Never start your workout with a weak movement
This is a common mistake, especially among beginners who don't yet understand that not all exercises are created equally. Newbies often start their triceps workout with press-downs, which are a single-joint exercise. However, single-joint movements limit the amount of weight you can push. Unless you're following a very specific training protocol, the best choice for your first triceps movement is actually a heavy, multijoint exercise.You likely already follow this same thinking with other body parts like chest and legs. When two sets of joints are working (for triceps, that would be shoulders and elbows), you recruit more muscle tissue and can therefore lift heavier weights than when hitting isolation movements. Though you lose some of the targeting of single-joint movements, your goal in your first exercise is to push the most weight for the greatest overload.
Multijoint exercises for the triceps include weighted bench dips, the triceps-dip machine, close-grip bench presses, and parallel-bar dips, though with the last one you might have to use a weight belt to ensure failure in the muscle-building rep range (8-12). Single-joint movements like press-downs can be done first to warm-up the elbows, sure, but those sets shouldn't be taken to muscle failure.
Never forget to include an arms-overhead movement
When putting together your triceps routine, there are plenty of exercises you can choose from, but only one kind most effectively targets the bulky long head. The long head attaches above the shoulder joint, which means it doesn't get fully stretched unless your arms are positioned overhead. When a muscle is fully stretched, it's capable of a stronger contraction than one that's not fully stretched. That's why an arms-overhead movement should be included in your triceps routine.There are any number of types of arms-overhead movements you can do, including overhead extensions with an EZ-bar, dumbbells, cables (rope or EZ-bar), or even machines. The key is to lock your upper arms beside your head so that your elbows point straight up—they shouldn't sway from this position. Your elbows simply act as a hinge with no other movement taking place.
Never allow your elbows to flare
Single-joint exercises for the triceps all have one thing in common: elbow extension. The elbows go from a highly bent position to fully straightened. However, if you allow your elbows to flare out, you reduce the effectiveness of the motion."If there's one tip that applies to virtually every exercise in terms of technique, it's that to truly isolate the muscle and minimize the involvement of surrounding muscles such as the chest and deltoids, you need to keep the elbows in tight as possible," write Joe Wuebben and Jim Stoppani, PhD, in "Stronger Arms & Upper Body".1 "Allowing them to flare out will, in most cases, reduce the effectiveness of the exercise."
When doing overhead extensions, close-grip bench presses, machine triceps dips, parallel-bar dips, or other triceps movements, be conscious of elbow flare and try to keep your elbows as tight to your body as possible.
Never drop your elbow when doing kick-backs
This is a common form error, even among more experienced lifters. Essentially, dropping the elbow during the motion turns a single-joint movement that emphasizes the lateral triceps head into a multijoint one that also recruits the delts. That limits the effectiveness of the movement for triceps development, because some of the workload has shifted to the delts.To get this isolation movement right, lock your elbow by your side so that your upper arm is parallel with the floor. Hinging at the elbow, fully straighten your arm so that now your entire arm is parallel to the floor. As you lower the weight, don't allow your elbow to drop.
