“The settler, the village blacksmith, the lumberjack, the carpenter and builder all needed powerful arms to ply their trade well, and, in time, those with the greatest, most powerful arms grew to be respected for their contributions,” said old school bodybuilder Chuck Sipes.Everybody that trains wants big arms but almost everybody underestimates the role of the triceps in the arm size equation and focuses a disproportionate amount of time training the biceps. More experienced trainers know that the triceps compose roughly two thirds of the upper arm meat but still spend the bulk of their time on familiar, easy moves like pressdowns. The danger there is that your triceps can become too accustomed to using the same three or four exercises every week, leaving you in a perpetual plateau.Let’s look at three unconventional methods that produce unconventional results for building beefy triceps.
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Kaz Press
Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier set the world record in the bench press with gargantuan 661 pounds in 1981. In over 30 years, few men have surpassed this feat. Kaz used a fairly narrow grip that demanded strong triceps. World champion powerlifters and the Smith machine mix like an oil and water – with an exception. The “Kaz Press,” which builds triceps strength, is a cross between a close-grip bench press and triceps extension, and the Smith machine eliminated the stability factor and allowed for extremely heavy weight to be used.tHow to correctly perform the Kaz Press: Lie face up on a bench under the Smith machine Grab the bar with a shoulder-width (or slightly closer) grip Unrack the bar at full extension Start the bar above your clavicles with arms extended Lower the bar toward your chest by bending at the elbows and allowing some movement at the shoulders Stop about three inches off your chest, then push back to starting position TIP: Make sure you keep your elbows close to your body during the exercise to maximize triceps activation Anecdotally, lifters I work with report the Kaz Press is very elbow-friendly compared to other heavy, direct triceps movements. Go heavy and try the exercise for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps..
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Dicks Press
How to correctly perform a Dicks Press: Lie face up on a bench press Grab the bar with a shoulder-width (or slightly closer) grip Unrack the bar at arms extension Start the bar above your upper pecs with arms extended Lower the weight to approximately one inch above your chest Push your elbows up and shift the bar toward your chin Shift the bar back to one inch above your chest Forcefully press up and repeat Try this movement for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps. .Dicks Press in Action (video embedded)
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The Tri Set
I was introduced to this exercise by Joe Giandonato, MS, a strength coach at Drexel University in Philadelphia. How to correctly perform a tri-tri set: Grab a pair of dumbbells; Joe recommends 35% of the load you could use on dumbbell bench presses for 10 reps (i.e. if you could do 100s, use 35s) Lie down on the bench Perform a neutral-grip dumbbell bench press From that top locked-out position, lower your dumbbells, hinging at the elbows, to the side of your head Forcefully extend back to the locked out position Keeping the dumbbells at full extension, lower the dumbbells back in an arc behind your head. Maintaining nearly straight arms, pull the dumbbells back in an arc to the extended position That is one rep. Repeat another rep, starting with the neutral-grip press.Our first two were heavy hybrid movements; this one is lighter. But halfway through a set of 10, you will be wishing for one of the heavy exercises. Stay tough and experience a t-shirt popping pump. This recently brought one top-rated bench press champion down to his knees with a pair of 35 pound dumbbells. The 35% load was for five reps. If you’re doing more reps, obviously you may have to lighten the load a little bit. Try three sets, of five, eight and 12 reps, respectively, lightening the load each set, reverse-pyramid style. Tri-Tri Set in Action.
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Final Thoughts
Quit spending two-thirds of your time working one-third of your arms. Bigger arms start with big triceps. Give these three unconventional ways a try to build strong, densely muscled tri’s.Josh Bryant, MFS, CSCS, PES, is the owner of JoshStrength.com and co-author (with Adam benShea) of the Amazon No. 1 seller Jailhouse Strong. He is a strength coach at Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas, and holds 12 world records in powerlifting. You can connect with him on Twitter and Facebook or visit his website at www.joshstrength.com.
