Additional bit of info: we analyzed the relative growth of the pecs vs triceps during bench presses and push-ups in the literature and found the triceps grew only half as much on average as the pecs. I don't see why the triceps would have a lower growth potential than the pecs, so this further supports the idea that presses don't stimulate the long head well.
What about overhead presses? I didn’t get whether they would from a biomechanics perspective as I got confused once you talked about dumbells vs barbells and moments arms lol
@@LeanAndMean44No. The long head only really activates in exercises that only have elbow movement. A compound like the overhead press has shoulder movement involved, which stops the long head from working.
@@luxeayt6694Not exactly, both shoulder and elbow movement activate the long head. Just depends on which direction. Shoulder extension (like lat prayers) and elbow extension both activate it. Shoulder and elbow flexion both do not. So you can either choose an exercise that extends both, or keep one joint fixed (preferably in the stretched position) and extend the other. If you choose an exercise that extends one and flexes the other, then you don't get much activation. This last part is why shoulder presses and bench presses don't activate it much
- Common triceps exercises like presses and push downs aren't ideal for building big arms. - The triceps has three heads, with the long head being the largest and most crucial for arm size. - Skull crushers outperform bench presses for triceps growth, especially in the long head. - Training volume should separately target the long head and other heads. - Many programs overtrain the lateral and medial heads while neglecting the long head. - Use dumbbells and cables in chest and shoulder work to reduce triceps involvement. - Incorporate straight arm pulldowns to target the long head without overloading other heads. - Overhead triceps extensions are more effective than push downs for overall growth. - Prioritize isolation exercises, reduce triceps involvement in presses, and include pulldowns for balanced triceps development. - These strategies optimize triceps growth and overall fitness.
To be frank' your statement is better that the vid' & comes to the point rather than blah-blah waffle-waffle It's called practicle application ................
A rare find. The emphasis on biomechanics and geometry to target the muscle group with clear demonstration and suggestion for training balance is actually really valuable and differentiates this content from pure science based approach (Nippard), training approach (Cavaliere) pure hypertrophy sheer volume tolerance (Humiston) or more programmatic approaches of many other content providers. Direct delivery with no time wasting fluff. Added to my portfolio.
Terrific video. No BS, factual, based on research, and quite practical. Plus, the promotional part is placed at the end. Personally, I've been doing overhead tricep pulls with a rope on a cable machine. I'm glad to know I was taking the right approach to developing the largest part of each tricep. I hadn't thought about lat prayers, so happy to have that as another good option.
I've gotten the best stretch and stimulus from doing skull crushers on an incline bench. You can take the bar behind the top of the bench, while still having good leverage from your body being firmly planted on the bench.
For those struggling to grow their arms one thing that helped me, other than the tips shown in the video which i find very valueable, is starting your upper body days with your arm work. I saw increased performance and better progression on my arm work and basically zero strenght loss on the following exercises in that same session. This is an advice that can work especially if you are on your first years of lifting and you saw a lot of torso growth throughout this first years but you ended up with underdeveloped arms. This is not necessarily just a result of "bad arm genetics", but it could be the result of poor exercise selection, too much volume and not enough recovery. Btw I think that this advice is perfectly in tune with Menno's advice of trying to separate tricep work from other muscles. I'm just not sure about the lat prayers advice. I think that if you can handle little volume than it's better to just do your isolation work, but if you for example want to separate your back and bicep work to focus on the bicep better than it's a valid choice.
Thanks. I did not know that the long head is bi-articulate. This explains the occasional soreness in that area after back day when I use higher volume lat prayers at times. Good information!
I love doing unilateral cable overhead triceps extensions and using my free arm to assist past concentric failure, allowing me to go to eccentric failure. I do this on my last set of the week, and I’m fully recovered for next week.
@@Annie-ph8vq please describe what eccentric failure is lol. If you’ve actually trained to failure you would know it’s inherently impossible to go to eccentric failure since you will always be able to lower the weight, and as you become more fatigued and are near your maximum tolerable perception of effort will just be able to produce smaller and smaller amounts of force to resist the eccentric. Since concentric failure is reached when you can no longer complete a rep, what happens with eccentric failure?
For what its worth my triceps have blown up since doing skullcrushers instead of push downs. I do a slullcrusher where my arms are pretty far back over my head, as far back as i can go with limited shoulder mobility but at least a 45 degree angle and i use a straight bar or easy bar for them. I can physically see and feel the difference in size WAY more than i ever could with pushdowns. I can personally vouch for these types of skullcrushers. Basically the same movement with cables would be the overhead triceps press so basically a pushdown but your arms are behind and over your head and you stretch them up towards the ceiling performs pretty much the same, but i find that position harder to get into with my limited shoulder mobility. If you havent done them either of these ways i promise you will not be dissapointed. I wish i had started doing them like this earlier
Don’t do pull-ups or rows that load elbow flexors because long head will be lengthening at the shoulder while shortening at the elbow. Plus this will train the short head arguably better than curls because it’s biarticulate aswell but on the inferior side of the shoulder and therefore has leverage for shoulder extension
Also this will train other elbow flexors other than bicep long head as well, and brachialis will also be hit in regular curls so it might be overtrained, same with brachioradialis but that could be solved with long length partial curls since brachioradialis (idk the spelling) has worse leverage in that position
Well not just lat prayers. If you are talking triceps specifically then its skullcrushers. But if you want to hit them both at the same time, lat prayers are good
Have been using overhead triceps extension with a dumbbell on 1st day and incline skull crusher + OH cable extension on 2nd day for a few years now, arguably got the best triceps definition at my gym. Appreciate all your coverage, I constantly bring new stuff in and people just copy me (like they did with Bayesian curls).
