5 Best Tricep Exercises for Women to Get Toned Arms

The tricep muscles, which are located at the back of the upper arm, consist of three heads, namely the long head, lateral head, and medial head. All three heads help you straighten your arms and extend your elbows. They also help execute chest-based exercises such as push-ups and presses.

Working on strengthening your triceps can give your entire upper body a toned and sculpted look. Aside from this reason, training your triceps can also help you do everyday chores more easily and efficiently. Additionally, it can help you achieve better and balanced upper body strength, hence helping you lift heavier and better.

However, since different workouts target different parts of the triceps, it is important to add a variety of tricep exercises to your workout session to develop even, well-rounded, and toned arm strength.

To help you get started, here’s a list of some of the best tricep exercises every woman should do to achieve toned and strong arm muscles. Add these tricep exercises to your full-body strength training routine and try practicing them three days per week.

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Tate press, skull crushers, and 3 other great tricep exercises to achieve sculpted arms

1) Overhead triceps extension

The overhead triceps extension isolates the triceps and works great on the muscles. When doing this exercise, however, it is important to keep your reps slow and controlled to get the most out of the workout and avoid strain.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Start the exercise by holding a dumbbell in each hand. Stand with your feet at a hip distance.
• Extend both arms over your head. While keeping your arms close, bend your elbows and lower the weights behind your head until your arms get lower than 90 degrees.
• Make sure to keep your elbows pointing forward and do not allow them to move out to the sides.

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2) Triceps underhand kickbacks

The triceps underhand kickback is a variation of the standard triceps kickback and targets the medial tricep muscle.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Stand tall with your feet at hip-width apart, and your knees bent slightly. Keep your hips hinging forward.
• Grab a dumbbell in each hand and keep your palms facing in the front. Bend your arms at 90 degrees for a supinated grip.
• Now squeeze your triceps and straighten your arms behind you as you extend your arms fully in a straight line. Make sure your arms get parallel to your torso.
• Lower the dumbbells back to the start and continue for a few reps.

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3) Tate press

The tate press is another great tricep exercise that’s usually performed on the bench. However, it can also be performed on the mat. This is an advanced exercise that isolates the triceps without involving your back or shoulder muscles.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Lie flat on your back on an incline bench or exercise mat, and keep your knees bent.
• Grab a dumbbell in each hand and keep your palms facing forward. Extend your arms at shoulder distance and keep your elbows pointing out.
• Now keeping your arms stable, bend your elbows toward your chest so that the dumbbells move in and down until they reach your upper chest.
• Engage your triceps and press the weights up to the initial position and continue for a few reps.

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4) Skull crushers

Skull crushers are another very effective variation of the triceps extensions but are more challenging. This exercise is done in a lying down position and requires you to engage your triceps to work against gravity.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Lie down flat on a bench. Grab a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing toward one another. Keep your arms straight and extended up.
• Now flex your elbows and press the dumbbells down toward your shoulders. Pause at the bottom position and then move your forearm back to the start.
• Continue for a few reps.

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5) Close-grip dumbbell press

This exercise is quite similar to a chest press. However, the closed-grip position targets the tricep muscles instead of the chest.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Lie flat and straight on your back on a bench with your knees bent.
• Hold a dumbbell in both hands and position them by your chest. Squeeze your triceps and push the dumbbells up toward the ceiling while pressing them together at the top.
• Lower the dumbbells back down with control and repeat.
• Continue for a few reps.

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Summary

Now that you know how to do these tricep exercises, try them out in your next workout session and see what works best for you.

Just keep in mind that rushing through the moves and neglecting the full range of motion can reduce the effectiveness of the exercise. Thus, for each exercise discussed above, be mindful of your form and perform each move with control.