Triceps Exercises

Making up roughly two-thirds of your upper arm, the triceps brachii — long, lateral and medial heads — extends the elbow and locks out every press you'll ever do. If bigger arms or a stronger bench are goals, triceps work is non-negotiable, and in everyday life it powers everything from pushing yourself up off the floor to shoving a heavy door closed.

That two-thirds figure deserves repeating: most of your upper arm's mass is triceps, which is why dips, pushdowns, skullcrushers and close-grip presses move the needle faster than any curl. Each one below comes with form guidance on the flaring and half-repping that limit growth, plus band and bodyweight versions for training at home.

Since the triceps already assists every chest and shoulder press, the tidiest plan is to bolt focused work onto those pressing days rather than inventing a separate session. Use overhead extensions to bias the long head and pushdowns for the lateral head — Bifit's activation data by head shows the difference.