Strengthening the triceps is important because these are the muscles that assist arm movements in all daily actions. However, they are not always very easy to reach and train and if you do not do it correctly the risk of post-workout pain or injury is high.
Unfortunately, many of the exercises in vogue for training the triceps, are actually ineffective and essentially represent a waste of time because they are very difficult to perform while maintaining a correct posture, or not suitable for making the most of the effort that is made to do them.
These are some common exercises and the most valid alternatives to better train the triceps.
on the shoulders to perform the movement, thus making the triceps work less.
Alternative
The lying dips are instead a "great alternative to exercise this muscle band without burdening the chest or shoulders and also to do a great basic work on the whole core. Another rather useful exercise is the tight elbow version of the Chest Press. with dumbbells:
- Lie on a bench or on the floor on your back, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
- Bring the elbows to chest height, with the dumbbells raised and perpendicular.
- Push the weights up and fully extend your arms overhead.
- Return to the starting position.
Alternative
Quite valid but demanding substitute exercises from the point of view of strength are the diamond push-ups, whose primary aspect is not the speed of execution but rather the precision. The advice therefore is to take all the time necessary to perform it carefully.
- Begin by placing yourself in a high plank position and place your diamond-shaped hands in front of you (therefore close to a tight grip), with their index fingers and thumbs touching.
- Bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor while keeping your back straight.
- Apply force to your arms until you return to the starting position.
If you are not particularly experienced, in fact, the risk is not to perform all the steps exactly or to excessively strain the triceps. Both of these reduce the possibility of obtaining benefits. Also, if you are weak or fatigued, your lower back tends to arch or twist during execution, which can lead to injury.
Alternative
Separating these two exercises is a great way to work around the problem. The alternative is therefore a simple kickback:
- Holding two dumbbells, pronate to 90 °, taking care to maintain complete glute-lumbar support;
- To be able to do it one arm at a time, lean on a bench as in the exercise of the rowing with dumbbell;
- Bring the elbows close to the chest;
- Extend your arms back and return to the starting position.
Alternative
This exercise can be replaced with the French press.
- Lie down on a flat or slightly inclined bench; it can also be performed while seated:
- Hold two dumbbells (also hammer-style) or an EZ bar, bringing them up perpendicular;
- Then begin the back flexion, taking care to keep the elbows tight;
- Return to the starting position.
With dumbbells, the French Press can be performed one arm at a time.
is the one-arm triceps bend, which involves lying on your side and pushing your body up with one arm.However, it is a posture that requires perfect alignment, which if it jumps does not train the triceps effectively and exposes you to the risk of injury.
Alternative
This exercise can be replaced with the variation of the triceps push-ups with the knees on the ground, which generates better results than performing more complex movements such as one-arm push-ups.
