Iv had problems adding mass to my triceps, what exercises can I do to build them up?
Any suggestions are welcome. This is my problem area…
I also need some advice about dieting, I want to gain some major mass.
Thanks…
Audra
To add mass to your triceps do tricep exercises. To gain mass eat. Muscle doesn’t appear out of no where.
I’ve had best luck increasing tricep strength by supersetting heavey benching with heavey pushdowns on overhead pulley. But remember - it takes months of consistent hard work to see worthwhile results however a cycle of mag10 or finasol will help but it still takes time.
assuming you are eating right and therefore need some advice i can offer you a program that helped me overcome a very similar program.
i tried dips but if your tri’s are weak the pecs lats and shoulders will take the bulk of the stress.
i stopped all tricep excercises except tricep kickbacks. do not do these in the normal position you see in all the bodybuilding pictures. instead, set up your weigh bench as if were going to bench at an incline of around 30 degrees. then go around to the front of the bench(where you would stand if you were spotting some one else benching) and bend forward so that your right biceps is resting on the spot your head would be if you were benching. press your upper arm firmly to the bench in this manner and perform kickbacks. you can handle alot more weight with kick backs in general because the weight is heaviest when the triceps are strongest. when your forearm is parrallel to the floor is when the weight is exerting the heaviest force. and, when your triceps are close to a full contraction is when they are strongest(this happens because as a muscle contracts more and more cross connections are being made thereby making it stronger. nose crushers and extensions dont take full advantage of this but they still have benefits.(to test this, hold an extension at half way and compare this to holding it just short of lock out)
do a few light sets of modified kickbacks to get use to them(they will feel natural in no time) then go heavy for reps of 10,7, 5, 4,3,3,3. do this for around 6 weeks and keep adding weight. you will find that by the third work out you will be using atleast twice the weight you use for extensions. just keep adding weight and sqeezing the top for 1 second. also use a hammer grip(as if you were chopping wood with an axe). rest for around 3 minutes between each set. train tris first, preferabbly dont train any other body part that day.
after six weeks switch back to doing extensions, nose crushers, close grip bench presses for 8 to 12 reps for each excercise(pic a number of sets which suites your recovery for the number of days rest between tri workouts. eg). do the extensions last and concentrate on strectching the tris during this movement. also stretch inbetween sets. rest only 1 minute between sets and excercise. keep pumping and pumping the blood into the area. eat plenty
also -put your mind in the muscle -make sure your biceps are around as strong as your tris. - try massageing tris after working out - i hope you havent been overtraining or else this program will make you loose strength and mass
Gee Unger was helpful, NOT!! Audra, try doing a search on T-mag for Massive Eating articles by John Beradi, for triceps try Great Guns by Ian King, even Booming Biceps by Don Alessi, I know its got a biceps focus but the principles behind it will be helpful.
Alright Audra, obviously(despite my recommendations and advertisements thru wearing the shirt) you have not been reading T-mag. So I’ll give ya a hint… previous issues. For exercises, try a search for the top tricep exercises(I think Poliquin wrote an article a long time ago). I’ve found that mine respond best to the big movements. Close grip bench and dips especially. Also, read the diet manifesto, and then read John Berardi’s massive eating(both in previous issues). By the way, lemme know if you ever want a work out partner, if your willin’ to drive all the way out here or take me to the Sportsplex. =) Peace!
Dont get fancy with which exercises you choose for triceps. Stick with, close grip bench presses, tricep pushdowns, dips and lying tricep extensions.
If you want to gain mass, then i think the quality of the calories you eat, is more important than the amount. Eat 6-7 meals per day and make sure you consume good quality protein in EVERY one of those meals. I think you should be eating about 2 grams per pound of body weight. Also train heavy and get a good Whey Protein Isolate to use during, and directly after your workouts. Do this and you cant go wrong.
You won’t find any info re that stuff here. can’t we go back to more “how to getcha some” discussions? (RTFMA… read the freakin mag archives)
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