Ladies, would you like toned arms? You may already be training your biceps, the muscle on the front of your arms, but the triceps, the three muscles on the back of your upper arm are the real “show” muscles when you wear your tank tops and sleeveless dresses.
The triceps brachii muscle (Latin for “three-headed muscle of the arm”) is a large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It is the muscle principally responsible for extension of the elbow joint (straightening of the arm). — Wikipedia
Here are a few tips to help your train and tone your triceps:
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1. Start with bodyweight exercises
Triceps are easy to train with your bodyweight as resistance. Bodyweight Triceps exercises allow you to work your triceps at home (or anywhere) with no equipment. Examples include push-ups. And especially close grip push-ups.
2. Focus on compound exercises
Triceps are supporting or “assisting” muscles in many other exercises, including chest exercises, push-ups, dips, chest presses (bench presses), and shoulder presses are compound exercises normally included to work your chest and shoulders, but directly train your triceps as well.
3. Don’t overtrain your triceps
Twice a week is best, less often is too little, more than that may be too much as your triceps are trained with many other exercises. Most muscles need to rest for at least 48 hours to allow them to recover and grow. This means that working out twice a week, and not more than three times each week should be right to produce the best results with a lower risk of injury.
3 Suggested triceps exercises:
1. Start with regular push-ups
Push-up is a chest exercise that directly works the triceps as you extend your arm with each repetition. Once you master the regular pushup, you can introduce a variety of push-ups, with your feet elevated (decline), your hands elevated (incline), and close or wide grip versions. Each of these variations focuses on different parts of the chest and works the chest and triceps from different angles.
2. Close grip (Diamond) push-ups
Start from the regular push-up position with your body straight and your weight supported by your hands and feet. Move your hands together until your thumbs and index fingers touch and form a diamond shape. Keeping your head up, lower your body slowly towards the ground until your chest almost touches the ground. Keep your elbows in and close to your body as much as possible. Push up from the ground until your reach the starting position and repeat for the required number of repetitions. This exercise simulates the close grip bench press.
More about push-ups:
- Proper Pushups For Women – A Simple And Effective Exercise
- 7 Pushup Variations For Sexy Chests, Arms And Shoulders
3. Triceps Dips
If you are in the gym, use dip bars, but you don’t need dip bars to perform dips. Use a sturdy table or the edge of a sturdy sofa. Sit on the floor with your back against the table or sofa. Keep your legs together and straight on the floor in front of you. Place your palms on the edge of the table behind you so that your palms are facing away from you.
Now raise your butt off the floor supporting your weight on your heels and your hands. At the start, your elbows should be bent at a 90-degree angle. Focus on your triceps and push yourself up until your arms are nearly straight and then lower yourself down by bending your elbows. Repeat this movement for the required number of repetitions.
