# Unable to build triceps..



## Fit (Aug 19, 2013)

I always try and hit my triceps as hard as possible in my workouts but i dont see the gains in them. They are almost equal to none. What do you suggest? Is this genetic or is it a relatively slow developing muscle?


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

What do your work outs for tris look like?


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## Jon.B (Mar 8, 2011)

What do you do for tri's?


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## andyhuggins (Nov 21, 2008)

Not hard enough.


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## smity220385 (Mar 15, 2012)

Maybe hit them too much? No time to recover perhaps?


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## Jon.B (Mar 8, 2011)

I predict too many isolation exercises


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## Paisleylad (Jan 22, 2013)

I was the same with mine.

I started to lower the weight and up the reps.

Also keeping form strict and slow and controlled has helped with mine.

Although inside of tri is lacking.


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## BoxerJay (Jan 11, 2011)

Try throwing in some sets of pressups and dips as well as what you already do.

Also don't forget to squeeze through the movement.


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## Raw meat 1984 (Sep 17, 2008)

Slow concentration movements, keep it strict. Try TUT lifts, train them little but twice a week and always changing excersises.

Or try pinning mgf for a few weeks in them.

What do you think your bodyfat is roughly as when I drop water and fat mine pop out but at the I'm bulking (been bulking) and my arms just look full.


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## Mark2021 (Apr 13, 2012)

Train for the pump

Close grip pressing

V bar/straight bar push down

Underhand push down

Seem to make mine grow easily


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

I just do dips, then overhead pressing and bench press seems to do the job.

I keep my elbows tucked in on bench press though so it hits the tri's more anyway.


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## Fit (Aug 19, 2013)

My Main Exercises are Cable Skull Crushers (Close and wide grip), Dips and Camel kick backs are the main exercises that i do consistantly.


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## Mingster (Mar 25, 2011)

Heavy presses.


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2013)

Drop the creatine and add in some protein m8


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## Jon.B (Mar 8, 2011)

Ditch the cables and do close grip bench. Seated dumbbell overhead tricep extension also works well.


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## ConP (Aug 18, 2013)

Are you over training?

How frequently do you train them?

Are you truly using the triceps or do you allow your other muscle groups to take the brunt of an exercises load?

Lots of variables to play with here.


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

Fit said:


> My Main Exercises are Cable Skull Crushers (Close and wide grip), Dips and Camel kick backs are the main exercises that i do consistantly.


Do some proper exercises mate

Bench heavy

Ohp heavy

Close grip

Dips

Db or bb skulls for mass

Any of the push down variants for bit of pump but you dont want any movement from shoulder joint at all strictly from the elbow


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## Fit (Aug 19, 2013)

Raw meat 1984 said:


> Slow concentration movements, keep it strict. Try TUT lifts, train them little but twice a week and always changing excersises.
> 
> Or try pinning mgf for a few weeks in them.
> 
> What do you think your bodyfat is roughly as when I drop water and fat mine pop out but at the I'm bulking (been bulking) and my arms just look full.


Thank you. My body fat right now is 12%


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## martin brown (Dec 31, 2008)

It seems the "hard work" solutions get ignored...

IMO Heavy presses, dips and press ups. Add an isolation exercise in as icing on the cake.

Cables, kickbacks etc are icing - they don't build the cake in the first place


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## Fit (Aug 19, 2013)

ConP said:


> Are you over training?
> 
> How frequently do you train them?
> 
> ...


I do triceps and chest twice a week as both of them are weak. My tricep really burns with the exercises that i do the exercises that i mentioned above. They get pumped as well but the result is such that my arms are now 16 inches but they dont even look 16 by any means because my triceps are small.


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## 1010AD (May 30, 2009)

@Fit it could just be over training which can be quite common. I'd totally change what you have been doing and start a new routine which could shock them into growing. Here is a stickie that hackskii wrote



hackskii said:


> Triceps:
> 
> If you are working triceps with chest then you won't have to do as much as the triceps will be pre-fatigued from your chest workout.
> 
> ...


