9 Best Long Head Triceps Exercises: Thicker & Stronger Arms

When it comes to building impressive arm strength & physique, doing long-head triceps exercises is extremely important.

The triceps is made out of three heads, in which the long head is particularly significant in creating an aesthetic appearance due to its larger size.

If left undertrained, you would be leaving a massive amount of gains, I HAD TO LEARN THIS THE HARD WAY.

Enough talking and let us dive straight into the content you are here for!

Effective Long Head Triceps Exercises

• Overhead Triceps Extension
• Close Grip Bench Press
• Skull Crusher
• Triceps Dips 
• Single-Arm Cable Kickbacks
• Diamond Pushups
• French Press
• Neutral Grip Dumbbells Bench Press
• Rope Pushdown

Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension

When you lower the weight behind your head, it stretches out the long head of the triceps~ helping it to grow. 

This exercise can be also done using a cable or a barbell, but in my experience using a dumbbell gave me better results. 

1. Grap on to a dumbbell at a weight that is manageable for you. 
2. Stand tall with your feet shoulder-width apart.
3. Hold the weight with one hand and lift it over your head.
4. Gradually lower the weight by bending the elbow until your forearm is touching your bicep. 
5. Without using the moment, straighten your elbows and get your palm back to the starting position. 

Key tips:

Avoid overarching your back as this can cause lower back pain. Engage your core which will help stabilize the upper body. 

Your elbows should be at a fixed position, where your arm is only 2-3 inches away from your head. This will make sure you get a full stretch with every rep you do.

Lower the weight slowly, going too fast has two disadvantages:

• Less muscle tension.
• Higher risk of injuring your elbows. 

Close Grip Bench Press 

Unlike your typical bench press ( Ps. the best exercise to build a sculpted chest) hand positioning.

Instead, if you have a narrower grip, it will shift the tension over to the triceps. 

As it is a compound movement (using more than one muscle), you can lift heavier weights ~ helping to build the overall triceps strength.

1. Firstly begin by setting up on a flat bench rack and putting the appropriate weight on the barbell. 
2. Lie down on the bench and have your feet tightly secured to the ground. 
3.  Place your hands on the barbell holding it slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart.
4. Arch your back slightly, roll your shoulder blade back, and lift the barbell off the rack. 
5. Lower the bar slowly towards slightly below your lower pecs.
6. Once the bar is in contact with your body, press it up to the starting position. 

Key tips: 

On the top portion of the exercise, try to avoid fully locking your elbows out as this will take away the tension from the triceps. 

Have your wrist and forearm stacked under each other, to provide stability. 

When lowering the bar tuck your elbows towards the body, this will reduce stress on the shoulder and place more emphasis on the triceps. 

Skull Crusher

This exercise is similar to the overhead tricep extension, the only major difference is that you are laying down for the skull crusher. 

In my opinion, the stretch you get on the overhard position is greater than this movement. 

However…

As you are laying down you don’t have to worry about stabilizing the upper body, hence you can lift heavier weights.

1. With a neutral grip, grab a pair of dumbbells and lay flat on a bench. 
2. Extend your arm straight up above you. 
3. Gradually bend your elbows and lower the weight towards your forehead (Aim to achieve a 90 degree of the elbows).
4. Pause briefly at the bottom and press the weight back up using your forearm and triceps. 

Key Tips: 

Imagine gluing your elbow fixed in one spot while repping out the weight.  

Avoid flaring out the elbows, they should be tucked in so your triceps get targeted. 

You can go past the 90-degree angle only if you feel no discomfort, this will allow for a greater stretch of the triceps.

Triceps Dips 

If you have no motivation for the gym and have no weights at home then this exercise is a great alternative. 

(From experience, repping it out once left me sore for days).

Not only do you get an amazing contraction and extension of the triceps, but other muscles such as the shoulders and chest also get fired up. 

1. Find any stable elevated surface that can support your body weight ~ this can be a chair or the edge of your bed. 
2. Sit down on the surface and place your hands at the edge (palms down) shoulder-width apart. 
3. While your palms stay holding the surface, take a few steps forward so your buttocks are hanging in the air. 
4. Point your toes to the ceiling and only have your heels touching the ground (your legs should be straight).
5. Lower your body until your buttocks are a few inches off the ground. 
6. Pause for a few seconds and push through your palms to extend your body back to the starting position ( don’t forget to squeeze the triceps at the top). 

Key Tips:

You can put some items in your backpack and put them on your lap while doing the exercise to increase the difficulty.

This exercise requires some shoulder mobility, so don’t forget to warm up & stretch your upper body prior to doing this. 

