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home > exercise tips > tighten your triceps
Tighten Your Triceps
Although you'll hear it more from females, the triceps are often called the jiggly muscle on the back of the arm. Fortunately, the triceps make up two-thirds of the upper arm muscles, so it presents a lot of opportunity for toning and shaping. Because the muscle has three heads, however, it must be challenged from a number of angles with a variety of exercises.
Some people find the triceps difficult to feel during training because we can't see them as easily, so it is important to know where they are. Place your hand on the back of your upper arm. Then completely extend your arm and squeeze the back of your arm tightly. This is your triceps contracting.
Before training your triceps, be sure to warm them up by elevating your body temperature with a 5-10 minute full-body
warm-up, then do a few light sets of the planned exercise(s). Even if you warm up for just a few minutes, research
shows that the muscles become more elastic and better oxygenated, which helps to improve performance.
Correct form is crucial, and will not only ensure results, but will prevent you from getting hurt as well. For example, if you
quickly jam your elbows into a lockout position on triceps pushdowns, your elbows will soon be rustier than the Titanic.
Smooth, controlled motions are very important.
Remember to resist overtraining your triceps, as they are indirectly stimulated from chest and shoulder work. 3-6
sets is plenty.
Maintain balance between the triceps and biceps by training them equally. Not only does an imbalance look odd, it
increases chance of injury (just as weak abdominals increase lower back injury rate).
The triceps will never be tight unless you incorporate a well-rounded diet and cardiovascular exercise into your overall
program of reducing bodyfat. The triceps are similar to the abs; you'll never see their shape unless your bodyfat is
under control.
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