Triceps Exercises

[Luther Miller]

I am looking for exercises specifically geared towards working my outer
triceps (those'd be the muscles facing outwards with my hands at my sides
and my palms facing forward). I don't know the names of the different
parts to my triceps..

Anyway, I have been doing "nosebreakers" (AKA skullcrushers--great names
for this exercise...), dips, and close grip bench press for my TRIs and
it seems that my inner tris (higher up in the back of my arm) are growing
at a great pace, but the outer tris aren't responding much.

A friend of mine told me to try an exercise using a cable pulley: Grip the
handle in one hand, palm facing up (this makes things harder) and with your
upper arm straight (vertical) extend your forearm downward. This is similar
to push downs except that you do one arm at a time and your grip is
upside down. I hope this explains what I mean... Anyway, I tried this
yesterday (these are _tough_) and they felt like they might be working
my outer tris more. Any other ideas?

thanks,

Luther

[Kamal Mortoza]

lmi...@heineken.tuc.nrao.edu (Luther Miller) writes:

>A friend of mine told me to try an exercise using a cable pulley: Grip the
>handle in one hand, palm facing up (this makes things harder) and with your
>upper arm straight (vertical) extend your forearm downward. This is similar
>to push downs except that you do one arm at a time and your grip is
>upside down. I hope this explains what I mean... Anyway, I tried this
>yesterday (these are _tough_) and they felt like they might be working
>my outer tris more. Any other ideas?

You can also do a variation on this using a straight bar and both arms
for the reverse push-down - but I usually do these light to emphasise the
horshoe shape at the back of my tris. I use "rope pulldowns" for my outer tris.
Instead of a bar - you attach a pair of ropes to the cable. Pull down while
twisting the rope out and away from your body.

starting positions Ending position
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H H
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0 0 0 0

>thanks,

>Luther
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[J Green]

>From: ka...@specialix.co.uk (Kamal Mortoza)

>You can also do a variation on this using a straight bar and both arms
>for the reverse push-down

an ez-curl bar can also be attached to the cable machine, and is gentler
on the wrists! :-)

Janice

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Janice Green, Research Programmer Social Science Data Center __o
Janice...@Brown.edu Brown University _`\<,_
SSDC2@BROWNVM -+||-----||+- Providence, RI (USA) (*)/ (*)

[gilbert.m.stewart]

In article <1992Jul24.1...@specialix.co.uk>, ka...@specialix.co.uk (Kamal Mortoza) writes:
> lmi...@heineken.tuc.nrao.edu (Luther Miller) writes:
>
> >A friend of mine told me to try an exercise using a cable pulley: Grip the
> >handle in one hand, palm facing up (this makes things harder) and with your
> >upper arm straight (vertical) extend your forearm downward. This is similar
> >to push downs except that you do one arm at a time and your grip is

I'd say experiment a little. Try different bars (straight, curved, bent
downward (like an "A" without), rope only, etc.), different positions.
I've been cable pulls for triceps facing away from the machine, with the
bar over my head, and pulling until my arms are straight in front of me.
Varying the final angle (the angle the cable makes with your outstretched
arms at the completion of the rep) will enable you to "tune" the exercise.
I find that if the final angle is closer to a right angle (maximum force
exerted on the arms), I get a very good burn. Of course, that will vary
with what each person has done before -- I get a burn now from that
because it's a slightly new exercise for me. As soon as I get less,
I'll increase the weight or change the motion.

Lately I've been using a straight bar in standard, straight up, facing
the machine form, elbows locked at sides. However, I keep my hands in
almost a "hammer" position (forearms positioned as if shaking hands
with someone). I turn my hands just slightly in at the bottom (as if
beginning to turn them palm up) and just use my thumbs hooked on the
bar. Maybe it's just me, but I find it brings my maximum poundage
down about 40% and gives quite a burn. Again, tho', it's a slightly
new motion for me, and that might go away. Using a "forefinger over
thumb" grip (like that used when deadlifting) helps. I suppose I
could get the same effect with a full hand grip if I could find a
bar that was bent so as to be closer at the bottom, but I haven't
seen such a beast. And using a rope that way didn't seem as
effective for some reason.

So experiment. I think the angle (arm to cable, at various points
in the movement) is the most significant effect, personally.

GMS