Anatomy of the human body - triceps / triceps brachii

Often we see that an article mentions a muscle, but not every reader knows what muscle it is. Based on this, we decided to create a series of articles to discuss the basic anatomy of the human body. We will show you what exercises to use to exercise a given muscle part correctly and, conversely, what you should avoid when it comes to exercise.

Today we will briefly discuss a muscle that almost everyone is familiar with. That muscle is the triceps, or the triceps brachii.

The triceps make up 3/5 of the arm, yet there are still many "fitness buffs" who prefer to take care of their biceps. However, if we just give it some thought - three heads will be more than two... For example, did you know that the triceps make up up to 2/3 of the weight of the arm?

As its name suggests, the triceps has three heads:

• The long head(caput longum) - starts at the scapula, and is the only one that extends beyond the two joints. It contributes most to the volume of the triceps and its horseshoe shape.
• The lateral head(caput laterale) - starts at the humerus and is located on the outer part of the arm.
• Medial head(caput mediale) - also starts on the humerus (roughly in the middle) and is located under the long head. It is the least significant in terms of triceps volume.

The triceps begins on the scapula below the shoulder socket, on the back of the body and humerus, and on most of the lower arm bone. These three heads converge at the tendon which attaches to the shackle. The triceps brachii is the main extensor of the forearm.

Basic triceps exercises:

There are countlessexercises for triceps development. However, we would include the following among the basic exercises for triceps development:

Barbell push-ups

Position yourself on the bar with your arms outstretched. Lower yourself as deep as possible, push back from the bottom, and don't fully extend the triceps at the top! (98% extension is enough to avoid losing tension in the muscles). Keep your torso as perpendicular as possible. The more you lean forward, the more your chest will work.

French pressures

Grip the dumbbell at a distance of 10 to 15 cm and lower the dumbbell to touch the forehead. Keep the elbows perpendicular to the ground and the movement should come from the elbows only. After mastering the strict technique of this exercise, minor cheating is again possible by slightly rolling the elbows apart while lifting the dumbbell - this saves the triceps tendons.

One-arm push-ups behind the head

Hold the single-arm overhand grip shoulder-width apart, pushing the axis overhead. Slowly lower it until your forearms touch your biceps. Then start pushing back to the starting position. Only the forearms move!

More exercises for triceps:

Rope pull-ups, pulldowns, pulldowns, pullovers with rope, kick backs, push-ups, etc. You can find the correct technical examples of exercises for triceps development in our exercise database.

What to avoid when exercising your triceps:

This is what we asked Robert Humpál from the Supertrener.cz project

I don't see any problem with triceps exercises in particular. It is a small muscle and the exercises are not particularly dangerous. Rather, it's about excessive load, poor technique (unnecessarily destructive training - too many exercises), overloading the tendon and the subsequent pain in the elbow. Be aware that the triceps works for other exercises on other areas (e.g. bench) and it is useless to overload it with x exercises.

Sources.