How Do You Get Bigger Triceps?
Nothing beats the confidence that having a pair of jacked arms gives you…but nothing is tougher than getting a pair of jacked arms. Getting bigger arms takes a lot of work in the kitchen and in the gym, and it can be confusing on how to get there if you don’t know what you’re doing.
That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll break down the three steps to getting bigger triceps so you know exactly what you need to do and why.
3 Steps to Getting Bigger Triceps
Getting bigger triceps can be boiled down into three steps:
- Choose the right exercises
- Work out the right way
- Eat the right amount of the right foods
Triceps Brachii: what do they do, and why is that important?
In order to choose the best exercises for your triceps, you need to know what they do and where they’re located.
Triceps Function
The triceps main goal is to extend, or straighten the elbow. You can isolate it by doing any exercise where you extend your arms, like rope pushdowns, kickbacks and skull crushers. Your triceps also get worked a lot in the bench press, shoulder press and pushup (this also means the stronger your triceps are, the more you can bench).
Triceps Anatomy
The triceps are the horseshoe shaped muscles on the back of your arms that are made of three heads (hence triceps).
What’s important to know about the three heads is that two of the heads (the lateral and medial) originate (or start) on the humerus, the big upper arm bone, but the long head originates on the scapula, or shoulder blade.
This is important because if you reach your arms up over your head, that stretches the long head a little more than the other two heads, and when you put a muscle in a stretched position, it makes it work a little more.
All triceps exercises work all three heads, but if you want to emphasize working out the long head (the meaty part directly behind your arm) a little more, then overhead exercises like the dumbbell overhead press will do it.
If you want to emphasize working out the lateral (the part that sticks out to the side and pulls babes) and medial heads, then exercises where your elbows are by your side like the rope pushdown are better.
The 4 Best Triceps Exercises
Given what we know about triceps anatomy, these are our four favorite triceps exercises:
Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extensions
Why we like them:
This exercise is a great way to isolate your triceps, and like we said earlier, with your elbows over your head, the long head of the triceps is stretched more, so it’s worked more.
Cable Cross Triceps Extensions
Why we like them:
This is our favorite triceps exercise because no other triceps exercise allows a stronger contraction than this one. Strong contractions = big muscles.
Dips
Why we like them:
Dips are a great way to focus on your triceps as part of a compound movement, can be done nearly anywhere, and also hit your shoulders and chest.
Close Grip Bench Press
Why we like them:
The close grip bench press is another way to emphasize your triceps in a compound movement, and allows you to use a lot of weight, working your triceps, shoulders and chest.
To read about more triceps exercises and how they’re done, check out The 7 Best Triceps Exercises.
Our Favorite Triceps Routine
The next step to getting bigger triceps is to put these exercises into a practical training routine. Here is a sample of what your triceps work for the week could look like:
Close Grip Bench Press:
3 sets x 6-8 reps
Dips:
3 sets x 6-8 reps
Overhead Dumbbell Triceps Extension:
3 sets x 8-12 reps
Cable Cross Triceps Extension:
3 sets x 8-12 reps
These exercises should be spread out one of two ways:
- Doing it all on one day, if you have a day dedicated to biceps and triceps
- Splitting it up into two days, if you do a push pull routine.
If you do a push pull routine, we recommend splitting it up to where you’re doing the close bench press and dips on separate days, and then the cable cross extensions and overhead dumbbell triceps extension on a separate day. That way you get in a heavy exercise and a high rep exercise in each workout.
3 Steps To The Best Workouts
You could do all the right reps and sets and exercises, but if you’re just going through the motions, you’re likely going to see little results. In order to make your workouts count, you need to do three things:
- Work your butt off
- Always strive for progress
- Concentrate on squeezing the muscle you’re working
Bigger Triceps Are Earned, Not Given
You don’t need to go to the gym every day, but you do need to make sure that during the times you do go, you work really hard.
Working hard means not quitting when it’s uncomfortable, but quitting when you’re done. If your triceps are on fire, but you still have more reps in the tank, you need to keep going.
Not only will this help build your triceps, but it will build your confidence. Confidence comes from overcoming things you thought weren’t possible before, and a simple way to do that is to conquer your body.