A really clear, informative video. You're a damn good communicator. I look forward to starting your Personal Development Course soon. Terima kasih banyak!
Excellent presentation and explanation Menno! I have subscribed! I have noticed the diminishing of my triceps due to not being able to do overhead triceps because of trap issues! Definitely a diminished Triceps no matter how stronger I got with close grip neutral presses, dips and push downs! So I will use prayers. 🙏🏻👌
Menno, the medial head location in the video seems to show it being on the lateral side of the arm. But from any anatomy book it is actually found under the long head and is visible primarily on the inner side of the arm, right above the elbow. Thanks
I guess this explains why Lying Tricep Extension, (as taught to me by Rippetoe -- making sure to utilize the shoulder extension at the bottom) is my favorite tricep accessory.
this + rest dumbell on every rep for around 1 sec, point elbow to sky and try to arch back like doing bench, also tilt head to look to sky or above/behind, dont look in front, both legs bent at knees, or one straight one bend, straight one is same side of hand which u doing, if u doing 1 arm at time. Im doing non stop left right, from 6 to 10 reps for total of 50 to 60 reps. Also try slower lowering and dont forget to pause on floor, this will save shoulders.
This is by far the best and informative video on this discussion everything this guy says is spot on its nice to see someone with evidence based info and not some dumb roid head spouting crap .
I’m just going to assume cable overhead tricep extension with the V-Bar handle is fine as you said any overhead exercise is great. I use the V-Bar handle mostly used for triceps, not the one common for lat pulldowns.
Finally, I’ve been trying to tell people for years that pullovers are GOAT for triceps long head development. I agree with everything in the video, it all adds up to my own experience. I also haven’t gotten great gains from regular push downs
I'll be very honest, I incorporated one handed cable overhead triceps extensions and my long head simply exploded, it's the biggest it's ever been, I'm not quitting doing this exercise so soon. I believe I saw this advice at Milo Wolf's channel.
I worked in the sheriffs department and we worked with correctional officers who would transport custodies… one custody was well built but he had the biggest triceps I’ve seen on a human being compared to his actual body size. Like I said he was in jail but had massive triceps. I asked him how he built them so big… he said he didn’t use any equipment but did diamond pushups regularly every day… I’ve been around bodybuilders, powerlifters, football players and no one has had bigger triceps than this man, pound for pound.
Hey Menno, I was wondering if incline presses stimulate the long head of the triceps more than dips. Specifically, would incline presses provide around 30% muscle activation for the long head compared to about 20% with dips? I’m trying to allocate my training volume better and want to make sure these percentages are accurate. Thanks!
Hey Menno, have you thought about calling it Lengthened Mediated Hypertrophy? That should encompass both pure static stretch hold induced growth and dynamic training with joint articulation while having tension applied at longer muscle lengths even if the muscle is not necessarily "stretched". It's all semantics and not a big deal either way but I do feel it helps separate the terms a bit more by making stretch mediated hypertrophy more of a subset of lengthened mediated hypertrophy. Just an idea.
I have, yeah, but in my mind, stretch is basically a synonym of length. Stretched = lengthened. Stretched has a potentially wrong mechanistic association though indeed.
Nobody ever mentions or takes into account the seated smith shoulder press. Could you please consider taking a look at the mechanics related to triceps?
@@robertocastro2549 yeah I know. Funnily enough though often when I'm trying to target my lateral head I feel the medial and maybe long head more. I've yet to find a great exercise to reliably target my lateral head. Sometimes it gets smoked sometimes it doesn't 😞
For any fans of razor like lateral heads try diamond pushups. Did 3 sets of 10 and the end of my session today and less than 1 hour later I've got DOMS right in the lateral head!
The long head is clearly the more important muscle in terms of functional fitness. Once the long head is big enough, the others likely are too. Ignoring it is like having huge glutes, and tiny adductors 😂
@@peterpan408I disagree it's more like ignoring the long head of biceps.. Which most people do. The long head still be working so not as if it will totally atrophy. Just a case of bias to individual preference.
Would love to get your opinion on which triceps head is more important for aesthetics. Personally i think its the lateral head as it seems to stick out more, especially from the front.
is there significant difference between single arm and both arm overhead lat extensions? from my understanding single arm is just wasting time. but i can see only needing to get a dumbell half a heavy over your head can make single arm extensions more appealing.
