So you're shirtless and a bevy of lovely ladies can't stop checking out your physique. Happens every day, right? You begin tensing your muscles, every one of them, as you gently exhale while trying to look as natural as possible.
Wait—did you flex those triceps? You know, the muscles that make up two-thirds of your upper arms? Or do they not measure up to the rest of your physique?
Your triceps actually comprise three heads : the long, the medial and the lateral. The largest of those is the lateral head. The lateral head is the one that's furthest out to your side when standing naturally, which makes sense as the lateral plane is the one that goes directly out to your side.When seen from the front and sufficiently developed, the lateral head of the triceps provides curvature of the upper arm that attests that you've got a jacked physique.
The goal here is to make the lateral head as big as humanly possible. I'll show you the exercises that target it most directly and the strategies that will bring it up—whether it's a weak area or one that you just want to make even stronger.
It's impossible to isolate the lateral head completely. But that doesn't mean we can't find ways to emphasize it over the long and medial heads. It's not unlike how you emphasize lower versus upper abs, upper versus lower pecs, or vastus medialis versus vastus lateralis when training quads.
Let's take a look at six strategies you can include in your workout to emphasize the lateral head.
PRIORITIZE TRICEPS IN YOUR TRAINING
That sounds like a "duh" statement, but there are a number of actual steps you can take in the short term to emphasize not just your triceps, but the lateral head in particular.
For one, train your triceps after a rest day. This is an easy strategy that essentially requires you to rearrange your training split. Of course, your rest day should include plenty of sleep and sound nutrition so your body is primed for a challenging workout. Certainly, there's nothing tougher than trying to get a good workout in when you're tired and you'd rather be anywhere but in the gym.
A rest day also helps refresh your mind. Motivation tends to wane when you've spent too many consecutive days in the gym. Strategically placing a rest day before you train a weak body part—in this case your triceps—can set your mind and body up for taking your training to a whole 'nother level.
You can also prioritize particular lateral-head movements in your triceps workout. When using an arms-overhead position during triceps training, your long head takes the brunt of the load. When using a reverse (or underhand) grip, the medial head gets slammed. But we're after the lateral head here. So when doing movements in which your arms are by your sides with an overhand grip, that head becomes the focus of the movement.
That means dips, kickbacks, and overhand-grip press-downs are all good choices for targeting the lateral head. Of course, some exercises like skullcrushers position your arms at an in-between position, perpendicular to your body, so they focus on both the long and lateral heads.
START YOUR TRICEPS ROUTINE WITH A MULTIJOINT MOVEMENT
If multijoint exercises are your best bet on chest or leg day, why should it be any different on arm day? The answer is it isn't. Multijoint exercises (also called compound movements) are best done when your energy levels are high early in your workout before fatigue starts to set in. Then you add single-joint movements.
As a refresher, multijoint movements are those in which at least two sets of joints are working. Compare a close-grip bench press (movement taking place at the shoulder and elbow joints) with a press-down (movement takes place at only the elbow joint).
With the former, you can use far heavier loads, as other assistance muscles can help out. With the greater loads comes greater muscle stimulus, which is what you're looking for with the first one or two exercises in your routine.
There isn't a long list of multijoint triceps exercises, but most dips (parallel-bar dips,weighted bench dips, seated dip machine) can all be done with a substantial amount of weight. Close-grip benches, as mentioned, are another excellent multijoint movement that can be done first in your workout.
What's more, don't be shy about choosing heavy weights with your multijoint triceps exercises. Use a weight in which you fail at about 8 reps. Keep the higher-rep sets for the tail end of your workout, when you're aiming for a final pump. If you can do more than about 8 reps, add weight. If you're doing bodyweight dips, add a weight
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