Strive For Progress
The most practical ways to make progress in the gym are by doing more weight or more reps. Each time you lift this needs to be your goal.
Doing dips for 3 sets of 10 week after week won’t get you where you want to go.
Fitness author Mike Matthews says, “Progression is the key to muscle growth…if you don’t get stronger, you won’t get bigger.”
Since progress is such a key piece to reaching fitness goals, and I can never remember how many I did last week, I use a workout journal. It’s nothing fancy, just a composition book, but it helps me set and conquer goals every week.
Concentrate On Squeezing Your Triceps
The final step to having the best workout ever is to flex your triceps as you’re working them out. This act of consciously squeezing your muscles is called the mind muscle connection, and is a hotly debated topic.
However, this study by Brad Schoenfield, Bret Contreras and others states specifically that, “an internal focus of attention is superior to an external focus of attention when the goal is to maximize hypertrophy of the elbow flexors (biceps).” If flexing your biceps as you lift helps with building bigger biceps, we can assume that it will help with your triceps as well.
Bigger Meals = Bigger Muscles
Even if you’re doing the right exercises and having the best workouts, you still need the last piece of the puzzle to build your triceps: eating enough of food.
If you’re like me, and most other people who are struggling to get bigger arms, you’re not eating enough. However, there is a fine line between not eating enough, and eating so much that you’re getting a bigger belly.
To help with this problem, fitness coach and author Sean Nalewanyj recommends eating 250-350 calories more than your body typically burns per day.
But how many calories does your body typically burn per day?
There are fancy machines that can calculate this for you, but Sean Nalewanyj has a simple solution to estimate about how many calories you burn per day, based on your bodyweight and activity level.
Not Active = Bodyweight x 14
Lightly Active = Bodyweight x 14.5
Moderately Active = Bodyweight x 15
Very Active = Bodyweight x 15.5
Extremely Active = Bodyweight x 16
For instance, I’m 185 pounds, and moderately active, so according to this equation I burn 2,775 calories per day.
How accurate is this? A $10,000 machine calculated that I burn 2,813 calories per day. 38 calorie difference— not bad!
Carbs, Fats and Protein
Carbs, fats and proteins are macronutrients, which mean that they provide your body with energy in the form of calories.
| Good Food Sources | Calories per gram | |
|---|---|---|
| Carbohydrates | Bread, rice, quinoa, fruits & veggies | 4 |
| Protein | Meat, beans, nuts | 4 |
| Fat | Fish, avocados, nuts | 9 |
Your body needs a mix of each macronutrient in order to function optimally, and Sean Nalewanyj recommends these basic daily guidelines:
| Recommended Intake | |
|---|---|
| Protein | 1 gram per pound of body weight |
| Fats | 25% of total calories |
| Carbohydrates | Remaining calories after protein and fat is calculated |
Using me as an example, if I want to build muscle I need to eat about 3,100 calories per day, made up of the following ratios:
Protein:
Since I’m 185 pounds, I’ll need 185 grams of protein.
185 grams of protein x 4 calories per gram = 740 calories from protein
Fat:
25% of my total 3,100 calories per day = 775 calories from fat
Carbs:
3,100 total calories – 740 calories from protein – 775 calories from fat = 1,585 calories from carbs
So there you have it, my daily intake should be roughly:
Protein: 740 calories
Carbs: 1,585 calories
Fats: 775 calories
In other words, knowing that carbs and protein are four calories per gram, and fat is nine calories per gram, my daily intake should be:
Protein: 185 grams
Carbs: 396 grams
Fats: 86 grams
Conclusion
If you want to get bigger triceps you need to eat right and choose the right exercises. A mix of compound movements (dips and close grip bench press) and isolation movements (rope pushdowns and overhead dumbbell presses) are best for growing your triceps, but there’s more to it.
In order to have the best workouts possible, you need to work really hard, always try to make progress and consciously focus on squeezing your triceps as you work them out.
It takes hard work in all of these arenas, but if it was easy, it wouldn’t be worth achieving. There’s nothing like the proud feeling you get when you conquer your body, bend it to your will and grow your stubborn, once-scrawny arms.
Happy lifting!
P.S. to get bigger biceps, check out this post’s sister article: The Ultimate Guide To Getting Bigger Biceps.