Written by Jenna Koford
For those wanting to tone their upper arms, these simple triceps exercises are a great place to start.
1. Bench Dips
Like its name suggest, the Bench Dip exercises usually involves a bench, chair, or other piece of sturdy furniture.
While facing away from the bench, place your hands shoulder-width apart behind you on the bench. Extend your legs forward, bending at the waist.
Lower your body by bending your elbows until you reach an almost-90 degree angle between your upper arm and your forearm.
Use your arms to bring your torso back up to the starting position. To make the exercise more challenging, place your feet on a bench in front of you as well.
2. Body Up
Start in a plank position, supporting your body with your toes and forearms. Your forearms should be shoulder-width apart.
Press your palms into the ground, with elbows pointing toward your feet, and triceps aligned with your back, extend through the elbows to lift your body up higher. Lower your forearms back to starting position. Keep your torso as rigid as possible. This exercise will feel similar to that of a push-up, but you’ll feel the backs of your arms working.
3. Close Grip Bench Press
Use a narrower grip than the traditional bench press to really work your triceps area. But not too close. Many people mistakenly put their hands so close that they are almost touching, which only adds strain to the wrists and elbows.
Your grip should be so that the elbows are pointing to the feet, rather than out away from the body, like you would for a normal bench press. Ensure muscle growth by adding weight to the bar, but start with a low number of reps in order to get used to the new grip.
Before any warm up, stretch your arms and elbows especially. Elbows are the most common area injured during triceps exercises. Also, avoid over training— many experts recommend working on triceps once or twice a week along with chest and shoulders.