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## ConP (Aug 18, 2013)

I would imagine your nutrition and recovery don't match the twice per week workouts.

I also imagine you do too many sets.

A "burn" doesn't mean any thing.

If currently you can do proper full range of motion dips with your body weight for 10 reps slowly week by week add weight until you're doing dips with 60kg attatched at your waist.

Your triceps will have to grow.


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## Fit (Aug 19, 2013)

Thank you every one. Excellent advises from all of you. Thank you every one.


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## ableton (May 24, 2013)

close grip bench press does it for me. Since i started doing it my triceps have got huge!


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## Fletch68 (Mar 17, 2013)

Breda said:


> Do some proper exercises mate
> 
> Bench heavy
> 
> ...


 Dips as in straight up and down version? And not going too deep as to stress the shoulder?


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## benno_2010 (Oct 8, 2010)

bench press and weighted dips work for me - maybe the occasional cgbp aswell for good measure


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## stevieboy100 (Oct 30, 2012)

throw in some diamond push ups and dips


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

Fletch68 said:


> Dips as in straight up and down version? And not going too deep as to stress the shoulder?


Not sure there is any other way to a dip other than straight up and down lol

Take it as deep as is comfortable for you mate


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## man_dem03 (Oct 1, 2008)

i find close grip incline bench is great for tries as you get a deeper range of motion that normal close grip bench.

and as the others have said, dips, heavy bench, ohp, skulls


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## Raw meat 1984 (Sep 17, 2008)

Breda said:


> Not sure there is any other way to a dip other than straight up and down lol
> 
> *Take it as deep as is comfortable for you* mate


i bet you say this quite often to the ladies huh?! :thumb:


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## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

Don't know whether @ConP would agree with this.

But taking the weighted dips he talked about, I've found when you fail, jump straight back up and do some negatives until you get to the point where you can hardly control the speed of your decent. We have some foot pegs on our dip station that makes this easy.

I only do it maybe once or twice a month on my last set but I'm convinced I feel a boost the following chest/tricep session from doing them... more so than whipping the weight off and doing a dropset with only body weight.


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## eezy1 (Dec 14, 2010)

what you need is time and patience to develop any muscle


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## theBEAST2002 (Oct 16, 2011)

For tricep size nothing will develop it like heavy bench press and OHP but when i work delts and tri's my w/o looks like this:

Cable tricep extensions 15x3

Lying barbell tricep extensions 15x3

french press db 15x3

Single cable tricep extensions 20x4 (light weight focusing on pumping blood into the muscle and getting a good squeeze on every rep)

This has built me a big horse shoe tricep, hope this helps


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## pumpster (Apr 6, 2010)

smity220385 said:


> Maybe hit them too much? No time to recover perhaps?


doubt it, I bet if you trained tri's 3 times a week as opposed to once youd get more growth training 3 times


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## pumpster (Apr 6, 2010)

Fit said:


> My Main Exercises are Cable Skull Crushers (Close and wide grip), Dips and Camel kick backs are the main exercises that i do consistantly.


Do you do any heavy flat work bench press?

My triceps have never been a weakness (Mines calves) and any relating tricep work looks like this

close grip bench press

weighted dips

skull crushers

straight bar tricep push downs on cables

overhead tricep extensions on cables with the rope

I do most of these 8-12 rep range as heavy as I can, weighted dips il sometimes go heavy down to 5-7 reps

and sometimes if I get an extra session and do anything different il throw in some tricep kickbacks, or the tricep machine we have at our gym.

Make sure your forms good and your really hitting your triceps, loads of videos on how to perform exercises.


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## Fletch68 (Mar 17, 2013)

pumpster said:


> Do you do any heavy flat work bench press?
> 
> My triceps have never been a weakness (Mines calves) and any relating tricep work looks like this
> 
> ...


 Are lying overhead extensions good for triceps? I mean going down below the bench for a greater range of motion? I use an EZ bar with a lighter weight.