Calisthenics solution: Just train frontlever and Overhead triceps band extensions in addition to pressing exercises like (Handstand)pushups and Dips. Also good to know that frontlever and Handstandpushups or Dips can be trained together. Have wondered why I never had issues with this despite triceps overlapping, now I know why😅
I have the reverse problem: the long head of my triceps is much bigger than the lateral head. My arms are 18 inches cold and the majority is the long head. I have a really hard time feeling the lateral head getting any work. Not sure if it’s just my genetics but the horseshoe is really lopsided.
A lifetime of bench presses and pressdowns gave me absolutely no long head. It is the "spider physique," that you see so often. Only recently have I got my long head bigger, using a triceps spreader bar. I did really heavy pressdowns with it, and really heavy overhead extension (bent over). I never knew which of these made the difference. Only recently have I been doing cable pullovers like you suggest. I heard this was good for the long head, so I added it in on back day. I never thought of it as a long head isolation exercise. I am going to do as you suggest and really overload it and try to get up to 200 lbs.
What about nautilus machine pullovers or pjr pullovers for long head specific training, there is also an article Chris Beardsley citing 2018 Kholinne et al. article showing that 0° shoulder elevation, the long head showed to be a strong elbow flexor compared to medical and lateral, which has given impetus to dip variation exercises. What are thoughts @menno.henselmans ?
Apart from choosing the optimal exercises, the best advice for arms that I've heard is to do isolated triceps work (3-4 sets) on your pull day and isolated biceps work (again, 3 or so sets) on your push day.
Can you make a video on the bi-articulate muscle conflict of the rectus femoris? I got a small tear in my RF from squatting only 100 kg. It still puzzles me to this day. I got it on video and the snap is audible. On another note, great vid as always, Menno 😉
I'm confused because I just learned that lat prayers (along with the DB pull overs) are a great way to work the back's lats. Does this mean that I can check off both categories of muscles with this one exercise?
I have problems with my elbows when I do overhead exercises. Are the lat prayers as the only exercise for the long triceps head sufficient to stimulate them adequately and make them grow? Are there variations of overhead exercises for the triceps that help people with elbow problems ? Thanks for the informative video 😊
Try doing them lying down, you probably loose some of the stretched load, but for me its been much kinder after overhead one arm extensions started causing trouble.
Questions. If I spread my elbows to the sides while skull crusher, which head will the emphasis shift to? What is the difference between the position when elbows are pressed against the body and when they are as far away from it as possible with skull crusher in the Smith machine?
Hey Menno great video, but I do have a question. I googled how big is the long head of the tricep in proportion to the other two heads and according to AthleanX's website it says that the mass of the long head is 2/3 of all tricep mass. I'm not sure how true that is but if it is true, does that mean that for every 3 sets of direct tricep work, 2 sets should be dedicated to long head and the other set be dedicated to lateral + medial head since the long head [is supposedly] 2/3 of tricep muscle mass? Thanks!
I need help. In my workout plan i work the triceps 2 times a week for a total of 24 sets. Not high quality, of course. What if i train my triceps every day, 8 high quality sets, totaling 40 sets per week. Will i see more grouth, or less?
You need to do a combination of exercises without the tricep at full extension and then with. Start with exercises like the tricep push down which not only works the triceps great but gets them warmed up to work them at length. If you just go right into working them in a stretched position at length, it puts a ton of stress on the elbow if you're overloading them like you should. I'm 52 and still have great shape and size for my triceps and stay injury free.
Would it make more sense to do lat prayers on push day or pull day? 🤔 I used to include them as a finisher to my pulldowns or rows, but noticed my triceps would actually get sore. For this reason, I stopped including them because I want my tris to get some rest instead of hammering them 4 times a week. Also, given what’s covered in the video, it stands to reason that pullovers might be an effective long head exercise as well… not just lat and pecs.
I used to do pullovers on my back days, but with my current schedule that would be the day before my chest day, and my triceps wouldn't be recovered at all for my pressing movements. I can't do them on my chest day because the lats aren't recovered from the previous day. So now I just include them on my back days only if my chest session isn't going to be the following day. You could always include them on a leg day or a separate day, and consider taking one of your other triceps days out.
I'm doing 2 upper days a week, (+ an isolated chest only session in-between). session 1 i do ez bar skull crushers 3 sets, session 2 i do cable pushdowns 3 sets for isolated tricep work (only have 1 hr daily to train). Should i replace the pushdown with an overhead movement instead then? so both sessions hit it in the overhead position? i always thought that for triceps its better to hit the heads from the different angles hence the pushdown and overhead work.. i want horseshoe triceps!!
Is there evidence that training the supination of the biceps with heavy resistance (very difficult to do) triggers more biceps growth than just curls because of anatomy too?
First I found triceps pull-downs hard to do right, with correct form. Then when I nailed the form I found them pretty useless. Now I think I'll ditch them altogether. I'll use my time on the cable machine more productively. TPD's seem very popular in the gym. I think there's a 'posing' element to why this is. If I'm going to pose I'll do it with skull-crushers which I can do like a robot. Slooooow on the way down.
