Train Like an Athlete by ATHLEAN-X (Video Podcast)

If you have a hard time building big triceps then you are going to want to try this. It takes just 6 minutes and it takes the science of triceps contraction to a new level to get your triceps to respond better to all of the exercises you perform for them. This has to do with building a better mind muscle connection with the triceps muscle by taking it through the components of its two joint contraction capability.

If you do not have good neuromuscular control or proprioceptive awareness of your body and joints then you will almost surely have issues developing a muscle to its fullest. We can test just how much of a problem this is for us by going through the three steps shown in the video.

First, you want to try and straighten your elbow and squeeze your triceps as hard as possible. Be sure that you are actually straightening the elbow to lockout rather than leaving the last two inches of the extension unstraightened. This is key. Full triceps contraction only occurs when the joint is extended fully and maximum shortening of the muscle is achieved. You want to see if you can generate any contraction discomfort by squeezing in this position. If you don’t then you have some degree of mind muscle disruption but you will want to move onto the next test.

Now, keeping your elbow straight, try and move your arm back behind your body and evaluate once again what type of discomfort (if any) you get from this position. If you have a good mind muscle awareness you will definitely feel a tight squeeze or slight cramp in the triceps muscle from putting your arm in this position.

Finally, add one final component of the test by externally rotating your shoulders and getting your forearms to face forward. Repeat the drill by getting your straight arm back behind your body and once again evaluate what type of cramping, discomfort or tightness you may have in your triceps. If you don’t feel any of that in any of the three positions then you definitely have to do something about it since this is holding back the effectiveness of all of the tricep work you are doing.

To rectify this, try the simple 6 minute routine shown here.

1. Perform a pulsing triceps pushdown in just the final few inches of the rep for 45 seconds. You can use lighter weights here. The focus is on driving a hard contraction via the triceps muscle and not on worrying about progressive overload or strength. Rest 15 seconds and move onto the next movement.

2. Lying face down on an incline bench, take two light dumbbells and move them back behind your body while maintaining straight elbows. Pulse your straight arms back even a few more inches, making sure not to let them drop past the level of the torso. Do this once again for 45 seconds and rest 15 seconds before moving onto the last exercise. Note, if needed, you may use no weight here if needed in order to ensure strong contractions.

3. Finally, rotate your shoulders from this same position so that your forearms are pointing down towards the floor. For this final movement you not only want to keep your arms behind your body with your shoulders turned back but you want to once again reinforce the final two inches of elbow extension by quickly bending and extending the elbows just a little bit on every rep. Perform this for 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds and repeat this entire 3 minute circuit one more time for a total of 6 minutes.

You will be able to do this quick routine for your triceps throughout the week without having to worry about it interfering with your currently programmed strength or hypertrophy work. With the absence of eccentric overload and the fact that it is not neurologically demanding as rep max strength work would be, you will be able to work on improving your mind muscle