SHOCK TRAINING

Q. My biceps are pretty good, but my triceps are seriously lacking. What are the top three exercises of all time for packing mass on to your triceps?

A. In my humble opinion, if you want to pack some serious size onto your tris, you gotta focus on the basics. Pushdowns are great once you’ve got a foundation to work from, but until then, put some hard work in on the following mass builders:

Dips
Dips are one of the best overall upper-body exercises you can do. When you perform a dip, you engage many different muscle groups, including the chest, shoulders, and especially the triceps. Because this exercise is so demanding, the triceps are subject to great overload. They have to recruit more muscle fibers to lift your body weight (plus added weight if you’re pretty strong). The more muscle fibers you can recruit, the stronger you become, and the more muscle you gain. It’s that simple.

Floor Presses
Floor presses are well known in powerlifting circles for their ability to increase strength, especially on the bench press. They’re also fantastic for building mass on the triceps. Every time you pause at the bottom position of a floor press, you force the triceps to work extra hard to press back up and lock out (more muscle fibers are recruited).

Lying Triceps Extensions (with E-Z barbell)
These are a personal favorite for building triceps mass. I like them because in the bottom position of the extension, the triceps get a great stretch. When you lock out at the top, remember to squeeze (contract) the triceps really hard. Expect to be really sore for a couple days if you do these correctly.