Triceps Exercises

For big arms, doing triceps is even more important than biceps!  The triceps is a bigger muscle so if you skip triceps not only will your arms be much smaller than they need to be but your arms will be out of balance.  For building triceps mass, the french press is my favorite.  This can be done laying directly on the ground or it can be done on a bench.  In this exercise it is important to keep your elbows close together like there is a rope holding them shoulder width apart, don't let them flail out to the sides or you are no longer do triceps.  It is also important that your upper arms stay motionless and point straight up to the ceiling, only your forearms move in this exercise.  If your elbows are moving all over you are exercising lats and not triceps.   Your grip on the bar is about shoulder width.
starting position.    The bar in the starting position is a few inches from your forehead.  Push the bar up slowly, it should take a count of three to get it up.  It is very important to keep the elbows close together in this exercise, don't let them flail out to the sides.  Pretend the elbows are tied together with a rope as wide as your shoulders. (click on thumbnail for larger image)
ending position.  Now lower the bar back to the starting position slowly on another three count.  The elbows have not moved at all, only the forearms.  (click on thumbnail for larger image)
Video clip showing proper form of the triceps french press
   

Chair Dips

Chair dips are another good exercise for triceps that you can do at home with very little equipment, you just need two identical chairs and a pair of garden gloves. Make sure to put the chairs on a carpeted surface so they wont slip because you need to push outward slightly to keep the chairs stable. If you are not on a carpeted surface the chairs will slide apart leaving you helplessly in the iron cross position. The chairs are close enough together that your hands brush your hips as you descend into the dip. The gloves help protect your hands from the sharp corners of the chair top rail.

If you are really advanced and the chair dip is not challenging enough, you can hold a dumbbell between your thighs or let the dumbbell rest on the back of your horizontal calves.

If you are a beginner and cant yet do a dip under your own power, use your legs to get into the "up" position, then slowly lower yourself under your own power then use your legs to get back up. These are negative reps and if you do these then you will soon be strong enough to do full dips.
starting position. This shows the starting position, the arms are straight but not locked. Hold this position till all swinging motion has stopped. Now slowly lower yourself over the next 2 seconds ...
ending position. Continue slowly lowering yourself till your upper arms are horizontal as shown here, dont drop any lower as its hard on your shoulders. Hold this position till any swining motions have stopped. Now slowly start pushing yourself up again over the next two seconds.
  repeat ...
  Here is a video clip showing how to perform chair dips for triceps

 

Overhead triceps dumbbell press

This is an excellent triceps exercise but can be a bit awkward if you have not done it before.  Start out with very light weights till you get the balance down. 

To get started, hold the dumbbell in you lap with both hands and then swing it up to the top of your shoulder as shown here.  Now you can re-adjust your hand grip to something comfortable.
bodybuilding home arm workout overhead dumbbell triceps press exercise Trying to keep your elbows as close as possible together, slowly push the weight up.
bodybuilding home arm workout overhead dumbbell triceps press exercise Slowly lower the weight and feel the stretch in your triceps.  If you do not have a spotter then make sure to do light weight with high reps because if your muscles give out in this position you have no option other than to drop the dumbbell which will probably do some serious damage to the floor.

 

"Kick Backs"

A great triceps exercise, you can get a great workout with a tiny amount of weight as this exercise really isolates the triceps.  Do this on a padded bench or on a really cushy carpet to protect your knees and hands.
Starting position.  Forearm is vertical.
Slowly raise the dumbbell up so the arm is straight.  Do it slowly and try to hold this top position for 1/2sec before lowering the weight.  Your shoulders and entire torso should remain completely motionless.  If you have to swing the weight to get it up then you are using way too much weight.

video coming soon

Here is a video of a complete 45 minute arm workout (biceps and triceps).