The Best Tricep Workouts To Build Muscle | Garage Gym Reviews (2024)

Why Do Them: The close grip bench press has you lift with your hands set about shoulder-width apart. This shifts the load more to your triceps and less to the chest, and it’s easier on the shoulders. This bench press variation targets your triceps for more muscle-building and helps improve your lockout strength.

How to Do Them:

1. Set up like you would for a flat bench press.
2. Get your hands inside shoulder-width and your elbows tucked close to your body.
3. Pull the barbell out of the rack with arms locked out, the bar over your chest.
4. Slowly lower towards your chest by pulling your elbows inwards.
5. Once you have reached your desired depth, press up until lockout, reset, and repeat.

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Why Do Them: This lying triceps extension exercise has you lower a barbell to your forehead (hence the name skullcrusher) to isolate and stretch the triceps. The position of the skullcrusher allows you to move more weight than a triceps pushdown to strengthen the triceps further. The beauty of this exercise is you can use multiple tools (dumbbells, kettlebells, and EZ bar) if the barbell is unfriendly to your elbows.

How to Do Them:

1. Lie face-up on a bench, with the hands supporting your instrument of choice (EZ bar, barbell, or dumbbells) at the top of the pressing position.
2. You should be set up identically like the bench press, with hands shoulder-width apart.
3. Pull your elbows back slightly and tuck them in so they point behind you.
4. Then bend the elbows, lowering the weight towards your forehead.
5. You will feel a stretch on the triceps and lats when done correctly.
6. Push the weight until your elbows are locked out, reset, and repeat.

Why Do Them: The overhead triceps extension performed with a band or cable machine starts in the stretched position. Starting there allows a bigger range of motion for added size and strength potential. Plus, this triceps variation targets the long triceps head, the biggest of the three triceps muscles, for improved lockout strength with most pressing exercises.

How to Do Them:

1. Place the band underneath the middle of one foot and step forward with the other.
2. Bring the band up behind your head with both hands.
3. Standing tall with good posture and keeping your elbows tucked in, extend your elbows until lockout.
4. Slowly lower down behind your head and reset and repeat.

Why Do Them: The triceps kickback is a versatile exercise performed with a dumbbell, cable machine, or resistance band. This a pure triceps isolation exercise, so you cannot use a lot of weight, but you can do them for a ton of volume for an excellent triceps muscle pump.

How to Do Them:

1. With your equipment of choice in your hand(s), get into a hinge position with your torso leaning forward.
2. Then with your elbows flexed, extend your elbows to lockout and squeeze at the end of the rep.
3. Return to the starting position and repeat for reps.

Why Do Them: Similar to the close-grip bench press, the diamond push-up shifts the load to your triceps due to the close-hand placement. Because of the reduced support base compared to the regular push-up, you’ll improve triceps lockout and core strength simultaneously.

How to Do Them:

1. Get into a solid front plank position, with your hands close together, neutral spine, and feet wider than hip-width apart.
2. Screw your palms into the floor to create tension in your chest.
3. Slowly lower your chest about an inch from the ground, keeping your elbows tucked into your sides.
4. Push your hands through the floor until your elbows lock out.
5. Reset and repeat for reps.

Why Do Them: The cable machine tricep pushdown is a great exercise that is performed with various tools (like a rope or D-Handles) and hand positions (underhand, neutral, or overhand grip). The cable machine’s constant tension gives you great muscle-building tension on your lateral and medial tricep heads to provide you with the horseshoe look the triceps is known for.

How to Do Them:

1. Set the cable machine on its highest setting with your handle of choice.
2. Grip the handle with both hands and walk away from the cable machines until the weight stack separates
3. With your elbows flexed, lean your torso forward slightly and extend your elbows to lockout.
4. Slowly lower back to the starting position and reset and repeat.

Why Do Them: The JM press is named after legendary lifter JM Blakely, who came up with this hybrid lift. It is part close grip bench press, part skull crusher, and total triceps builder. Because the chest is involved, the reduced range of motion and the elbows being close enables you to use more load on the triceps than most of the exercises on this list.

How to Do Them:

1. Start the JM Press the same way as the close grip bench press. The only difference being the barbell is above the upper pecs.
2. Set up with a narrow false or regular grip of 16 inches apart.
3. Set the elbows 45 degrees from the body and as you’re bringing the barbell towards your head.
4. co*ck the wrist to hold the bar in place.
5. Lower the barbell until your forearm touches your bicep.
6. Let the barbell roll back about 1 inch to keep the elbows pointed forward and up.
7. Press until lockout and reset and repeat.

Why Do Them: Training the triceps is tough on the elbow joint; not everyone can train pain-free. The standing landmine presses combination of being unilateral, the arc of the press with gripping the fat end of the barbell increases stability allowing some to train pain-free. With the neutral grip and elbow close to the body, you can train around discomfort while training the triceps, and it is an excellent exercise for beginners because there is less risk involved.

How to Do Them:

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart with your shoulders down and chest up.
2. Hold the end of the barbell, elbows bent and just in front of your anterior shoulder.
3. Engage your core, glutes, and lats, and grip the barbell tight.
4. Then perform an elbow extension to lockout and reach forward at the end of the movement.
5. Slowly lower back down and reset and repeat.

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