I think the push downs work fine if you focus on the form. That means controlling the eccentric slowly all the way to the top keeping elbows down and getting a full stretch to start the next rep
Dumbbell held with both arms behind the head. Lower behind head then extend straight up. Not found any exercise to build triceps faster. I start heavy (for me) 25kg do 25 to 30 single set Then use 12.5kg and do 40 to 50 in a single set.
I do dips, instead of any of those other triceps exercises, whereas I fully lower my body while keeping my legs straigthened out before me. So not like almost everyone else does, namely tucking in the legs like they're kneeling in the air, so to say.
Thank you, Menno. Question, do different grips matter on different tricep excercises or it makes little to no difference? Such skull crushers with dumpels with hands in hammer possition vs straight barbel ones.
Hey Menno love you work! It's helped me a lot. I have a question (and if you've covered it before could you point me to it), what weight of weightloss do you recommend in the case that you actually need to lose a certain amount of weight for a weightclass sport (powerlifting in my case). I've seen a lot of evidence recently that losing weight slower is better (and that you may even lose comparable body fat percentages to fast cuts but with much less muscle loss), but say you actually need to lose 15lbs of real weight...Would it be better to do that quickly and have more time training at maintence after the cut, or spend much longer in a lower caloric deficit, lose less muscle on the way down, but then have less time than training at maintence before a competition?
Overhead triceps extension for some reason is one of those where I don’t have mind muscle connection. It feels like I have the strength, but I can’t control my triceps to do the reps
One thing you're failing to mention about skull crushers is that tension on the triceps muscles gets transferred to the pecs and delts once the weight goes 60-65 degrees towards vertical. When I do that exercise I try to not bring the weight past that point. I also use dumbbells instead of a barbell and hold them together during the lift. Two 35-40 dumbbells 8-10 reps. I definitely feel it afterward, even later that day.
Nice video. I think you could make it even better by showing more examples of what you´re talking about. The quality of information will be better, specially for those who doesn't understand English as well and/or who isn't as well versed in this specific terminology (It would help me out more ^^) Otherwise, thanks for sharing!
Are there any alternative exercises for people who can't do overhead tricep extensions? My shoulder feels uncomfortable when my hand is behind my back. Also, what do you think about crossbody cable tricep extensions? That's the only exercise where I feel the maximum triceps activation. If I can only do two triceps exercises, which ones would you recommend for someone like me?
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
We are in the golden age of lifting advice on RUclips. Grateful we got Menno and Dr Mike to help us
Also we can picture them kissing to help us sleep at night 🥰
@@DILFDylF while Jeff is filming of course
Umbrella over everything
Scott? Here's an idea for a video😂
yeah its awesome learning so much everyday for free
Additional bit of info: we analyzed the relative growth of the pecs vs triceps during bench presses and push-ups in the literature and found the triceps grew only half as much on average as the pecs. I don't see why the triceps would have a lower growth potential than the pecs, so this further supports the idea that presses don't stimulate the long head well.
What about overhead presses? I didn’t get whether they would from a biomechanics perspective as I got confused once you talked about dumbells vs barbells and moments arms lol
@@LeanAndMean44No. The long head only really activates in exercises that only have elbow movement. A compound like the overhead press has shoulder movement involved, which stops the long head from working.
@@luxeayt6694Not exactly, both shoulder and elbow movement activate the long head. Just depends on which direction. Shoulder extension (like lat prayers) and elbow extension both activate it. Shoulder and elbow flexion both do not. So you can either choose an exercise that extends both, or keep one joint fixed (preferably in the stretched position) and extend the other. If you choose an exercise that extends one and flexes the other, then you don't get much activation. This last part is why shoulder presses and bench presses don't activate it much
@@luxeayt6694no? As the long head moves both the shoulder and the elbow as he explained in the video
- Common triceps exercises like presses and push downs aren't ideal for building big arms.
- The triceps has three heads, with the long head being the largest and most crucial for arm size.
- Skull crushers outperform bench presses for triceps growth, especially in the long head.
- Training volume should separately target the long head and other heads.
- Many programs overtrain the lateral and medial heads while neglecting the long head.
- Use dumbbells and cables in chest and shoulder work to reduce triceps involvement.
- Incorporate straight arm pulldowns to target the long head without overloading other heads.
- Overhead triceps extensions are more effective than push downs for overall growth.
- Prioritize isolation exercises, reduce triceps involvement in presses, and include pulldowns for balanced triceps development.
- These strategies optimize triceps growth and overall fitness.
Thank you
thank you !
Most important factor, stay away from elbow pain movements, probably the most important factor for big triceps
Yes I agree with the skull crushers. I just need to figure out how to prevent it from hurting my elbow.
To be frank' your statement is better that the vid' & comes to the point rather than blah-blah waffle-waffle It's called practicle application ................
A rare find. The emphasis on biomechanics and geometry to target the muscle group with clear demonstration and suggestion for training balance is actually really valuable and differentiates this content from pure science based approach (Nippard), training approach (Cavaliere) pure hypertrophy sheer volume tolerance (Humiston) or more programmatic approaches of many other content providers. Direct delivery with no time wasting fluff. Added to my portfolio.
