If you’ve ever gone to a gym for the purpose of strengthening your triceps , you’ve probably focused primarily on doing exercises based on available machines. In fact, many people think that the only way to get strong, sculpted triceps is to work with machines (and maybe dumbbells if you’re feeling too creative). But what the average gym user doesn’t always know is that bodyweight exercises for triceps are best for defining this muscle and working it to its fullest. In this article we explain some of them.
Bodyweight exercises for triceps you can do at home or at the gym
Diamond push-ups
Although almost any exercise that involves movement of the arms works the triceps to a greater or lesser extent, certain bodyweight exercises for triceps like the diamond push-ups are the ones that really make a difference when it comes to defining this muscle . If you’re used to doing your push-ups with your elbows extended, you’ll notice a big difference in the amount of work your triceps need with diamond push-ups.
How to do them:
Begin in a push-up position by placing your hands in such a way that your fingers form a diamond , with the tips of the index fingers and thumbs almost touching. While keeping your elbows as close to the side of your body as possible, lower your chest until you are a few inches above the ground . Make sure to breathe and activate the rest of your body (abs, glutes, and quads) for the duration of the movement. Go back up to the starting position and repeat.
Dips in parallel, one of the most popular bodyweight exercises for triceps
Dips are undoubtedly one of the best triceps exercises of all time, focusing almost exclusively on these muscles, strengthening and toning them like no other. If you don’t have parallel bars on hand, you can also make them with two chairs or benches.
How to make them:
Stand between the parallel bars and hold them with both hands. Push yourself with a small jump, stretch your arms and cross your legs so that they do not fall to the ground. While keeping your chest up and your shoulders back, lower your body until your elbows are parallel to the bars , and then return to the starting position.
Overhead pull-ups (with tight grip)
Unlike normal chin-ups, which primarily use the biceps (among other muscles) to move up to the bar, close-grip chin-ups require more activation of the triceps to be successful .
How to do them
Hang from a chin-up bar with your elbows slightly bent and your shoulders down, with your palms away from your body. Keeping your chest up and shoulders back, squeeze your glutes and lightly cross your feet. Use your core and arms to force your chin to rest on the bar, and then lower until you are hanging with only your arms, and then go back up.
Inverted push-ups
Reverse pushups aren’t for everyone – if you’re not in good shape yet, don’t try it. These push-ups require a tremendous amount of tricep force just to try, so if you want to try doing them it’s best to take it easy.
How to do them:
Stand facing a wall, far enough away that you can stand against it. Push yourself forward to be supported only by your arms, and support your legs against the wall. From this position, squeeze your abs, glutes, and quads to hold the position, and then try to lower your head as close to the ground as possible (a full push-up includes your head touching or nearly touching the ground). Once this is done, push your arms up to maintain the starting position, and repeat.
Sit ups in L
While L-exercises are primarily thought of as core-strengthening exercises, they are also great for strengthening your triceps. Try to hold the L-pose for 5 seconds at a time , and feel your triceps burn! To do this exercise, you will need some parallel bars.
How to do them:
Sit on the floor between the parallel bars with your legs extended forward, in such a way that your body forms an L. Once in position, grasp the parallel bars , throw your shoulders back and, using force with your arms , the core and keeping all the muscles of the legs activated, lift yourself extending your arms until you are several centimeters above the ground.
