The push-ups for triceps or Triceps Dips are particularly suitable exercises to strengthen these arm muscles even when training at home, because they do not require the use of dumbbells, resistance bands or other tools.
To do this, simply sit on a bench, chair or sofa, placing your hands on the edge of it and straightening your legs in front of you on the floor. Then you have to bend the elbows, descending with the body towards the floor and return to the starting position.
A rather simple sequence of movements but which, if not performed correctly, can give rise to pain or discomfort in the shoulders, elbows and wrists.
To prevent this from happening or to think of solutions if the pain is already in place, it is necessary to understand why it occurs.
In addition to this exercise, there are others that are quite well known but not necessarily effective. These alternatives are better.
this part of the body and many people naturally do not have sufficient mobility to extend the arms behind the back, keeping the shoulder joint stable. Doing so causes the shoulder blade to lean forward and load it with a pressure that, over time, it can wear out the joint.How to avoid it
Before starting to try your hand at triceps pushups or Triceps Dips from the chair or bench, check that you have good shoulder mobility.
To understand this, it may be helpful to stand sideways in front of a mirror and, keeping your arm straight, look at how far you can extend it behind your body before your shoulder leans forward. If you can get your arm to about 45 degrees, you will most likely be able to complete this exercise without any particular problems because it means your body can adapt to that range of motion.
they turn their elbows wrong.
Unlike other movements aimed at training the triceps, pushups place a lot of weight on the elbows and if you perform too many and close repetitions or undergo excessively demanding variations, that load could stress the connective tissues of the elbows and the pockets of fluid that they cushion the movements of the joint.
The angle at which the elbows are held also affects the pressure felt in the joints, so if you feel pain in this area, they are likely to be pointing back, rather than diagonally, as they should be.
Keeping your back straight stresses the triceps tendon and over time, this can lead to discomfort and pain in the elbow and, in the worst cases, tendonitis (inflammation of the tendon) or tendinopathy (a breakdown of collagen in the tendon).
How to avoid it
First, check that your elbows are in the right position as you perform the exercise and descend to the ground, ie at a 45 degree angle from the sides of your body.
To make sure you don't inadvertently change their angles, it may be helpful to stand in front of the mirror and observe yourself as you perform the exercise.
Making a video is also a great idea to improve yourself because it allows you to watch your movements carefully as many times as you want, while you are at rest.
Also, to eliminate pain in the elbows it is advisable to decrease the intensity of the exercise. If you are a beginner, it is best to start with a small number of repetitions and, if you find that you are not feeling any discomfort, gradually increase them by a few units with each workout.
, regarding the pressure they place on the wrists. And just like with pushups, you may need to do some preliminary preparation exercises to improve mobility and strength.Among the most suitable are the stretches of the forearm and of the wrist itself, which before the execution of the dives can help to release tension and to assume a more comfortable position.
of the upper body.
Sometimes, in fact, the pain can be caused by physical reasons that are impossible to eliminate.
Fortunately, there are many other exercises to train the triceps, just as valid as the Triceps Dips but less invasive for the shoulders, elbows and wrists, such as the classic pushups on the arms or some variations of the traditional plank.
Also pay attention to overhead dumbbell presses.
