dumbbell. The dumbbell will be supplemented for a resistance band. You’ll need a secure anchor point for the band (a door does just effective).
Gym Tricep Workout for Women:
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Close Grip Bench Press |
4 |
10 |
Triceps Dips |
3 |
8-12 |
Cable Triceps Pushdowns |
3 |
12 |
Triceps Push Ups |
3 |
10 |
Skull Crushers |
3 |
12 |
At-Home Triceps Workout for Women:
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
Triceps Push Up |
4 |
10 |
Tricep Dips |
4 |
10 |
Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension |
4 |
12 |
Tricep Kickbacks |
4 |
8-12 |
Dumbbell Floor Press |
4 |
10 |
Programming Suggestions For Triceps Workouts For Women
When you’re not already incorporating resistance training in your routine, that is an ideal reminder to begin now!
Strength training 2-3 times per week is really helpful and is an attainable goal as a place to begin. Specializing in full-body workouts or workout splits can get the job done.
Generally, for those who are limited on time, hitting each the upper body and lower body in a single session might be probably the most time efficient. If someday you’re doing a full body “push day” (squats, push-ups, etc.) the subsequent day would deal with a “pull day” (deadlifts, pull-ups, etc.).
Allowing certain muscle groups to rest as you’re employed the opposing muscles in the subsequent session is a approach to space out your workouts and make sure that you’re allowing the worked muscles to get well. Incorporating triceps-specific exercises in your upper body push day or general upper body days will help to construct a functional upper body.
The final rule for volume of labor is to begin moderately and slowly increase the workload over time. The workouts I just highlighted start at a moderate volume that follows muscle hypertrophy sets and rep ranges. That is an efficient approach to practice form and performance with each exercise.
When you decide to repeat this workout, grab heavier weights or push a little bit harder through the “failure” movements. Again, make sure that to prioritize your form before you begin to extend your workload.
Triceps Anatomy
The triceps brachii is a three-headed muscle situated on the backside of the upper arm muscles. This muscle runs alongside your complete length of the humerus. Its three muscle heads, long, medial, and lateral head, all originate from attachments to the humerus or scapula and insert into one tendon on the ulna.
The triceps brachii as an entire functions to increase the forearm on the elbow joint. A few of the compound exercises triceps play a vital role in include the shoulder overhead press, dips, and the bench press.
Let’s go deeper into each triceps brachii head’s function.
Long head:
When the arm is in adduction, the long head of the triceps brachii prevents displacement of the humerus and keeps it stable within the glenoid cavity. As well as, it assists with adduction and extension of the arm on the shoulder joint.
The long head makes up the vast majority of the mass of the triceps.
Medial & Lateral head:
The medial head is energetic throughout the extension of the forearm that’s supinated or pronated on the elbow joint. The lateral head is the strongest of the three. It has the identical motion of the medial head, it’s energetic throughout the extension of the forearm that’s supinated or pronated on the elbow joint.
Even though it is difficult to separate the medial and lateral head through exercise-specific activation, they each kick in when the shoulder is opened above a 90-degree angle. The medial head will take over and dominate when the shoulder is at higher angles.
8 Best Tricep Exercises For Women
Able to master one of the best tricep exercises for girls? Here’s tips on how to do them!
1. Overhead Triceps Extension:
This exercise is an efficient approach to directly goal the triceps while difficult your overhead range of motion.
You should utilize one or two dumbbells when performing dumbbell triceps extensions. When you prefer other equipment options, you too can use a barbell, resistance band, or a cable machine as a substitute.
Tips on how to do an Overhead Triceps Extension:
- Utilize one heavy dumbbell or two moderate dumbbells. Stand tall together with your feet shoulder distance apart and your core braced.
- Press the dumbbell overhead. Keep your biceps fairly near your ears. Bend through your elbows and slowly lower the load until it’s behind your head/neck.
- Make sure that to maintain your spine neutral and avoid arching through your back as the load lowers. Press the load back to the beginning position and repeat.
- When you’re able to increase the intensity, attach a band to the dumbbell that you simply’re using so it provides constant tension on the best way up and on the best way down.
2. Triceps Kickback:
When you’re seeking to goal one tricep muscle at a time, consider the triceps kickback to be your go-to exercise. Don’t go too heavy together with your weights when performing tricep isolation exercises because it is more essential to deal with a mind-muscle connection.
Tips on how to do the Triceps Kickback:
- With one dumbbell in hand, utilize a bench or the ground and position yourself in a quadruped position. When you’re using the bench, the stable arm and leg might be on the bend while the arm that’s kicking back is off of the bench and the identical foot is stable on the bottom.
- In quadruped, make sure that your spine is neutral. Row your energetic arm up until your upper arm is parallel to the bottom, making a 90-degree angle through your elbow.
- Extend through the elbow and relax the dumbbell towards the back. Slowly return the load until it’s perpendicular to the bottom. Make sure that your upper arm stays stable throughout. All that’s moving is your forearm because the triceps contract and calm down.
3. Skull Crushers:
An intense name for an efficient exercise, the skull crusher will be accomplished with an EZ bar, a barbell or two dumbbells. My personal favorite equipment for this exercise is the EZ bar because it takes numerous pressure off your wrist.
Tips on how to do Skull Crushers:
- Lie down on a flat bench or the bottom. Grab onto a barbell or dumbbells with a shoulder width apart, overhand grip, and press it over your chest. Keep your upper arms close together as you bend through the elbows and send the bar to your brow.