Terrific video. No BS, factual, based on research, and quite practical. Plus, the promotional part is placed at the end. Personally, I've been doing overhead tricep pulls with a rope on a cable machine. I'm glad to know I was taking the right approach to developing the largest part of each tricep. I hadn't thought about lat prayers, so happy to have that as another good option.
I've gotten the best stretch and stimulus from doing skull crushers on an incline bench. You can take the bar behind the top of the bench, while still having good leverage from your body being firmly planted on the bench.
For those struggling to grow their arms one thing that helped me, other than the tips shown in the video which i find very valueable, is starting your upper body days with your arm work.
I saw increased performance and better progression on my arm work and basically zero strenght loss on the following exercises in that same session.
This is an advice that can work especially if you are on your first years of lifting and you saw a lot of torso growth throughout this first years but you ended up with underdeveloped arms.
This is not necessarily just a result of "bad arm genetics", but it could be the result of poor exercise selection, too much volume and not enough recovery.
Btw I think that this advice is perfectly in tune with Menno's advice of trying to separate tricep work from other muscles.
I'm just not sure about the lat prayers advice. I think that if you can handle little volume than it's better to just do your isolation work, but if you for example want to separate your back and bicep work to focus on the bicep better than it's a valid choice.
Thanks. I did not know that the long head is bi-articulate. This explains the occasional soreness in that area after back day when I use higher volume lat prayers at times. Good information!
I love doing unilateral cable overhead triceps extensions and using my free arm to assist past concentric failure, allowing me to go to eccentric failure. I do this on my last set of the week, and I’m fully recovered for next week.
Eccentric failure is not a thing lol
@smallfry7304 that reply shows that you've never trained to eccentric failure
@@Annie-ph8vq please describe what eccentric failure is lol. If you’ve actually trained to failure you would know it’s inherently impossible to go to eccentric failure since you will always be able to lower the weight, and as you become more fatigued and are near your maximum tolerable perception of effort will just be able to produce smaller and smaller amounts of force to resist the eccentric. Since concentric failure is reached when you can no longer complete a rep, what happens with eccentric failure?
@@smallfry7304 it's when you can't possibly resist the eccentric anymore and the weight jut drops down fast even when you're at 100 percent exertion .
@@Annie-ph8vq so you have gotten to the point where you could produce no more than 0 ounces of force with the muscle?
For what its worth my triceps have blown up since doing skullcrushers instead of push downs. I do a slullcrusher where my arms are pretty far back over my head, as far back as i can go with limited shoulder mobility but at least a 45 degree angle and i use a straight bar or easy bar for them. I can physically see and feel the difference in size WAY more than i ever could with pushdowns. I can personally vouch for these types of skullcrushers. Basically the same movement with cables would be the overhead triceps press so basically a pushdown but your arms are behind and over your head and you stretch them up towards the ceiling performs pretty much the same, but i find that position harder to get into with my limited shoulder mobility. If you havent done them either of these ways i promise you will not be dissapointed. I wish i had started doing them like this earlier
Thanx Menno! Hopefully the long biceps head training issues will be discussed as well soon.
Don’t do pull-ups or rows that load elbow flexors because long head will be lengthening at the shoulder while shortening at the elbow. Plus this will train the short head arguably better than curls because it’s biarticulate aswell but on the inferior side of the shoulder and therefore has leverage for shoulder extension
Also this will train other elbow flexors other than bicep long head as well, and brachialis will also be hit in regular curls so it might be overtrained, same with brachioradialis but that could be solved with long length partial curls since brachioradialis (idk the spelling) has worse leverage in that position
Nice video...just what i wanted...lat prayers are the answer for long head growth i see...not many know this. Thanks a lot sir.
Well not just lat prayers. If you are talking triceps specifically then its skullcrushers. But if you want to hit them both at the same time, lat prayers are good
Have been using overhead triceps extension with a dumbbell on 1st day and incline skull crusher + OH cable extension on 2nd day for a few years now, arguably got the best triceps definition at my gym. Appreciate all your coverage, I constantly bring new stuff in and people just copy me (like they did with Bayesian curls).
I still can't tell if he is saying having horseshoe triceps is good or bad. I have them but don't like the look of them...
You’re not that important
A really clear, informative video. You're a damn good communicator. I look forward to starting your Personal Development Course soon. Terima kasih banyak!
Excellent presentation and explanation Menno!
I have subscribed!
I have noticed the diminishing of my triceps due to not being able to do overhead triceps because of trap issues! Definitely a diminished Triceps no matter how stronger I got with close grip neutral presses, dips and push downs!
So I will use prayers.
