Triceps Lateral Head

So, I've always had pretty good luck training my triceps, but lately - especially on my right arm, I'm noticing that the Lateral (outer) head is kind of falling behind. Is there a particular movement or focus I can use to hit it harder? It seems to be this part of the triceps that makes your arms appear larger from the side and front.

I've primarily done overhead machine triceps extensions, and rope / bar pull-downs.
According to this article, triangle push-ups and dips are the best tricep exercises. NOT extensions and pull-downs. Anyone else concur? What do you guys do?
ACE-sponsored Research: Best Triceps Exercises

Laying down triceps extension. Lie on your back dumbbell in hand extended out straight. Bend it across your face and back to straight.

Eat meticulous, train ridiculous for best results.

Skull crushers and tricep pulley pushdowns are probably the best. YMMV.

Well, I know all about the different exercises... What I'm asking is if anyone knows how to specifically target the Lateral Head of the triceps.

•Lateral Head – Located on the outward side of the humerus (long bone of the upper arm) and is responsible for movements requiring high-intensity force.
•Medial Head – Located on the inline of the body, mostly covered by the long and lateral heads. It is primarily responsible for slow, more low-intensity movements.
•Long Head – Largest of the 3 heads, running predominantly along the bottom side of the humerus. The long is employed when sustained force is necessary or where there is a need for synergistic control of the shoulder and/or elbow joints.

Triceps Brachia are broken down to three different sections or "heads"; the long, lateral, and medial heads which are the most visible sections of the back of the arms. Any time you extend your elbows you will activate these heads. Depending on the exercise and your grip (palms up or down, or flaring palms outward with a rope or pulley) you will focus a little more on each individual head. Lets breakdown each exercise to effectively target all heads of the triceps.


Close Grip Bench Press:

This exercise I consider to be a very effective mass builder due to the amount of weight which you can use to stress the triceps to the maximum. Careful with your wrists...if your wrists are still not capable of handling heavy weight, slowly build up to it, use wrists straps, or use the Smith Machine/Rack when performing this exercise. Your hand placement should be narrower than shoulder width apart, and the bar should be lowered to a position that should come down to right below the chest and above the sternum to take as much tension off of the wrists and keep the focus on the lateral head of the triceps, not your chest. This is an exercise that should be used early into your triceps training routine after a good warm-up.

Furthermore, Start with a solid base of pressing movements including the bench press and a form of overhead press. Next, use close grip bench presses as a staple for the triceps.

I would also add in at least one other tricep exercise like dips, skullcrushers or dumbbell extensions.

To grow the triceps you first and foremost need to be concerned with adding more weight to the bar on pressing movements. If you select exercises to try and target specific heads of the triceps instead of performing heavy pressing, you are likely to slow your progress.

These tips are from the website Muscle&Strength.

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Originally Posted by oatmeal69

Well, I know all about the different exercises... What I'm asking is if anyone knows how to specifically target the Lateral Head of the triceps.

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see post #2

Focus on all 3 heads with as much intensity as possible and growth will occur, swap and change movements around and change the angel of your elbows to hit different heads, go with feel. I like pushdowns with elbows to my sides, close grip bench press sometimes elbows out and other elbows in, lying tricep ex or overhead db tricep press and also kickbacks give me great shape and detail but get some size in the tricep by using all 3 heads.

Brazensol - Great article, thanks.

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Originally Posted by marcus300

... swap and change movements around and change the angel of your elbows to hit different heads, go with feel. I like pushdowns with elbows to my sides, close grip bench press sometimes elbows out and other elbows in, lying tricep ex or overhead db tricep press and also kickbacks give me great shape and detail but get some size in the tricep by using all 3 heads.

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I'll play around with some different stuff and focus on feel. Maybe it's just that I've been doing the same 3 exercises the same way for a while. HIT is helping though, I am adding size everywhere, so that can't be bad!

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Originally Posted by oatmeal69

According to this article, triangle push-ups and dips are the best tricep exercises.

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Dips when done correctly to emphasize triceps and close grip bench are best over all tricep exercises. Don’t just perform the exercise. Too many individuals just move the weight through its arch and consider the exercise done when they reach x amount of reps. NEVER do that. Always ensure that you are working the muscles that you want to work out. Control the eccentric and the concentric aspects of the movement never allow the weight to control you. If done correctly you can receive as much benefit from the eccentric portion of your lifts as you do the concentric portion. At the top of the arch squeeze the muscle that you are working as hard as you can for as long as you can.

