5 Best Tricep Exercises for Lateral Head

Tricep exercises for lateral head will help improve your lifting performance (Image via Pexels @Ketut Subiyanto)
Tricep exercises for lateral head will help improve your lifting performance (Image via Pexels @Ketut Subiyanto)

Tricep exercises for lateral head are meant to increase the size and strength of the lateral head of your triceps.

The lateral head of the triceps works to extend the forearm to the elbow joint. Training this head of the triceps can improve your lifting performance and your health in general.

Elbow extension is a common component that generally works out the lateral head of the triceps. Below, we will discuss some tricep exercises for lateral head that will help you train this part of the muscle.


Best Tricep Exercises for Lateral Head

Check out the following best tricep exercises for lateral head. You can also check out these tricep workouts for mass.

1) Tricep Pushdowns

This is one of the more popular tricep exercises for lateral head. You can target your lateral head best by keeping your elbows at your sides, and keeping a narrower grip.

Instructions:

  • Take hold of the preferred attachment for that particular day.
  • To make sure your body is in the right position before starting the exercise, keep your chest up and lean forward, and directly cross your shoulders over the handle.
  • Drive the cables down until your elbows are fully extended to start.
  • Throughout the process, make sure to maintain straight wrists and fixed elbows.
  • Repeat after guiding the handles back to an elbow flexion of at least 90 degrees.
  • Each rep should be locked out with the elbow extended fully.
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2) Close Grip Bench Press

Close grip bench press is another great exercise for your triceps. Again, a close grip allows you to achieve the most overload, making this one of the best tricep exercises for lateral head.

Instructions:

  • To reduce the line of travel after the unrack, make sure your shoulders are slightly in front of the bar as you lay beneath it.
  • The spacing between the hands will be smaller than a standard grip or about shoulder width apart.
  • Your thumb should be wrapped around the base of your hand after you have passed it through the bar.
  • Drive your shoulders back into the bench by utilizing the weight of the bar.
  • Pull your traps down and push your chest up to increase the tension.
  • After unracking the bar, move it forward until it is parallel to your upper abdomen and lower chest.
  • Row the bar to your upper abdomen or lower chest to control it.
  • Drive the weight of the bar away from your torso at the bottom until your elbows are fully extended.
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3) Close Grip Dips

This is the third exercise in our list of tricep exercises for lateral head. Although dips make your entire body stronger by engaging your arms, shoulders, chest, and upper back all at once, by maintaining a close grip, you can specifically target the lateral head of your triceps.

Instructions:

  • Find two parallel bars that are slightly wider apart than shoulder width, keeping your hands' bases on each bar.
  • Put your entire body weight behind fully extended elbows.
  • Leaning slightly forward, lower your body until your elbows are fully extended.
  • Push yourself up into full elbow extension to complete the repetition.
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4) Tricep Kickbacks

Tricep kickbacks are the fourth exercise in our list of tricep exercises for lateral head. It can also workout the long head of your triceps depending on which variation you choose to perform.

Instructions:

  • Grab the cable handle's base with one hand, and keep your grip neutral--actually, you don't even need a handle for this since all you need to do is hold the cable's bottom just above the carabiner area.
  • When your torso is parallel to the ground, bend at the hips.
  • Once you're in the right position, you can drive your hand back into full elbow extension while starting with your elbow flexed at 90 degrees.
  • Throughout the exercise, maintain a fixed position with your elbow.
  • After that, you must extend your elbow again to finish the rep.
  • Then, repeat with the opposite hand to equally exercise the other arm.
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5) Bench Dips

The fifth and last exercise in our list of tricep exercises for lateral head is the simple and stable bench dip, which forms a part of almost every tricep routine.

Instructions:

  • Place your hands on the bench with your palms fully extended and your fingers pointing backwards as you sit down.
  • Your body should be in a perpendicular position to the floor as you butt your way off the bench.
  • Make sure your body doesn't protrude in an awkward manner.
  • You can either place your legs on another bench or platform with your knees bent 90 degrees (easy) or straight out (medium/hard).
  • From here, bend at your elbow, and lower your body as far as you can.
  • When you get to the bottom of your range, press up through your hand's palm until your arms are as straight as they can be while squeezing, holding, and repeating.
  • Make sure to maintain a tight, active core throughout.
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Takeaway

The aforementioned tricep exercises for lateral head will work out your triceps targeting the lateral head of the muscle. This, in turn, will help improve your lifting performance. Check out these best triceps workouts for men for stronger and bigger arms.

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