There’s the old saying, “One thing leads to another,” and this is always true in fitness. A well-rounded physique is not just vanity; it will bring you a superior quality of lifelong term. Think about your body as a machine, every artery, every nerve, every muscle, tendon, joint, and bone, all working in unison to perform tasks. This realization makes it clear that head-to-toe exercises are important for strength and ease of participating in life.
Comprehensive workouts also give more power to sport and recreation and increase stability, making it easier to maintain good posture. Equally as important is that routine exercise, including weight lifting and resistance training, helps to maintain or improve bone density, aids in the decline of muscle mass that’s associated with aging, improves metabolism, and decreases the risk for injury.
Why is it important to exercise the triceps?
The triceps are essential for building upper body strength and helping with movement in your shoulders and elbows. Shoulders have a wide range of motion, making it the most mobile joint in the body, but because of this flexibility, the shoulder isn’t very stable and is easily injured. Increasing triceps strength brings stability to your shoulders and arms, improves flexibility, and increases your range of motion. These stability and mobility improvements help prevent injury in the shoulders and elbows and make it easier for you to use your upper body in daily activities.
5 Best No-Equipment Triceps Exercises
Sometimes a no-equipment workout is what you need. Here are 5 highly effective triceps exercises you can do from anywhere – no gym membership required!
1. Triceps Push-Up
Triceps push-ups target your upper-body-pushing muscles. Here’s how to perform a triceps push-up:
- Start in the plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders.
- Engage your core, pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
- Keep your legs straight and hips level.
- Pull your arms in close to your sides so your elbows are pointed back.
- Drive your hands into the ground to keep your shoulders stable.
- Slowly lower yourself toward the ground, keeping your elbows pointed back and core engaged.
- Lower until your arm, shoulder, and elbow make a 90-degree angle.
- Push hard into the ground to lift your body back up.
- Perform 10-12 reps.
2. Diamond Triceps Push-Up
While all kinds of push-ups work the chest, shoulders, and triceps, moving your hands closer than in a classic push-up puts the focus firmly on your triceps, which turns this into one of the best triceps exercises. Here’s how to perform a diamond triceps push-up:
- Start in the plank position with your hands under your chest.
- Position your fingers and thumbs so they’re touching, forming a diamond shape, and extend your arms so that your body is elevated and forms a straight line from your head to your feet.
- Engage your core, pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
- Keep your legs straight and hips level.
- Lower your chest towards your hands, ensuring your elbows don’t flare out to the sides, and keep your back flat.
- Stop just before your chest touches the floor.
- Push hard into the ground to lift your body back up.
- Perform 10-12 reps.
3. Bodyweight Skull Crusher (on the floor)
The skull crusher is a good exercise to activate the medial head of the triceps. The medial head of the triceps sits at the back of the arm below the long head at the center just above the elbow. It is the smallest head of the three in the triceps. Here’s how to perform a bodyweight skull crusher:
- Start in the downward dog position.
- Bend at the elbows until they reach the ground. Do not allow your head to travel forward; keep your eyes gazing at your feet.
- Push back up into the starting position.
- Perform 10-12 reps.
4. Up-and-Down Plank
The up-and-down plank does more than just exercise the triceps. This exercise also strengthens and tones your core, glutes, arms, wrists, and shoulders. This exercise also helps improve posture, tighten the midsection, and boost weight loss. Here’s how to perform an up-and-down plank:
- Start in the plank position, with your wrists under your shoulders and your feet hip-width apart.
- Bend your left arm, place your left elbow on the mat, and then bend your right arm and place your right elbow on the mat.
- Place your left hand on the mat, straighten your left arm, and then place your right hand on the mat and straighten your right arm.
- Repeat for 1-2 minutes or as long as you can safely sustain this movement.
5. Triceps Floor Dips
Triceps dips work the muscles in the upper arm, specifically the triceps, and are one of the best exercises for toning arms. Most gyms have some form of a triceps dip machine that can assist in doing this exercise, but there’s a simple way you can do the triceps dips without special equipment. Here’s how to perform a triceps from the floor:
- Sit on the ground with knees bent, butt raised off the ground, and hand behind you, directly under your shoulders.
- Allow your legs to extend, raising yourself up.
- Continue to raise yourself until your arms are completely straight while keeping your butt up.
- Bend your arms, lowering yourself until just before your butt touches the ground, returning to the starting position.
- Repeat for 1-2 minutes or as long as you can safely sustain this movement.
Extra Fitness Tips For Strong Triceps
Remember that it will take 4-6 weeks for you to begin noticing differences in your strength and physique when doing any fitness program and 6-8 weeks before changes in your muscles can be visible. Consistency in any program is what’s going to make all the difference for maximum health benefits.
Remember that you can modify these exercises depending on your current fitness level and increase the intensity and length of the exercise as you become stronger. Consider adding this no-equipment triceps workout to any other cardio routine that you’re already doing, and give it the time necessary to experience the healthy changes!
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