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tricep dont grow! help!

AndreAnabolic

AndreAnabolic

Member
hey everyone, im having trouble building up my tris, my chest grows my shoulders explode my biceps are great everything is awesome, but my whole life my triceps just never seem to grow, ive tried everything, compound movements supersetting the works! i usually do a bicep tricep split when i train. i do big movements too (closegrip, parallel dips, bench dips) what am i doing wrong? should i just blame shitty genetics?
 
hmmm sounds like your spot on in your training. I know some poeple who said the only thing that helped them with a lagging body part like that was site injects with a suspension.
 
Hows your rear delt development/separation? Larger rear delts and nice separation does wonders for helping the appearance of tris.

Aside from doing the big compound movements, what rep scheme are you employing/have employed in the past?
 
I had trouble on mine till i started doing more isolation type instead of big weight compounds don't know why but worked for me
 
the 4 exercises that help shape my tricep

weighted dips - keep your body straight, head up, legs straight
close grip bench - 8-10 inch grip
reverse grip tricep pushdowns (machine, W shaped bar)
rope tricep pushdowns

you might be in a very strange situation where your triceps overpower the rest of your body. at least for me, i really need to "feel" them under serious strain, or else they overpower even my chest workouts. also make sure your rep range is 8-12 for mass. once you get up to 12 reps, add a 5 pounder to your weights, and go for 8 reps. that keeps you in a state of constant progression.

if i were to guess, i would say you might fall into the most common trap of most people in the gym - you keep using weights that worked for you a month ago.

in addition, you could train it like a lagging body part - at the beginning of the week, when you're freshest. you could also train it twice a week. if none of the above applies to you, i'm out of guesses.
 
oh i progress in weight, they just dont grow. the strength comes just not the size, my close grip 1rm is 290, i usually start off with a compound like close grip for 6 to 8, then do 2 or 3 isolation movements right after for 10-12
 
Lying skull crushers with a curl bar, keeping your upper arms slanted at 45 degrees back to keep tension on.

Go as heavy as you can keep good form. Nothing hits the inner head like these, which will add mass.
 
AndreAnabolic said:
oh i progress in weight, they just dont grow. the strength comes just not the size, my close grip 1rm is 290, i usually start off with a compound like close grip for 6 to 8, then do 2 or 3 isolation movements right after for 10-12
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hrm. try 8-12 reps for all of them. somethings gotta budge. i assume your bi's are growing?
 
You may not be correctly activating them during your compound movements. If this is the case take a mini jump stretch band and double it, then put it around your wrists and when you are doing your compounds make sure you are trying to pull the bands apart the whole time. If you do this and some high board presses you should feel a pretty good swelling in your triceps. PM me if you need info on the bands.
 
Mine used to be the same way. Once I started to throw in the supersets at the end of my arm WO, they came around drastically. The goal is to get as much blood into them as you can, at least that is what helped me.
 
Reverse-grip bench press - rest-pause (DC style) is the only damn thing in years that has shown me new growth on my triceps.
 
I agree these are good, but please do them on a smith machine if you dont have a spotter. Also, hang your butt of the bench and the bar should touch near the bottom of chest or nipple area....


ugghhh..huh huh..i said nipple

tribaltek said:
Reverse-grip bench press - rest-pause (DC style) is the only damn thing in years that has shown me new growth on my triceps.
Click to expand...
 
lol thanks for the tips, my biceps grow just fine. and ive tried everything everyones said, ive done the skulls with ezcurl bar at 45degree tension point, ive done closegrip bench with bands (and even chains) ive done reverse grip (even pausing at weakest point of the strength curve) haha i guess i might just be **** out of luck, ill try all of these again tho
 
Cut back to one basic exercise and give that one exercise everything you have for a few weeks then change.

If you feel like it maybe to 1 or 2 pump sets of pushdowns or push-ups but only if you feel like it.
 
AndreAnabolic said:
lol thanks for the tips, my biceps grow just fine. and ive tried everything everyones said, ive done the skulls with ezcurl bar at 45degree tension point, ive done closegrip bench with bands (and even chains) ive done reverse grip (even pausing at weakest point of the strength curve) haha i guess i might just be **** out of luck, ill try all of these again tho
Click to expand...

You could always work on your form. Strict form ensures groeth.
 
Thx for recommending the smith machine, that would have been an ignorant move on my part considering I don't have a spotter!
msucurt said:
I agree these are good, but please do them on a smith machine if you dont have a spotter. Also, hang your butt of the bench and the bar should touch near the bottom of chest or nipple area....


ugghhh..huh huh..i said nipple
Click to expand...
 
AndreAnabolic said:
hey everyone, im having trouble building up my tris, my chest grows my shoulders explode my biceps are great everything is awesome, but my whole life my triceps just never seem to grow, ive tried everything, compound movements supersetting the works! i usually do a bicep tricep split when i train. i do big movements too (closegrip, parallel dips, bench dips) what am i doing wrong? should i just blame shitty genetics?
Click to expand...

You need to eat more and increase the exercise volume of your triceps routine.
 
Mine lag in size a lot. What's working for me are:

-Pullovers from deadlift (setting weight on the floor between reps not the exercise!!)

45s on an EZ Curl bar are perfect for me so I can reset before each rep. From deadlift really triggers the triceps and allow me to keep strict form.

-JM Press (the real one)

I can't do much weight on these but keeping the upper arm straight up and motionless allow only the triceps to be involved and are great after pullovers.

-Close Grip Bench

I like doing these on decline because the decline naturally works the triceps more.

-Lockouts

These are fun because you can lift massive amounts of weight.



