Elbow Friendly Triceps Exercises
by Rusi
Added On September 4, 2011
Everybody wants big triceps, right? However most of the triceps isolation exercises place a lot of strain on the elbow tendons due to the lever of the arm. The goal of this article is to present different ways to train your triceps without overloading your tendons. Below is a list with my favorite triceps exercises. Most of them are very elbow friendly since the tendons of my right arm are pretty beaten and I found the below information from trial and errors.
Number 1: Close-grip decline bench press
In my opinion the close-grip decline bench is one of the most effective compound exercises you can do for your triceps. Because of the decline angle your shoulders have less work and the triceps take over. That's why I usually prefer the decline close-grip bench over the flat close-grip bench. Make sure that your grip is close to narrow BUT not too close because you don't want to damage your wrists and elbows with a super close grip. Over-flexing of your elbow or overextending of your wrists should be avoided.
Number 2: Dips on parallel bars
Another compound exercise that will help your triceps strength and mass. The stress on the elbow is small. However most people may complain from shoulder pain due to the extreme position of the upper arm at the bottom. If you don't experience pain this is a great upper arm builder.
Number 3: Decline Dumbbell Pull-over or Machine Pull-over
You are probably wondering why there is a back exercise in the list. It's simple. The triceps is a perfect example of a two joint muscle. The long head which is also the biggest one and the most harder to develop attaches to the scapula.That's where the pull-over comes into play. I prefer to do pull-overs on a machine because of the longer range of motion. However most of the pull-over machines have special pads for your elbows in order to minimize the work of the long head and to keep the stress on the lats. So if you are doing pull-overs on a machine don't place your elbows on the pad. If your gym does not have a pull-over machine just do regular dumbbell pull-overs on a decline bench. When doing the dumbbell variation don't bend your elbows too much. If you are new to this exercise your triceps (long head) will be sore the next day.
Number 4: Elbow Flared Triceps Press-downs
The classic press-downs put a lot of stress on the elbow. However if you flare your elbows and lean forward more the pushdown becomes similar to a decline bench press only done a cable. This are also one of Jay Cutler's favorite triceps exercises.
Number 5: Ez-curl Bar Skull Crushers
Skull crushers are notorious for elbow problems. However this is because most people do them wrong, too heavy or both.
When doing this exercise most people keep the angle between their upper arm and torso around 90 degrees at the starting and ending position. In other words you start the movement with the bar over your chest and finish it with the bar over your chest. This places a tremendous stress on the joint.
The right way to do the exercise is to start the movement with the bar over your forehead and to finish it there. The angle between your upper arm and torso should be more than 90 degrees during the whole movement. That way the tension is kept on the triceps the whole time without overworking your tendons. You will also have to use less weight but your triceps will be actually working harder.
Watch this video made by Scott Herman from Scott Herman Fitness in order to understand what I'm talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_KZxkY_0cM
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