The Best Tricep Exercises for Size and Strength

If you want bigger arms, tricep training is where you should focus the majority of your attention. The triceps comprise roughly 60–65% of upper arm volume — bigger triceps mean bigger arms, regardless of how impressive your bicep peak is. Most people do a couple sets of cable pushdowns and call it tricep day. Here's the more effective approach.

Tricep Anatomy

• •Long head: Originates from the shoulder blade (infraglenoid tubercle) and runs the full length of the upper arm. This is the largest head and contributes the most to arm thickness. Fully activated only when the arm is raised overhead — most pushdown exercises don't train this portion through full range
• •Lateral head: The outermost head, creating the horseshoe shape visible from the side. Heavily recruited in all elbow extension movements
• •Medial head: The deepest and smallest head. Always active during elbow extension and contributes importantly to overall tricep strength

The Most Effective Tricep Exercises

• •Close-grip bench press: The compound tricep exercise. Allows the heaviest loading of any tricep movement and trains all three heads. Grip slightly narrower than shoulder-width. This should anchor your tricep training
• •Skull crusher (lying tricep extension): Loaded stretch position that trains the long head through a greater range than pushdowns. Performed with an EZ-bar or dumbbells, lowering the weight toward the forehead or behind the head
• •Overhead cable tricep extension (rope or single-arm): The only movement that fully extends the long head into a stretched position while under load. Research shows that the stretched position under load produces the greatest hypertrophy stimulus — this exercise is non-negotiable for complete tricep development
• •Weighted dip: High-force compound movement training all three heads. Once you can complete 15 bodyweight dips with good form, begin adding weight with a dip belt
• •Cable pushdown (rope): Effective for lateral and medial head. The rope allows supination at the bottom (turning palms outward) which creates a powerful tricep squeeze. Not as effective for the long head
• •JM Press: A hybrid between a close-grip bench and a skull crusher. Excellent for overloading the triceps in a compound pattern

What Most Tricep Programs Get Wrong

• •Over-reliance on pushdowns: Cable pushdowns are good exercises, but they don't fully train the long head (the largest head). A tricep program without any overhead extension work is leaving significant gains on the table
• •Training triceps only on chest day: If your only tricep work comes from bench pressing and some pushdowns at the end of chest day, you're getting 6–8 working sets per week. The triceps benefit from 12–18 sets per week for optimal development
• •No progressive overload: Adding weight to your close-grip bench press and skull crushers over months is what drives long-term tricep growth — not performing the same pushdown weight for years

Sample Tricep Training Plan

• •Movement 1: Close-grip bench press — 4 × 5–8 (heavy, compound)
• •Movement 2: Overhead cable extension (rope) — 3 × 10–12 (long head focus)
• •Movement 3: Skull crusher — 3 × 8–12 (full range, loaded stretch)
• •Movement 4: Cable pushdown — 3 × 12–15 (pump and lateral head finish)
• •Log every set in YourFit — the bench press and skull crusher weights are your key progressive overload metrics for tricep development

The Bottom Line

Effective tricep training requires at least one heavy compound movement (close-grip bench or weighted dip), an overhead extension for the long head, and a pushdown variation for the lateral and medial heads. Train triceps 2x per week with 12–18 total sets, progressively overload the compound movements, and your arms will grow more in the next 3 months than they have in years.