I have been a huge fan of skull crushers lately, on a slight incline. Gives a sick stretch at the bottom and it just feels amazing.

Never used to do them cause of my elbow but switching to a slight incline it feels way better.

Good thread

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Originally Posted by cj111

I have been a huge fan of skull crushers lately, on a slight incline. Gives a sick stretch at the bottom and it just feels amazing.

Never used to do them cause of my elbow but switching to a slight incline it feels way better.

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I agree! The important aspect of this particular exercise is to really emphasize the stretch...lights my tri's up!

So I started my workout like I always do, with behind the neck machine presses. Almost my max to fail, and drop set to failure. 2-3 working sets after light warm-up. Usually, I'm about done for anything heavy from this point on, which sounds about right for HIT.

Then I did two new (to me) movements. Bench dips with weights, drop set to fail, 3 working sets. Then triangle pushups to failure. By the time I got to the pushups, I had to do them on my knees, and could only do about 8-10! My arms are SINGING right now. We'll see how stiff and sore they get over the next couple days, but I think this was good!

According to this article, the two movements I did engage the triceps most fully, so I stuck with that rationale.
ACE-sponsored Research: Best Triceps Exercises

Good thread. People should always focus on Tri's, that's what makes your arm big. Seeing everyone at my gym curling till there's no tomorrow and minimal tri effort is crazy.

Yeah, if anything I've always worked my tri's much more because I remember this guy in high school telling me something similar, "You want big arms, train triceps..." I need to get my biceps fatter, but that's another thread I started and Marcus helped me out with that.

^ marcus made me do hanging concentration curls, been doing it for a while now and made a huge difference in the bicep and the peak.

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Originally Posted by austinite

^ marcus made me do hanging concentration curls, been doing it for a while now and made a huge difference in the bicep and the peak.

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Those babies are the business for powerful peaks

Concentration curls are one of my standards. Today I started with them... what's a "Hanging" concentration curl?

Ahh, found a video...
musclebella hanging bicep curl - YouTube

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Originally Posted by oatmeal69

Ahh, found a video...
musclebella hanging bicep curl - YouTube

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no. Some call it "Standing" curl...

this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJO8cWZNAFE

Just make sure you don't move your elbow back during the movement. Keep it stationary and as you curl up try and bring the little finger slightly higher than your thumb.

We gone way of topic.

Ahh... Cool, I'll try 'em. I noticed also how he said to keep the pinky above the thumb. I recently found that keeping the palm as supinated as possible helps to shift the load to the peak and away from the tendons at the elbow. That's why I don't use cheater bars, hammer curls etc. anymore.

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Originally Posted by marcus300

We gone way of topic.

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LOL, yep! I'm the OP, though, does that count?

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Originally Posted by oatmeal69

LOL, yep! I'm the OP, though, does that count?

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Fuk it then you can take it anywhere you want

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Originally Posted by austinite

no. Some call it "Standing" curl...

this...

YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJO8cWZNAFE

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I like this....tryin' it!

So, back on topic...
The consensus then is that one can't really work the lateral head per-se, and should just stick with working all of the tricep to it's fullest, right?

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Originally Posted by oatmeal69

So, back on topic...
The consensus then is that one can't really work the lateral head per-se, and should just stick with working all of the tricep to it's fullest, right?

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Yes there are movements what will isolate the lateral head. Try moving your elbows out on the close grip bench press and also push downs is a great isolation movement especially if you use a rope and pushing the rope apart at the bottom of the rep squeezing hard which will shift focus on the lateral head. But build all three heads together using various movements . Personally I'd go for the compound movements and build size nothing better than a huge hanging triceps

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Originally Posted by marcus300

... Personally I'd go for the compound movements and build size nothing better than a huge hanging triceps

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You have a point there. Mission = Huge triceps!

Take all the attachments off the pulley stack and grab the ball on the end of the cable.
Set the pulley to the top of the stack.
Do a single arm tricep pressdown with holding onto just ball.
Keep you shoulder stationary.
Contract the tricep to move the weight.
Slowly, purposefully without worrying what the fcuk the weight is. Feel the tricep.
Experiment with shoulder angle, hand position.
You should be able to feel contraction force upon the various heads as you play with hand/grip angle and shoulder angle.

I can make a v bar pressdown look identical with each rep to a bystander, but inside I can feel tension more specifically on one head or the other. Lower the weight and feel what your doing.

Training joints doesn't get you big... Feeling a muscle contract against a weight instead of lifting weights is what gets you swole like a mfer!