Try these you should definitely see a difference fast!
 
AndreAnabolic said:
can you elaborate on JM press and pullovers from deadlift? (form, positioning etc.)
Click to expand...

Do not attempt pullovers if you have any sort of shoulder problems.

I have minor shoulder problems which have become apparent in near max bench presses and weighted dips and among other exercises. Using strict form I have absolutely no problem doing pullovers like this but everyone is different...

Pullover (Always start light to assess shoulder strain)

1) Load an EZ curl bar
2) Lie on a bench (I prefer my head off the bench which allows for moving the bar overhead safer for my shoulders)

Do not try deadlift position first!!

3) Set the bar on your chest like your going to press the bar straight up
4) Keeping your arms bent (approx. a little greater than 90 degrees) and your elbows in start moving the bar back and over your head and towards the ground as far as you can comfortably go.
5) Once you reach the furthest safest position reverse direction and pull the bar back to the starting position

Always keep strict form and make sure you are controlling the movement of the bar and not slinging it up and back. If you are slinging it around your using too much weight.

Once you warm up and you know you can use 45s on each side you can use the deadlift position as your starting position.

Deadlift Starting Position

1) Load bar (with 45s which allow for the least amount of shoulder rotation)
2) Place the bar behind the bench so it will be right underneath your head when you lie down.
3) When you lie down reach behind your head and grab a hold of the bar
4) Keeping strict form (arms bent and elbows in) lift the bar off the ground, overhead and onto your chest (to the starting position mentioned above)
5) Return the bar overhead and onto the floor in a controlled fashion
6) Make sure the bar is resting on the floor ( I usually release my grip just to make sure)
7) Regrip and lift again.


JM Press

This is the best instructional video on how to do a REAL JM Press. Let it load first because you might want to skip the intro (Its the westside guy in the video benching) it just lets you know he knows what he's talking about.

I just realized I have no idea how to embed a video so here is the link:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxfzWbEKd6s"]YouTube - JM Press with intro[/ame]
 
Aggravated said:
Yeah they do. I will have to give those a try sometime. People are going to wonder what I am doing haha!
Click to expand...

Yea I get strange looks in my gym too.

Every once in awhile I get someone trying to give me advice about how to do skullcrushers :think:
 
if your not overtraining already...which indeed could be the problem try this...
give them a full workout to them selves.. one day dedicated to to direct tricep work
start with a a 5x5 close grip using maximum intensity/weight.. work from there.. u could even do a couple sets of tricep pushdowns or kickbacks first to pre exahust your triceps ..this way your chest wont come into play, like it most likely does when u do close grips , and your tris will fatigue and give out first
 
ya thats what i do i start with kickbacks then close grip and you really are feeling the difference in how fatigued you are, then after that skull crushers and finish with rope pulldowns and curve the wrist a lil when you come down to like flex your tris out, and if you are up for it go do some diamond pushups to finish your workout and if you dont start growing from that then your probably overtraining once i incorporated a tricep day only my tris started to grow again now im back to an arm day and i love the feeling that when i just flex my arms straight down, feels like my tris are gunna rip open my skin to breathe haha so check it out
 
Have you tried commanding them to grow and yelling swear words at them in the mirror before your workout? Helped mine.

No, but really the lying skullcrushers 45 degrees are where its at. Dsade has got it down.
 
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AndreAnabolic said:
hey everyone, im having trouble building up my tris, my chest grows my shoulders explode my biceps are great everything is awesome, but my whole life my triceps just never seem to grow, ive tried everything, compound movements supersetting the works! i usually do a bicep tricep split when i train. i do big movements too (closegrip, parallel dips, bench dips) what am i doing wrong? should i just blame shitty genetics?
Click to expand...

you could be over training you triceps, maybe you should do 2 sets of skull crushers with 4 sec up 4 sec down. 2 sets of Triceps press downs with slower tempo to really activate the muscle fiber. Use heavy weight with good form. Google "mike mentzer's HITT" High Intensity philosophy. It's always hard to combat with genetics, but does not mean it can't be done. I had the same problem with calves because I was over training them, but after backing off the sets and upping the intensity (failure)I was able to put on decent size.

Look at it this way, Lifting weights has the same principle of using medication. If you use to much medication it turns toxic, your body will have a negative reaction thus static shut down. Only prescribe enough high intensity, Time under Tension that will induce a positve effect. More is not always best unless your on Roids of course.
 
Triceps

AndreAnabolic said:
3d, should i use high volume (12 reps) with heavy weight for 2 sets?
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I would do as many reps as I can in the 6-10 rep range because 12 reps would mean you need to move up in weight. I want you to watch this video on youtube and study every word mike mentzer is saying. This type of training is very hard and not for the faint of heart. It takes some conditioning, but works very good. Watch the guys form on tricep press downs. Look at how he keeps his hand position horizontal through the movement and without any momentum. Remember momentum is an outside force and will not help keep muscle stimuli constant. Also another trick that I use is when pressing down on bar you should focus most of the pressure on the thumb, index and middle finger with over hand grip. This will help squeeze the outer head of tricep better. With skull crushers use the opposite principle with pinky, ring and middle finger pressure to activate rear tricep better.

Anyways the only thing I don't agree with mike is how many days in between work outs.

Here is the video Mike Mentzer's HIT: Delts, Biceps & Triceps - Part II. I would watch part 1 first, but part 2 has the tricep work out.

damn, I can't post a link yet cause I'm a newbie but go to youtube and type:

Mike Mentzer's HIT: Delts, Biceps & Triceps - Part II
 
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