If you are struggling you can bend your knees ( the more you bend the easier the exercise gets). 

Single-Arm Cable Kickbacks

Some people prefer doing this exercise with a dumbbell. 

But a flaw with that is with the way you are positioned at the start of the motion, your back muscles get engaged to hold the dumbbells in place.   

Whereas with a cable you get a constant tension on your triceps throughout the exercise. 

1. Position the cable just below your knee height.
2. Grab the ball of the cable with one hand and take a few steps back. 
3. Slight lean forward by having a bend in the knees and hips while keeping a neutral spine. 
4. Get your upper arm to be parallel to the ground and keep your elbow stationary. (You can see if you had to hold the dumbbells like this, it will pull your arm down causing back muscles to get fatigued).
5. Extend your forearm back, fully contracting your triceps.
6. Then slowly return to the starting position. 

Key Tips:

You can use a D handle for grip if you have difficulty when holding on to the ball of the cable. 

As you get tired your back might start rounding~ this can put excessive pressure on the spine. Therefore take a small break if you notice your form starts getting compromised. 

Your upper arm till the elbow should remain stationary, so lower the weight if you have trouble doing so. 

Diamond Pushups

Pushups are probably the most common exercise around the world. 

Surprisingly my grandma who speaks no English also knew about this. 

The diamond push-ups are a variation to the normal push-ups, where your hands are placed close together beneath the center of the chest, with your fingers making a diamond or a triangle shape. 

1. Form a diamond shape with your finger on the ground.
2. Get into a plank position where your hands are directly below your chest.
3. Make sure while you lower your body, the elbows stay close to your body.
4. Get down until the chest is touching your hands and push through your palms (imagine pushing the ground away from you) to drive your body back up. 

#Key Tips:

Diamond push-ups are harder than regular push-ups~ if you are struggling you can do the exercise on your knees which will reduce the overall body weight that you have to push. 

Prevent your hips from sagging or being lifted too high~ from your head to your heel there should be a nice straight diagonal line. 

Elbows should stay close to the body, if it starts pointing outwards it puts extra tension in the shoulder causing pain to build up.

French Press

French presses are done with a barbell or an EZ bar. 

I would recommend using an EZ bar as they are more comfortable on the wrist due to their curved grip. 

This exercise, similar to standing overhead extension, requires you to lower the weight behind your head. This allows the long head of the triceps to get stretched out. 

1. Grab the EZ bar and sit upright down on a bench. 
2. With an overhand grip, lift the bar over your head. 
3. Bend your elbow and lower the weight down till just below your ears (upper arm and elbow should be stationary).
4. Hold the down position for a second and press the weight back up. 

Key Tips:

You might be tempted to swing the bar to lift heavier weight~ but this will increase the chance of injury to your shoulders and elbows.

This exercise is all about form than heavyweight, so make sure you can at least do 12 reps perfectly before moving up on weights

You can use the backrest of the bench for back support but it might get in the way when lowering the weight~ cutting down your range of motion. 

Neutral Grip Dumbbells Bench Press

This exercise is another variation of the bench press.

It involves you gripping the dumbbells with a neutral grip as opposed to the traditional overhand grip. 

This allows you to tuck in your elbows which shifts the focus from the chest to the triceps, making them work harder. 

1. Grab 2 dumbbells, one in each hand, and sit on a flat bench. 
2. Place the dumbbells on your thighs and lie down.  
3. Rotate the wrist so you have a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
4. Extend your arms straight by pressing up the dumbbells. 
5. Lower the dumbbells in a controlled manner, allowing your elbows to bend to around a 90-degree angle.
6. Then push the dumbbells back up to the starting position, fully contracting your triceps at the top of the movement.

Key Points:

Your forearm and wrist should be aligned and pointing straight to the ceiling. 

Have a slight arch on the back, so you can roll the shoulders back which will help keep your shoulder joint safe. 

Engage your core to stabilize the dumbbells when lowering them. 

Rope Pushdown 

Rope pushdown is another exercise performed in the cable machine. 

If you are a total beginner this exercise is a great place to start for building up some strength because it requires minimal effort to get your form perfected. 

1. Put the cable machine to the highest height and attach a rope to it. 
2. Grab the bottom of the rope with a neutral grip. 
3. Take a step backward and have your feet shoulder-width apart. 
4. Bend your elbows at 90 degrees and forearm parallel to the ground. 
5. tighten your core and push the rope by only moving your forearms. 
6. Squeeze your triceps at the bottom and get back to the starting position gradually. 

Key Tips: 

At the bottom of the movement twist your wrist outwards a bit, as this can help to activate the triceps more.

