Triceps exercises?

brianthebard

Ok so my bench is lagging behind my deadlift and squat, and its really because my tri's are failing before my chest, and I find it hard to push the bar up from the bottom. Is there any exercises you can suggest that will strengthen my tris? I want to make sure to hit all three muscles. I know I could look up exrx or something but I'd like to hear what has worked for people before.

Dr4gul4

I've been doing dips and Skull crushers, just make sure an do ure dips slowly, really work those tri's

davyjose

I could be entirely wrong (cue backlash), but I read somewhere that the triceps are used mainly during the middle phase of the press. If you say your having problems at the bottom part, it could be something else.
I say this because I had a similar problem, put lots of work into my triceps and didn't see massive gains in my benchpress.

mloc

davyjose wrote:

I could be entirely wrong (cue backlash), but I read somewhere that the triceps are used mainly during the middle phase of the press. If you say your having problems at the bottom part, it could be something else.
I say this because I had a similar problem, put lots of work into my triceps and didn't see massive gains in my benchpress.

True. The lowest part of the bench is generally powered by the outer pectorals. Try dumbell presses for a few weeks and see how you get on.

As for triceps exercises, I find weighted dips and the tate press (http://www.weightliftingdiscussion.com/tatetri.html) are both excellent.

brianthebard

Ok thanks for that lads.

tribulus

Yeah that doesn't seem to make sense, where do you fail when you bench, bottom portion/a few inches off the chest or the top portion?

I would find it strange for a raw lifter to fail at lockout but I suppose it can happen.

I would recommend floor presses. Can be a pain to set up with out a power rack but they're well worth it.

I'd say focus more on heavy pressing variations and limit the pushdowns/dips etc to a few sets unless you're certain it's your lockout that's the problem.

brianthebard

Sorry should've made that clearer, its when the bar is at my chest, or just above it rather, I start to fail there. I was thinking of maybe throwing a few negative sets/reps, but will that improve my lift? What do you mean by floor presses? Cheers for the imput so far lads.

tribulus

Floor Presses are basically: Lie down on the ground and unrack the bar(hence needing a power cage), perform the lift exactly as you would a bench press.

The key difference is that your arms will contact the ground before the bar touches your chest. So essentially you're starting the lift from your sticking point. If you pause at the bottom for a second so there's no bounce/momentum you'll develop some good explosive strength and your bench will go up

I wouldn't bother with negatives if your main concern is getting your bench better.

Also a lot of people sort of bounce the weight off their chest and/or have bad control at the bottom, so there would be no harm in pausing the bar on your chest for a 1 count then pressing up as hard as you can.

When you return to regular touch n go's you should notice a difference.
Don't forget to work your lats and do some OH pressing too.

brianthebard

Great stuff trib. I always pause at the bottom anyways, but I'll pay extra attention to that now.

Beelzebub

The triceps muscle is one muscle - with three heads: Tri=3, Ceps=heads.
You cannot isolate one part of any muscle in the body totally from another.
Therefore whenever you do an upperbody pushing movement eg bench press, triceps work or shoulder press, you are using all three heads of the triceps.

From what you're saying though it's not your triceps that are the problem.
Your triceps don't kick in 'til much later in the movement.
Check this article out it will help you to improve your bench press:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/criticalbench19.htm

For triceps strength I would rate:
1: Bench Presses themselves - Your're already doing these so:

2: Close Grip Bench Presses.
3: Lying triceps extensions.
4: Bench Dips with added weight.
Do one of these per workout. 3 sets of 5 - 8.

brianthebard

Thanks beelzebub, I'm no biologist so I wasn't sure about training the three heads seperately or not.:o Will check out the article now.

Beelzebub

brianthebard wrote:

Thanks beelzebub, I'm no biologist so I wasn't sure about training the three heads seperately or not.:o Will check out the article now.

You're welcome!

And let us know how you get on!

Hanley

If you're failing off your chest then it's not your tri's you need to worry about. The tri's pretty much kick in as the bar comes to about 4-6 inches off your chest. Til then it's purely pec, shoulder and back strength.

Cycle Incline, Decline and Flat benches over a 6 week period. Do 2 weeks with each position before switching. On week one, go 3x6, week 2 go to a max set of 6. If you get 6, jump 5kg and go for another set of 6.

Do some dumbbell presses for 3 weeks, gradually trying to move up in weight each week, hitting the heaviest weight on week 3. 3x8. For the next 3 weeks do illegal wide grip benches. Take a grip about 2-3 inches outside of what you'd normally bench with, again 3x8-10

Do some shoulder work, military presses, behind the neck presses, dumbbell presses, seated presses. Just pick ONE. Keep it in for the 6 weeks. Start off with 3x12 for the first 3 weeks, then 3x8 for the week after.

Then do some back work. Rows, Chins, Pulldowns. Lots of volume. 40-50 reps total. Do 2 different movements. One rowing variation, one pulldown/chin type.

After the 6 weeks, take an easy week and do no bench work, then re test your max on the 8th week.

brianthebard

Thanks for that hanley. Lots of ideas to try out tomorrow.

Hanley

brianthebard wrote:

Lots of ideas to try out tomorrow.

Don't just try out ideas man, that'll get you no where. You need to pick something and stick to it for at least 6 weeks. Constantly chopping and changing will get you no where unfortunately.

I hate to blow my own trumpet, but what I said in my last post is basically the way I train my bench, and I hit 150 today in the national championships, so trust me, I sorta know what I'm talking about!

brianthebard

I meant try out to see what works best for me. I've taken on board everything you've said and I know that you are well ahead of me so I do appreciate you input and experience.

well done on the championships btw!

Hanley

I'm definately NOT saying "my way is best".

Just trying to make the point that to a certain point you can only try out so many things before you have to dedicate yourself to a course of action for 6-8 weeks.

My most productive times are when I know my next 8-12 weeks of training.