When did “arm day” become shorthand for doing 47 variations of the same bicep curl?
Walk into any gym on a Monday evening and you’ll see it: rows of men hammering out bicep curls like their lives depend on it. Curls with dumbbells, curls on cables, curls so heavy they look like they’re trying to lift their regrets.
Somewhere along the rise of gym thirst traps, men decided that building impressive arms meant chasing a front-facing pump – never mind the fact that the muscle doing most of the heavy lifting, literally, sits on the back.
The obsession is understandable — the pump is immediate, the mirror feedback is intoxicating — but here’s the inconvenient truth: your biceps make up less than a third of your upper arm. The rest, the part that actually gives your arms that size and shape you think you’re chasing, is the triceps.
Train them properly, and you’re boosting lockout strength on your bench, improving shoulder stability, and giving your arms the kind of proportion that is actually strong.
The problem though is that most men train triceps with either token effort or questionable exercises they saw on Instagram — the ones that look cool on a reel but are biomechanical nonsense in real life.
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You don’t need gimmicks! What you need are a few fundamental, brutally effective moves that hit all three heads of the tricep — the long, lateral, and medial — and actually translate to size, strength, and longevity.
Here are six to start doing now.
Overhead Tricep Extension
The long head of your triceps — the largest portion — only gets properly engaged when your elbows are overhead. That’s why the overhead extension is king. Cables, dumbbells, EZ bars — they all work, but cables win for consistent tension throughout the movement. Keep your elbows tucked in, control the eccentric (the lowering), and take the weight as far back as mobility allows. The stretch is where the magic happens.
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Skullcrusher
A classic that’s survived decades of fitness fads for good reason — it targets all three heads, with particular love for the medial head. Whether you go barbell, EZ bar, or dumbbells, the principle is the same: elbows slightly angled towards your hips, forearms moving in one clean hinge, and absolutely no chicken-winging out to the sides. Lower under control, press back with intent. Low-incline dumbbell variations add even more range, but they’re not for the faint of elbow.
Tricep Dips
Forget the half-rep, shoulder-wrecking atrocities you see on park benches. Proper parallel-bar or bench dips, with elbows tucked and a full range, are a compound move that hit the lateral head hard while recruiting chest and shoulders as co-conspirators. Bodyweight is fine; adding plates or a dip belt when you can hit 12 clean reps is better. Feet closer in makes it easier, straight legs harder.
Cable Pushdown
The most deceptively simple move in the gym. Done right, it’s a lateral head powerhouse; done wrong, it’s just an awkward front raise with a rope. Stand close to the stack, elbows slightly behind your torso, and think about pushing the cable down and back, not just down. Pause at full extension, control the return. Straight bar for stability, rope for extra range — both have their place.
Close-Grip Bench Press
If the standard bench is the bar’s Coachella headliner, the close-grip is the afterparty where the real gains happen. Bringing your hands just inside shoulder width shifts emphasis from chest to triceps, hammering the medial and lateral heads. Go heavy, keep the elbows tucked, and remember: keep form tight and reps controlled.
Single-Arm Dumbbell Overhead Extension
Training unilaterally helps iron out imbalances while letting you really lock in that mind-muscle connection. Take the dumbbell all the way behind your head, towards mid-back, for maximum stretch before driving it back up. Light weight, strict form, and no twisting — your elbows (and future self) will thank you.