Tricep workout: exercises for the long, lateral and medial head

The three heads of the triceps

The triceps is the muscle on the back of your upper arm, and it is bigger than the biceps, so it decides a lot of how large your arms look. All three heads join one tendon at the elbow and straighten the arm. Only one of them also crosses the shoulder, and that detail shapes how you should pick exercises.

All tricep exercises

Close-grip push-upTriceps and chest

Cable triceps pushdownTricepsGuide

Band triceps pushdownTriceps

Overhead dumbbell triceps extensionTricepsGuideLying triceps extension (skull crusher)TricepsGuideParallel bar dipChest and tricepsGuide

Why overhead work matters for the long head

Because the long head attaches to the shoulder blade, its length changes with arm position. With your arms by your sides it is relatively short. With your arms overhead it is stretched, and muscles tend to work hard and grow well when trained in a lengthened position. At least one training study that compared overhead extensions with pushdown style extensions found more triceps growth from the overhead version.

The practical rule: give your tricep workout one overhead move. An overhead dumbbell extension, an overhead cable extension with a rope, or a skull crusher where the bar travels slightly behind the head all count. Pushdowns and dips are still worth keeping, because they let you go heavy and train the lateral and medial heads hard.

Best tricep exercises

1. Cable tricep pushdown: easy to learn, easy to load, and kind to most elbows. Rope or bar, elbows pinned to your sides. Every detail is in the tricep pushdown guide.
2. Overhead dumbbell extension: the simplest long head exercise. Hold one dumbbell with both hands behind your head and straighten the arms.
3. Skull crushers: lying extensions with an EZ-bar or dumbbells, a strong long head stretch with more load than overhead work. See skull crushers for elbow-friendly setup.
4. Dips: stay upright to shift the work towards the triceps. One of the few tricep exercises you can load heavy with a belt. The dips guide covers depth and grip.
5. Close-grip bench press: hands about shoulder width apart. A heavy compound press that builds the lateral and medial heads along with the chest.
6. Close-grip push-up: the home version of the close-grip press. Hands under the shoulders, elbows brushing the ribs.

A complete tricep workout for the gym

Use this as a standalone arm day or as the tricep block at the end of a push day. It goes heavy first, then stretches the long head, then finishes with a lighter pump.

If your elbows ache with skull crushers or heavy presses, swap them for an extra overhead cable extension. The elbow joint usually tolerates cables better than bars.

Tricep dumbbell workout

With only dumbbells you can still train every head. Lying extensions cover the stretch, overhead extensions add more of it, and kickbacks or a close-grip dumbbell press give you lockout work.

For a full arms session that adds curls to this, see the dumbbell arm workout.

Long head, lateral head and medial head exercises

You cannot isolate one head, because all three straighten the elbow. You can bias them, which helps if one part lags.

• Long head tricep workout: overhead dumbbell extension, overhead cable extension, skull crusher with the bar lowered behind the head. Use a full stretch and controlled reps.
• Lateral head tricep workout: bar pushdown, dips, close-grip bench press. Heavier loads with the arms by the sides.
• Medial head: reverse-grip (palms up) pushdowns and any extension where you fully lock out and pause for a second at the bottom.

Tricep cable exercises and the home option

Cables are the most practical tool for triceps: the tension stays on through the whole rep, the weight stack changes in seconds, and the rope lets your wrists turn naturally. A complete cable tricep workout can be just three moves: overhead rope extension, bar pushdown and single-arm reverse-grip pushdown.

At home, a band anchored to a door gives you pushdowns, and close-grip push-ups plus bench dips (hands on a chair, feet on the floor) cover the pressing. Make push-ups harder by slowing the lowering to three seconds before you add a backpack.

Chest and tricep workout, or biceps and triceps?

Both pairings are common, and both work. A chest and tricep workout makes sense because every chest press also trains the triceps, so the triceps are already warm. Start with presses from the chest exercises guide, then do two tricep moves. Expect lower tricep numbers than on a fresh day.

A bicep and tricep workout suits an arm day or the end of an upper body session. Supersets save time: a curl, then a pushdown, then rest. Pair it with the bicep workout for the full arm. If you also train shoulders that week, the shoulder workout shows how to fit presses in without tiring the triceps twice in a row.

Sets, reps and progression for triceps

Use double progression. Pick a rep range like 10 to 15, and when you hit 15 in every set, add the smallest step the equipment allows: one pin on the stack, or the next dumbbell. Cable stacks often jump 5 kg (10 lb) at a time, which is a lot for triceps, so stay at the new weight until you are back at the top of the range. The progressive overload guide has more on handling big jumps.

Tricep workout mistakes

• Elbows drifting on pushdowns. If the elbows swing forward, your shoulders and lats are doing the work. Pin them to your sides.
• No overhead exercise. Pushdowns alone leave the long head short of its best stretch.
• Half reps on skull crushers. Lower until the forearms pass vertical, then press. Partial reps skip the part that stretches the long head.
• Leaning far forward on dips. A big forward lean moves the work to the chest. Stay upright for triceps.
• Pushing through elbow pain. Swap the exercise for a cable version or reduce the range. If pain stays for more than a couple of weeks, see a physiotherapist.

Browse every arm exercise with its muscle map in the exercise library.

Questions people ask