🙏🏻👌
Excellent Thanks. I think including short videos or even pics of some of the excerices would help even more
lat prayers - to pray for trciep hypertrophy 😂
Menno, the medial head location in the video seems to show it being on the lateral side of the arm. But from any anatomy book it is actually found under the long head and is visible primarily on the inner side of the arm, right above the elbow. Thanks
I guess this explains why Lying Tricep Extension, (as taught to me by Rippetoe -- making sure to utilize the shoulder extension at the bottom) is my favorite tricep accessory.
this + rest dumbell on every rep for around 1 sec, point elbow to sky and try to arch back like doing bench, also tilt head to look to sky or above/behind, dont look in front, both legs bent at knees, or one straight one bend, straight one is same side of hand which u doing, if u doing 1 arm at time. Im doing non stop left right, from 6 to 10 reps for total of 50 to 60 reps. Also try slower lowering and dont forget to pause on floor, this will save shoulders.
@@gulinborsti you wot m8?
So there is little point in doing close grip bench press if you already do regular bench press. Better do some overhead extensions.
This is by far the best and informative video on this discussion everything this guy says is spot on its nice to see someone with evidence based info and not some dumb roid head spouting crap .
I’m just going to assume cable overhead tricep extension with the V-Bar handle is fine as you said any overhead exercise is great. I use the V-Bar handle mostly used for triceps, not the one common for lat pulldowns.
I needed this. Thanks chief.
Amazing video thanks! Explains why i often get triceps soreness when doing pullups.
Thanks, Menno, appreciate your time and effort.
Just started following this channel....And love the content ❤. Good stuff bro!
Finally, I’ve been trying to tell people for years that pullovers are GOAT for triceps long head development. I agree with everything in the video, it all adds up to my own experience. I also haven’t gotten great gains from regular push downs
My tri's would always be on fire doing these and I thought I wasn't hitting the lats enough hahaha my body knew all along...
Doing them with a dumbbell is much better tho
@@pouihurmen yes 100%. I always do them with dumbbells and it lights up the triceps
@@Moveplaylift I have the exact same with straight bar lat prayers.
I’ve always found overhead cable extensions and skullcrushers so much better than pushdowns for sure
Great video! Very well done!
Video picture and audio quality is way up. Great job!
I'll be very honest, I incorporated one handed cable overhead triceps extensions and my long head simply exploded, it's the biggest it's ever been, I'm not quitting doing this exercise so soon. I believe I saw this advice at Milo Wolf's channel.
We are overthinking just workout
What a time to be alive and get such easy access to game changing information, for free!
And when you didn't know you didn't know.. YT told you!
Thanks!
I've loved pullovers ever since I did the 20 rep squat program. Old timers knew what was up.
Informative video with real practical application. More like this for other muscle groups!
I worked in the sheriffs department and we worked with correctional officers who would transport custodies… one custody was well built but he had the biggest triceps I’ve seen on a human being compared to his actual body size. Like I said he was in jail but had massive triceps. I asked him how he built them so big… he said he didn’t use any equipment but did diamond pushups regularly every day… I’ve been around bodybuilders, powerlifters, football players and no one has had bigger triceps than this man, pound for pound.
Some people are just genetically gifted like that.
Mooi filmpje Menno, dank. Graag een vervolg filmpje met oefeningen
Myoreps of bodyweight Triceps extensions are a massive Triceps builder in my personal experience. Now i understand why.
Hey Menno,
I was wondering if incline presses stimulate the long head of the triceps more than dips. Specifically, would incline presses provide around 30% muscle activation for the long head compared to about 20% with dips? I’m trying to allocate my training volume better and want to make sure these percentages are accurate.
Thanks!
This is incredible knowledge you earned a sub brother
Hey Menno, have you thought about calling it Lengthened Mediated Hypertrophy?
That should encompass both pure static stretch hold induced growth and dynamic training with joint articulation while having tension applied at longer muscle lengths even if the muscle is not necessarily "stretched".
It's all semantics and not a big deal either way but I do feel it helps separate the terms a bit more by making stretch mediated hypertrophy more of a subset of lengthened mediated hypertrophy. Just an idea.
I have, yeah, but in my mind, stretch is basically a synonym of length. Stretched = lengthened. Stretched has a potentially wrong mechanistic association though indeed.
Nobody ever mentions or takes into account the seated smith shoulder press. Could you please consider taking a look at the mechanics related to triceps?
Very well explained. Great content.
Menno can you PLEASE do a similar video but for biceps? Thank you 👍🏼
Lateral head looks dope. Big meaty long heads not so much. Personal preference obviously
I agree!!!!! But he didn't say what to use to isolate lateral head, since it is good from pressing exercises.
@@robertocastro2549 yeah I know. Funnily enough though often when I'm trying to target my lateral head I feel the medial and maybe long head more. I've yet to find a great exercise to reliably target my lateral head. Sometimes it gets smoked sometimes it doesn't 😞
For any fans of razor like lateral heads try diamond pushups. Did 3 sets of 10 and the end of my session today and less than 1 hour later I've got DOMS right in the lateral head!
The long head is clearly the more important muscle in terms of functional fitness.
Once the long head is big enough, the others likely are too.
Ignoring it is like having huge glutes, and tiny adductors 😂
@@peterpan408I disagree it's more like ignoring the long head of biceps.. Which most people do.
The long head still be working so not as if it will totally atrophy. Just a case of bias to individual preference.
