It’s a physiological fact that building big upper arms is 66% triceps and 33% biceps. So while guys are hammering away at the biceps looking to get arms as thick as tree trunks, whilst neglecting the triceps – you can take all by ensuring your triceps get the very best workout you can give them.
One of my favourite exercises for building the triceps is the triceps kickback – also known as the dumbbell kickback. It’s performed one arm at a time, with a single dumbbell.
Here’s how it goes…
Take a dumbbell in one hand, with the palm facing inward. Bend forward at the waist, and slightly at the knees. If you are holding the dumbbell in the left side, put your left foot slightly forward, and vice versa.
Try to keep your upper body around parallel to the floor. Place the free hand on a bench for support.
Bend and raise your upper arm so it is tucked into your side, parallel with your upper body. Now, using the power of your triceps, ‘kick back’ the dumbbell until the elbow is locked out behind you, and hold for a fraction of a second, and lower as slowly as you can. It helps if you keep a look out behind you at what your arm is doing.
It’s important when you do this exercise that you don’t use your upper arm or upper body for momentum and start swinging the dumbbell back. It’s got to be done strictly and be all triceps, nothing else.