Next body part in this installment is Triceps. Now, the thing about triceps is that they are heavily used in most of your chest and shoulder exercises, so these probably should be done on the same day after chest and/or shoulders have been exercised, or when you know you won't be doing chest and shoulder exercises soon after. Give yourself at least 2 days rest after doing tricep exercises before doing chest and/or shoulders.
I really try to incorporate tricep exercises into my chest workout, that is, I do chest exercises that actually put good strain on my triceps so that by the time my chest workout is done, my triceps have been worked pretty good and I will only have to do 1-2 more tricep exercises to completely wear them out. Otherwise I would normally do about 3 tricep exercises.
I personally reserve the heavier weights for the first one or two exercises, and for the last exercise do something a little lighter and do as many repetitions as I can until I fail (and hopefully feel the burn)!
My favorite heavier weight exercises are as follows:
Lying down tricep extension a.k.a. Skull Crushers. Now for these, you start by lying flat on the bench and you will get a barbell or EZ bar (the wavy grip bar), with the weight lightly resting on your chest. Now, press the weight up in the air, and your arms should be perpendicular to the floor. The part of your arms between your shoulders and elbows will stay perpendicular to the floor throughout this entire exercise, very important. Once you push the weight up, slowly bend your elbow allowing the barbell and your hands to come towards your forehead (hense the term skull crushers). Remember, the part of your arms from your elbow to your shoulder remains perpendicular to the floor! Right before you let the bar touch your forehead (inches away), use your triceps to push it back up to the starting position. That is one rep. As soon as you get the weight back up high go down again, etc. As an alternate to this, you can use dumbbells as well.
Simple form
Now, you can choose to use this next exercise, standing tricep press as a heavier weight or lighter weight exercise. You can also select either a straight par, a v shaped bar, or a rope to perform this. Two simple rules to get you through this exercise with good form. Always keep your elbows pinned against your side throught this range of motion, and when you push the weight down, upon the return to the starting position, you should stop returning the weight up when your arms from your elbows to your hands are parallel to the ground. IE, your arms should never be at less than a 90 degree angle when going through the motion of each repetition. An alternative to this is a machine that does the same thing. The rules are the same except instead of pinning your elbows to your side they are fixed to a pad.
Some lighter weight exercises include:
Tricep kickbacks.
For this exercise, find a light dumbell, and something to lean or rest on. I prefer to put my left hand and knee on a flat bench to stabilize my body when working my right arm, and vice versa. The starting point for this exercise is with your arm at a 90 degree angle. You then push up using your triceps so that your entire arm is parallel to the floor. I prefer to hold the top of the motion where my arm is parallel to the ground for a second or two and I squeeze my tricep for a great burn. When you return down with the weight, again, your arm should never go less than a 90 degree angle.
Now this next exercise, dumbbell tricep extensions you can do one of two ways. Look at the pictures, and you will start this motion with your arm straight up in the air. Now with your palm facing away from you, slowly start to let the weight go down behind your head, and when your arm is about as bent as it can get, push it back up to the starting position with your triceps to the top position. The other way is if you have your palms facing in at the top of your motion, and bring the weight straight backwards, so the dumbell goes behind your shoulder, and not your head.
Now dips- picture is pretty self explanatory, but for you beginners you will need to find a machine that assists you with this motion. There is a pad you put your knees on that helps you push up. Again for this exercise, do not let your arms go past 90 degrees at the bottom of the repetition, and do not lock your arms at the top. Go down slowly, and explode up. Keep your arms/elbows in close to your body, do not let your elbows flail out, because that will work your chest instead. For an easier exercise, try the seated (machine) version of this exercise, utilizing the same basic form.
Lastly, there are the seated dumbbell extentions with one dumbell. Use the exact same form as your dumbbell lying down tricep extensions as mentioned above.