The weight shouldn’t be so heavy that you have to fight constantly from being pulled. Drop down the weight so you can focus on the contraction of your triceps.

Bend your knees a bit and hinge through your hips. Standing straight up will make it hard to push the rope down.  

What Is The Long Head Of The Triceps

The triceps is made out of three muscles or heads:

Lateral Head, Medial Head, and Long Head. 

Out of these three, the long head is the big boss~ so training them will add the most size to your arm. 

Anatomy Of The Triceps

The triceps brachii muscle is located on the back of the upper arm. 

The long head of the triceps arises at the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula (shoulder blade), while the lateral and medial heads originate from the humerus bone. 

These three heads merge to form a single tendon that attaches to the olecranon process of the ulna. 

What Is The Function Of The Long Head Of The Triceps?

The primary role of the long head triceps is to allow the extension of the forearm at the elbow joint. 

It does this together with the other heads to create the force necessary for pushing and extending movements. 

As the long head also attaches to the shoulder blade, it assists in shoulder extension and contributes to motion like pushing things away from you. 

What Are The Benefits Of Long Head Triceps Exercises?

Aesthetics

The triceps take over 55% of your upper arm; the long head is the biggest one between the three heads.

So if your main goal is having an aesthetic-looking arm, then by specifically training the long head you can promote muscle growth leading to increased muscle mass and definition. 

Elbow Heath

With the long head of the triceps being attached to the ulna bone of the forearm, it provides stability to the elbow joint. Therefore strengthening this muscle will help toughen up the joints and reduce the chance of injury. 

Including exercises such as Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension and French Presses stretch out the long head, which further down the line will increase your arm’s range of motion at the elbow joint. 

Increase Strength

Getting the long head nice and strong will support in getting extra reps out of your pressing movements such as shoulder press and bench press. 

In a pressing motion, the triceps acts as a stabilizer for the arms, this prevents your form from being crumbled down under the weight. 

If you are pushing weight with amazing form, you would be surprised how much more weight you can handle. 

Tips For Optimal Long Head Triceps Development

Warming Up

You might have heard the term ‘You should always warm up’ but why is it actually useful?

Well firstly it increases the blood flow to your muscles~ this has two advantages:

• There is more oxygen and nutrients available for your muscles. Since muscles require more oxygen and nutrients during strength training, thus the more there is available the better the force the muscles can exert. 
• It increases the flexibility of your muscles & joints~ allowing you to perform an exercise with a full range of motion while reducing the chance of injury. 

Secondly, it promotes the production of synovial fluid, or known as joint fluid. 

The synovial fluid resides between the joints and the role of it is to act as a lubricant to reduce friction whenever the joints are moved. 

Joints being lubricated properly will get them to work smoothly and efficiently. 

Make sure to properly warm up through stretches and light cardio. 

Correct Form 

This is the most bothersome part of training. 

Learning the correct form takes time and effort, so most people just go on lifting and forget about their technique. 

However, the techniques are there to ensure the intended muscles will get targeted and engaged in a safe manner. 

If you perform the exercise with an incorrect form, Yes you might still feel your triceps. 

But…

Other muscle groups will get involved more than we want them to, which will take away some of the tension from the long head triceps~ reducing your potential gains!

Full Range Of Motion

After warming up properly and learning the correct form, you should aim to perform every rep with a full range of motion. 

As this will engage a more significant amount of muscle fibers within the long head triceps~ resulting in greater muscle activation & recruitment for more muscle gain. 

It will be harder to push the weight with a full range of motion as the weight will be traveling at a longer distance. 

But this will help you build strength with lighter weights, rather than being crushed under a heavier load. 

Breathing

This might surprise you but there’s an efficient way of breathing that can benefit your performance. 

Proper breathing will ensure there’s enough oxygen in your blood for your muscles to use it and produce energy for themselves. 

Whenever you are lifting or pushing the weight, exhale through your mouth. 

On the other hand, as you return to the starting position, inhale through your nose. 

If you time this breathing, you will have a nice constant flow of oxygen replenishing and elimination of the waste product (carbon dioxide). 

Conclusion

Hopefully, by now I was able to convey the importance of doing long head triceps exercises for both aesthetic and strength purposes. 

For isolation-type movements like French Press, focus on lighter weight and high reps (12-15)

With compound movement like bench press variation, multiple muscles will get worked, therefore you can go heavier on this (8-10 reps). 

Aim to target the long head 2-3 days per week, this is enough to build muscle while also giving it enough time for recovery. 

Before every workout ensure you warm up properly, while also learning the correct form & breathing technique and going full range of motion with each exercise. 

Good luck on your fitness journey and may your triceps soar to new heights!