“The settler, the village blacksmith, the lumberjack, the carpenter and builder all needed powerful arms to ply their trade well, and, in time, those with the greatest, most powerful arms grew to be respected for their contributions,” said old school bodybuilder Chuck Sipes.
Everybody that trains wants big arms but almost everybody underestimates the role of the triceps in the arm size equation and focuses a disproportionate amount of time training the biceps. More experienced trainers know that the triceps compose roughly two thirds of the upper arm meat but still spend the bulk of their time on familiar, easy moves like pressdowns. The danger there is that your triceps can become too accustomed to using the same three or four exercises every week, leaving you in a perpetual plateau.
Let’s look at three unconventional methods that produce unconventional results for building beefy triceps.
Kaz Press
Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier set the world record in the bench press with gargantuan 661 pounds in 1981. In over 30 years, few men have surpassed this feat. Kaz used a fairly narrow grip that demanded strong triceps. World champion powerlifters and the Smith machine mix like an oil and water – with an exception. The “Kaz Press,” which builds triceps strength, is a cross between a close-grip bench press and triceps extension, and the Smith machine eliminated the stability factor and allowed for extremely heavy weight to be used.
tHow to correctly perform the Kaz Press: Lie face up on a bench under the Smith machine Grab the bar with a shoulder-width (or slightly closer) grip Unrack the bar at full extension Start the bar above your clavicles with arms extended Lower the bar toward your chest by bending at the elbows and allowing some movement at the shoulders Stop about three inches off your chest, then push back to starting position TIP: Make sure you keep your elbows close to your body during the exercise to maximize triceps activation Anecdotally, lifters I work with report the Kaz Press is very elbow-friendly compared to other heavy, direct triceps movements. Go heavy and try the exercise for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps.
.
Dicks Press
How to correctly perform a Dicks Press: Lie face up on a bench press Grab the bar with a shoulder-width (or slightly closer) grip Unrack the bar at arms extension Start the bar above your upper pecs with arms extended Lower the weight to approximately one inch above your chest Push your elbows up and shift the bar toward your chin Shift the bar back to one inch above your chest Forcefully press up and repeat Try this movement for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps.
.
Dicks Press in Action (video embedded)
The Tri Set
I was introduced to this exercise by Joe Giandonato, MS, a strength coach at Drexel University in Philadelphia. How to correctly perform a tri-tri set: Grab a pair of dumbbells; Joe recommends 35% of the load you could use on dumbbell bench presses for 10 reps (i.e. if you could do 100s, use 35s) Lie down on the bench Perform a neutral-grip dumbbell bench press From that top locked-out position, lower your dumbbells, hinging at the elbows, to the side of your head Forcefully extend back to the locked out position Keeping the dumbbells at full extension, lower the dumbbells back in an arc behind your head. Maintaining nearly straight arms, pull the dumbbells back in an arc to the extended position That is one rep. Repeat another rep, starting with the neutral-grip press.
Our first two were heavy hybrid movements; this one is lighter. But halfway through a set of 10, you will be wishing for one of the heavy exercises. Stay tough and experience a t-shirt popping pump. This recently brought one top-rated bench press champion down to his knees with a pair of 35 pound dumbbells. The 35% load was for five reps. If you’re doing more reps, obviously you may have to lighten the load a little bit. Try three sets, of five, eight and 12 reps, respectively, lightening the load each set, reverse-pyramid style. Tri-Tri Set in Action.
Final Thoughts
Quit spending two-thirds of your time working one-third of your arms. Bigger arms start with big triceps. Give these three unconventional ways a try to build strong, densely muscled tri’s.
Josh Bryant, MFS, CSCS, PES, is the owner of JoshStrength.com and co-author (with Adam benShea) of the Amazon No. 1 seller Jailhouse Strong. He is a strength coach at Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas, and holds 12 world records in powerlifting. You can connect with him on Twitter and Facebook or visit his website at www.joshstrength.com.
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