Been doing ez bar pull vers for about 2 months following dips and get crazy tricep pumps especially in the longhead
"quite literally the moment arm"
I love it
Very informative video. A lot of new information, thank you
Would love to get your opinion on which triceps head is more important for aesthetics. Personally i think its the lateral head as it seems to stick out more, especially from the front.
Do you do the lat prayers on back day?
Add it on chest day .
Nice video but I'd still like to know what exercises to do to isolate only the lateral head as much as possible.
Kickbacks probably work well for that purpose.
Chest supported kickbacks on a incline bench work really well for me, focus on the squeeze on top, really sets them on fire for me.
Cool I'll try them out. Thanks
is there significant difference between single arm and both arm overhead lat extensions? from my understanding single arm is just wasting time. but i can see only needing to get a dumbell half a heavy over your head can make single arm extensions more appealing.
Calisthenics solution:
Just train frontlever and Overhead triceps band extensions in addition to pressing exercises like (Handstand)pushups and Dips.
Also good to know that frontlever and Handstandpushups or Dips can be trained together. Have wondered why I never had issues with this despite triceps overlapping, now I know why😅
Definitely needed this video, been doing a lot of push downs lol
Eugine Teo did a video on this a while ago . Good info 😊
Hi Menno, can you do a video on blood flow restriction training and relevant evidence (for or against)?
I have the reverse problem: the long head of my triceps is much bigger than the lateral head. My arms are 18 inches cold and the majority is the long head. I have a really hard time feeling the lateral head getting any work. Not sure if it’s just my genetics but the horseshoe is really lopsided.
A lifetime of bench presses and pressdowns gave me absolutely no long head. It is the "spider physique," that you see so often. Only recently have I got my long head bigger, using a triceps spreader bar. I did really heavy pressdowns with it, and really heavy overhead extension (bent over). I never knew which of these made the difference. Only recently have I been doing cable pullovers like you suggest. I heard this was good for the long head, so I added it in on back day. I never thought of it as a long head isolation exercise. I am going to do as you suggest and really overload it and try to get up to 200 lbs.
Any tips for training long head without irritating the ulnar nerve?
What about nautilus machine pullovers or pjr pullovers for long head specific training, there is also an article Chris Beardsley citing 2018 Kholinne et al. article showing that 0° shoulder elevation, the long head showed to be a strong elbow flexor compared to medical and lateral, which has given impetus to dip variation exercises.
What are thoughts @menno.henselmans ?
Very useful stuff, my man.
Tbh don’t like that OH does better in the studies since it fks up my elbows but science is science.
Apart from choosing the optimal exercises, the best advice for arms that I've heard is to do isolated triceps work (3-4 sets) on your pull day and isolated biceps work (again, 3 or so sets) on your push day.
Any alternative long head exercises. Can’t do overhead because of elbows. I’d rather not do lat prayers for them too
Very useful video! Thanks.
any recommendations for direct targeted volume for the long head?
Nice video, thank you! Do you have a video on biceps too? Very interesting content.
Dumbbell pullovers are the best for the long head without the elbow pain.
Will getting more muscle on the long head improve pressing power? bench or overhead?
Can you make a video on the bi-articulate muscle conflict of the rectus femoris?
I got a small tear in my RF from squatting only 100 kg. It still puzzles me to this day. I got it on video and the snap is audible.
On another note, great vid as always, Menno 😉
I'm confused because I just learned that lat prayers (along with the DB pull overs) are a great way to work the back's lats. Does this mean that I can check off both categories of muscles with this one exercise?
I have problems with my elbows when I do overhead exercises. Are the lat prayers as the only exercise for the long triceps head sufficient to stimulate them adequately and make them grow?
Are there variations of overhead exercises for the triceps that help people with elbow problems ?
Thanks for the informative video 😊
Try doing them lying down, you probably loose some of the stretched load, but for me its been much kinder after overhead one arm extensions started causing trouble.
Questions. If I spread my elbows to the sides while skull crusher, which head will the emphasis shift to? What is the difference between the position when elbows are pressed against the body and when they are as far away from it as possible with skull crusher in the Smith machine?
LOVE IT! Thanks a lot for doing all this
Awesome, can we have one for the Biceps please
Hey Menno great video, but I do have a question.
I googled how big is the long head of the tricep in proportion to the other two heads and according to AthleanX's website it says that the mass of the long head is 2/3 of all tricep mass.
I'm not sure how true that is but if it is true, does that mean that for every 3 sets of direct tricep work, 2 sets should be dedicated to long head and the other set be dedicated to lateral + medial head since the long head [is supposedly] 2/3 of tricep muscle mass?
Thanks!
@menno.henselmans what is the video linked at 4:46? I need to know!
I need help.
In my workout plan i work the triceps 2 times a week for a total of 24 sets. Not high quality, of course.
What if i train my triceps every day, 8 high quality sets, totaling 40 sets per week. Will i see more grouth, or less?
