Secrets For Bigger Triceps

1. Hand & feet placement

Depending on where you put your hands on the bar and your feet in relation to the stack, will largely dictate which portion of your triceps are put under the most stress when doing pushdowns.

Most will stand about a stride away, and have a shoulder width apart grip. This is fine!

However, to make this exercise more effective at hitting the "long head" of the triceps (the part a LOT of people struggle to hit) I want you to try the following variation of this awesome exercise - 

1. Stand closer to the stack, to the point the cable can/is running down your nose

2. Grip the bar with a "close grip" hold

3. Push your elbows right back and keep them tucked to your sides so the bar runs up/down your abdomen when performing the exercise

This will mean that you will have to use less weight because of the positioning, but it's a GREAT way to really isolate the meaty portion of your triceps right on the back of your arm. Almost immediately when you do this correctly you will feel the inside of the back of your arm BURN!!

2. Overhead pause

I'm a big fan of overhead extensions for triceps for multiple reasons. The main one is that it gives you a great opportunity to recruit the "long head" again, which like I've already said is the hardest area to hit for most people.

When you next do an overhead extension, whether that's with an EZ bar, straight bar on cables or even dumbbells try PAUSING for 1-2 seconds at the point of flexion (where your arm is bent).

This really isolates the triceps and forces them to recruit more fibers to get what is now a dead weight, moving again. You will feel this the next day!

**Word of caution on this training tip - if you suffer with really bad elbow pain/tendonitis I wouldn't recommend this with heavy weight at all, so it may only be suitable for high rep training in your case**