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## ableton (May 24, 2013)

Fletch68 said:


> Dips as in straight up and down version? And not going too deep as to stress the shoulder?


I prefer the left to right version myself


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## GeordieSteve (May 23, 2010)

I've tried training mine once a week, not training them at all and now I'm hitting each body part twice a week to see how that gets on. Don't do it like this fooker in the gym today. Couldn't work out if he was doing bicep curls or practicing his bowling swing. Turns out he was one of the gym PTs as well. Shameful


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

Wow, 3 pages and don't think dumbbell pullovers have been mentioned.

Awesome tricep exercise. :cool2:


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## mal (Dec 31, 2009)

contract the muscle hard with strict form and youl start growing,8_9 reps.


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## Dark sim (May 18, 2013)

Dazarooni said:


> Wow, 3 pages and don't think dumbbell pullovers have been mentioned.
> 
> Awesome tricep exercise. :cool2:


Yeah for back. This should not hit tri's.


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

Dark sim said:


> Yeah for back. This should not hit tri's.


Nah, bend your arms and then tell me they don't work your triceps.


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## Kimball (Feb 26, 2012)

Dark sim said:


> Yeah for back. This should not hit tri's.


Agreed, one of my back exercises.


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## Dark sim (May 18, 2013)

Dazarooni said:


> Nah, bend your arms and then tell me they don't work your triceps.


They may be a contraction on your tricep, but you should not be flexing your tricep during a pullover.

That's like saying well I work my abs during a pullover, since they are contracted also, so therefore it must be an ab exercise.

Maybe you mean skull crusher?


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## Armz (Mar 20, 2012)

Just pick three or four exercises, go as heavy as you can with good form and your triceps will grow. When you feel they aren't responding again throw in drop sets and super sets etc.

Good form and full range is key as you need to stimulate the muscle fibers.


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

Dark sim said:


> They may be a contraction on your tricep, but you should not be flexing your tricep during a pullover.
> 
> That's like saying well I work my abs during a pullover, since they are contracted also, so therefore it must be an ab exercise.
> 
> Maybe you mean skull crusher?


LOL!

I'm not even going to waste my time.


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

Dazarooni said:


> LOL!
> 
> I'm not even going to waste my time.


Can we see the triceps these pull overs have built on you?


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## Redbeard85 (Mar 26, 2011)

Skull crushers and inclined tricep extensions worked for me mate. But like someone told me recently, don't over do it


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

lee85 said:


> Skull crushers and inclined tricep extensions worked for me mate. But like someone told me recently, don't over do it


Db skull crushers work wonders for me as a "finisher" with a relatively light weight


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

Breda said:


> Can we see the triceps these pull overs have built on you?


Sorry chief, they're that ginormous I can't get them fitted into a picture.

I've contacted NASA for help. Once they've sent me the satellite images from space I'll get the images posted up.


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## biglbs (Jan 26, 2012)

Close grip bench built some of my mass,great movement after flat bench.


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## Redbeard85 (Mar 26, 2011)

Breda said:


> Db skull crushers work wonders for me as a "finisher" with a relatively light weight


Interesting mate, I was thinking about that today, but it wasn't a tricep day. Will go ahead with this next time :thumb:


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

Dazarooni said:


> Sorry chief, they're that ginormous I can't get them fitted into a picture.
> 
> I've contacted NASA for help. Once they've sent me the satellite images from space I'll get the images posted up.


Nice 1


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## Breda (May 2, 2011)

lee85 said:


> Interesting mate, I was thinking about that today, but it wasn't a tricep day. Will go ahead with this next time :thumb:


Give it a try.

I personally feel the stretch and contraction all the way through the movement... probably because my tris are already full of blood :lol:


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## Redbeard85 (Mar 26, 2011)

Breda said:


> Give it a try.
> 
> I personally feel the stretch and contraction all the way through the movement... probably because my tris are already full of blood :lol:


That's exactly why I moved on incline tricep extensions, you feel it all the way and the next day after. love working tri's :thumb:


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## Fletch68 (Mar 17, 2013)

lee85 said:


> That's exactly why I moved on incline tricep extensions, you feel it all the way and the next day after. love working tri's :thumb:


Never tried them on an incline. Have to give it a go to feel the BURN baby!!