We appreciate your work
You need to do a combination of exercises without the tricep at full extension and then with. Start with exercises like the tricep push down which not only works the triceps great but gets them warmed up to work them at length. If you just go right into working them in a stretched position at length, it puts a ton of stress on the elbow if you're overloading them like you should. I'm 52 and still have great shape and size for my triceps and stay injury free.
I get left shoulder pain when doing overhead extensions. Ideas?
Would it make more sense to do lat prayers on push day or pull day? 🤔 I used to include them as a finisher to my pulldowns or rows, but noticed my triceps would actually get sore. For this reason, I stopped including them because I want my tris to get some rest instead of hammering them 4 times a week. Also, given what’s covered in the video, it stands to reason that pullovers might be an effective long head exercise as well… not just lat and pecs.
I used to do pullovers on my back days, but with my current schedule that would be the day before my chest day, and my triceps wouldn't be recovered at all for my pressing movements. I can't do them on my chest day because the lats aren't recovered from the previous day. So now I just include them on my back days only if my chest session isn't going to be the following day. You could always include them on a leg day or a separate day, and consider taking one of your other triceps days out.
I'm doing 2 upper days a week, (+ an isolated chest only session in-between). session 1 i do ez bar skull crushers 3 sets, session 2 i do cable pushdowns 3 sets for isolated tricep work (only have 1 hr daily to train). Should i replace the pushdown with an overhead movement instead then? so both sessions hit it in the overhead position? i always thought that for triceps its better to hit the heads from the different angles hence the pushdown and overhead work.. i want horseshoe triceps!!
Do Dumbell or Barbell Pullovers also train the long head? as a Home Gym Solution
Is there evidence that training the supination of the biceps with heavy resistance (very difficult to do) triggers more biceps growth than just curls because of anatomy too?
First I found triceps pull-downs hard to do right, with correct form. Then when I nailed the form I found them pretty useless. Now I think I'll ditch them altogether. I'll use my time on the cable machine more productively. TPD's seem very popular in the gym. I think there's a 'posing' element to why this is. If I'm going to pose I'll do it with skull-crushers which I can do like a robot. Slooooow on the way down.
What about tricep dips? How do they fit here?
Is there an alternative exercise for the overhead tricep exercise? Everytime I do them my shoulder hurts.
I think the push downs work fine if you focus on the form. That means controlling the eccentric slowly all the way to the top keeping elbows down and getting a full stretch to start the next rep
Dumbbell held with both arms behind the head. Lower behind head then extend straight up. Not found any exercise to build triceps faster. I start heavy (for me) 25kg do 25 to 30 single set
Then use 12.5kg and do 40 to 50 in a single set.
So lat prayers on back day for the long tricep head, then?
What about dips?
vVery interesting. But you still havent told me how to train the ForeHead.
Great video,what's your favourite rep range for lat prayers
I do dips, instead of any of those other triceps exercises, whereas I fully lower my body while keeping my legs straigthened out before me. So not like almost everyone else does, namely tucking in the legs like they're kneeling in the air, so to say.
Thank you, Menno. Question, do different grips matter on different tricep excercises or it makes little to no difference? Such skull crushers with dumpels with hands in hammer possition vs straight barbel ones.
Wrist position often doesn't matter for the triceps.
@@menno.henselmans Appreciate it!
Hey Menno love you work! It's helped me a lot. I have a question (and if you've covered it before could you point me to it), what weight of weightloss do you recommend in the case that you actually need to lose a certain amount of weight for a weightclass sport (powerlifting in my case).
I've seen a lot of evidence recently that losing weight slower is better (and that you may even lose comparable body fat percentages to fast cuts but with much less muscle loss), but say you actually need to lose 15lbs of real weight...Would it be better to do that quickly and have more time training at maintence after the cut, or spend much longer in a lower caloric deficit, lose less muscle on the way down, but then have less time than training at maintence before a competition?
Overhead triceps extension for some reason is one of those where I don’t have mind muscle connection. It feels like I have the strength, but I can’t control my triceps to do the reps
Might just need to make a subtle tweak or two that’s all! What are you doing them with?!
@@clintiacuone1703 cable machine. My left is particularly bad at this
Hi Menno, for the overhead extensions to failure or not to failure?
This video stimulated my long head
One thing you're failing to mention about skull crushers is that tension on the triceps muscles gets transferred to the pecs and delts once the weight goes 60-65 degrees towards vertical. When I do that exercise I try to not bring the weight past that point. I also use dumbbells instead of a barbell and hold them together during the lift. Two 35-40 dumbbells 8-10 reps. I definitely feel it afterward, even later that day.
Nice video. I think you could make it even better by showing more examples of what you´re talking about. The quality of information will be better, specially for those who doesn't understand English as well and/or who isn't as well versed in this specific terminology (It would help me out more ^^) Otherwise, thanks for sharing!
Are there any alternative exercises for people who can't do overhead tricep extensions? My shoulder feels uncomfortable when my hand is behind my back. Also, what do you think about crossbody cable tricep extensions? That's the only exercise where I feel the maximum triceps activation.
If I can only do two triceps exercises, which ones would you recommend for someone like me?