- With a giant exhale, press the load away from you and are available back into the stacked starting position. For a deeper triceps activation, send the bar barely behind your head and lower the load further down. Take into consideration isolating the triceps, for those who begin to feel your back muscles take over, reduce your range of motion.
- Make sure that to maintain the alignment of your body in touch with the bench and actively utilize your core muscles to stabilize the load.
4. Triceps Dips:
Dips are certainly one of my favorite exercises as there are multiple variations you should use to hit different muscles. To focus on your triceps, you’ll have to maintain your upper body more upright, whereas to hit your chest muscles you need to lean forward.
This exercise will be done on two parallel bars or on a bench.
Tips on how to do Triceps Dips:
- Position your body in between the bars. Press yourself up so your arms are locked out at the highest and your legs are hovering off of the bottom. Lower yourself slowly until your elbow reaches a 90-degree angle and also you begin to feel the chest muscles stretch.
- It’s natural in your torso to angle forwards. Press back into your starting position and repeat. One approach to regress the parallel bar dip is to support your feet on a step your complete time.
- This fashion, you’ll give you the chance to distribute a few of your weight through your feet and assist yourself through the movement. When you’re limited to equipment or working from home, utilize a bench/chair in your dips.
- Sit on the bench and place your hand’s shoulder distance apart on the sting of the bench. Your knuckles ought to be facing forwards. Shift your body off and in front of the bench. Slowly lower all the way down to 90 and press right back up. Have your feet in touch with the bottom and actively assist the movement.
- When you need a progression, elevate your feet on a step and repeat your bench dips.
5. Tricep Push-Ups:
Identical to your standard push-up, except with a better hand and arm position, tricep pushups especially activate the back of the arm and the remainder of the body’s core stabilization.
That is an efficient body weight tricep exercise to include into your private home and gym workouts.
Tips on how to do Triceps Push Ups:
- Position yourself in a tall plank position together with your hands directly underneath your shoulders. Bend through the elbows and slowly lower yourself down until your chest hovers over the bottom. Have your upper arms barely away from the torso.
- Keep the remainder of your body in a strict plank, ensuring proper tension and activation is keeping the spine neutral. A simple regression is to drop all the way down to the knees and deal with the engagement of the triceps throughout the push-up.
- When you’re seeking to bump up the intensity, decelerate your push-up or add weight (a sandbag or plate in your back) to challenge your push-up strength.
6. Cable Triceps Pushdowns:
An isolation exercise for the triceps that prompts all three heads, cable push-downs, will be done with a cable or with a resistance band.
Tips on how to do Cable Triceps Pushdowns:
- Attach a straight bar, rope attachment, or V handle to the cable and position your anchor toward the highest. Grab onto your attachment (overhand or neutral grip) and pull it down so your elbows are near your sides and your hands are about chest level.
- Stabilize your body in a standing neutral position together with your knees bent barely. Push the cable down until your elbows are fully prolonged and your triceps are actively engaging. Slowly return the pulley to your start position and repeat.
- Pause at the underside to optimize the contraction of your triceps.
7. Close Grip Bench Press:
In search of a compound exercise that’ll activate the chest and result in toned triceps? Look no further than the close grip bench press!
This movement strains the triceps and is a chance so as to add significant weight to the bar.
Tips on how to do the Close Grip Bench Press:
- Arrange your bench and barbell at an appropriate level in your arm’s length (you need to have barely enough space to press the bar up and get into position). Lie down on the bench and place your hands shoulder distance apart on the bar.
- Unrack the barbell and press it over the chest. Lower the barbell until it touches your chest and press it to the beginning position.
- Keep your elbows tucked in and shut to your body through the press. Make sure that your body is in proper alignment on the bench. It’s okay to arch through the lower back so long as your upper back is actively pressing through the bench and your feet are in touch with the bottom.
- Create constant tension throughout your body throughout the bench press. Once you’ve built the foundations of your form, add weight to the barbell and challenge the strength of your barbell.
8. Dumbbell Floor Press:
An important variation to the close grip bench press, the ground press will be done with dumbbells, kettlebells, and or a brief weighted bar.
Because the floor press limits the range of motion of the press as compared to being elevated on a bench, attempt to go heavier with this position. It’ll feel safer because the ground is there when you have to bail during a failed repetition.
Tips on how to do the Dumbbell Floor Press:
- Lie down on the ground with a weight in each hand. Keep your elbows on the bottom and shut to the body (exactly just like the close grip bench press).
- Make sure that to stack the weights directly above the elbow and keep this vertical alignment throughout the ground press.
- Press the weights directly over your chest then slowly lower them to the bottom. Tap the bottom and repeat.
How a Woman Should Train Her Triceps
Finding a training method that you simply enjoy and gravitate toward is of the utmost importance. It’s one approach to determine that you simply’ll follow the method and dedicate your time to seeing results. Whether you select traditional strength training or other methods of movement, all are great options to begin targeting the upper body for increased strength gains.
place to begin is to include tricep-specific exercises, utilizing the list I just went over with you, on a weekly basis in your routine. With every exercise, deal with form and performance.
Connect your mind to muscle activation and aim to challenge yourself with each set of labor. Over the course of a number of weeks, increase your work capability by either bumping up the load that you simply’re using, increasing the repetitions, incorporating eccentric counts (slow lowering), or trying progressions of triceps exercises.
You may level up your workouts by incorporating triceps-specific exercises. After a number of weeks, you will begin to see improvements in your functional upper body strength and physical gains. Now get after this workout!