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## Nytol (Jul 16, 2005)

Fit said:


> I always try and hit my triceps as hard as possible in my workouts


I've not read the whole thread, but this is likely the cause.

Double the weight you are benching, and over head pressing, and your triceps will grow, (as long as you stop doing all that pointless isolation crap too).


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## Nuts (Aug 19, 2013)

Overhead press and seated French press for me. Seated French press with EZ bar as I can control a heavier weight as opposed to standing, then all the way down behind head level with bottom of neck, immense for the long head, I now do heavier French press than I can do standing military press


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## Nytol (Jul 16, 2005)

Nuts60 said:


> Overhead press and seated French press for me. Seated French press with EZ bar as I can control a heavier weight as opposed to standing, then all the way down behind head level with bottom of neck, immense for the long head, I now do heavier French press than I can do standing military press


That is my personal favourite too, 95kg x 6 I think was my best, which was when Tiny Tom came over to train.


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## Nuts (Aug 19, 2013)

Nytol said:


> That is my personal favourite too, 95kg x 6 I think was my best, which was when Tiny Tom came over to train.


That's an impressive weight I am currently at 75kG for 8, it still makes everyone stop and stare though!


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## Nytol (Jul 16, 2005)

Doing a seated power clean to get it in position is the biggest effort.

Anyone I ask to pass it up makes such an @rse of it, that I'd rather spend the energy doing it myself.


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## Nuts (Aug 19, 2013)

Nytol said:


> Doing a seated power clean to get it in position is the biggest effort.
> 
> Anyone I ask to pass it up makes such an @rse of it, that I'd rather spend the energy doing it myself.


I often do them following shoulders so getting it up there can be a struggle so I usually have to get a couple of guys one each end to pass it up, then I look in the mirror and watch their faces expecting me to drop it on my head!


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## NoGutsNoGloryy (Jan 7, 2013)

Rome wasn't built in a day.


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## Fletch68 (Mar 17, 2013)

NoGutsNoGloryy said:


> Rome wasn't built in a day.


Yes, but what about his triceps??


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## NoGutsNoGloryy (Jan 7, 2013)

Fletch68 said:


> Yes, but what about his triceps??


Takes time my friend


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## Sambuca (Jul 25, 2012)

i love doing this ^^


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## DazUKM (Nov 22, 2012)

CGBP will put meat on them


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## massmuscle (May 29, 2013)

Dazarooni said:


> Wow, 3 pages and don't think dumbbell pullovers have been mentioned.
> 
> Awesome tricep exercise. :cool2:


The cause it's a lat exercise! :huh:


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

massmuscle said:


> The cause it's a lat exercise! :huh:


As I already said, do it with bent arms, this will really bring the triceps into play.

The normal straight arm dumbbell pullover will mainly work the lats yes, but I wasn't referring to this.


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## massmuscle (May 29, 2013)

Dazarooni said:


> As I already said, do it with bent arms, this will really bring the triceps into play.
> 
> The normal straight arm dumbbell pullover will mainly work the lats yes, but I wasn't referring to this.


So not a dumbbell pullover then?

Even if you bend your arm and do the pullover range of motion your still not hitting triceps?

If you bend your arms then extend them then this would hit the triceps but then it becomes a skullcrusher, totally different exercise!


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## Dazarooni (Aug 30, 2010)

massmuscle said:


> So not a dumbbell pullover then?
> 
> Even if you bend your arm and do the pullover range of motion your still not hitting triceps?
> 
> If you bend your arms then extend them then this would hit the triceps but then it becomes a skullcrusher, totally different exercise!


It's still a dumbbell pullover, just a variant.

I can only suggest that you try it yourself. Elbows bent (the more bent your arms are the more you'll hit the tricep). Good stretch.

Anyhow, no point in dwelling.


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