Take 15 minutes and do these triceps exercises to tone the back of your arms
When it comes to arm workouts, biceps often get all the love. But if you want to sculpt all 360 degrees of your upper arms (or finally nail that chaturanga in your next yoga class), it's time to give your triceps some much-deserved attention.
Your triceps, which run along the backs of your upper arms, actually consist of three muscles, known as the long head, medial head, and lateral head—hence "tri". Together, these muscles help you extend your elbows and straighten your arms—and assist in chest-dominant exercises, like those infamous yogi push-ups.
Since different exercises emphasise different parts of your triceps, it's important to incorporate a variety of different tricep exercises into your workout routine in order to build well-rounded strength.
The key to nailing popular moves - like floor presses, close-grip push-ups, and overhead tricep extensions - is to keep your upper arms as stable as possible so that your reps work the right muscles. That means you've got to keep those elbows in-line with your shoulders so your upper arms are parallel to each other.
Ready to feel the backs of those arms burn? The moves listed here make for an incredibly effective triceps workout.
Time: 15 minutes
Equipment: mat, dumbbells
Good for: triceps
Instructions: Choose one triceps exercise from each group below:
A: Dumbbell floor press, single-arm dumbbell floor press, alternating dumbbell floor press
B: Pushup, close-grip pushup, hand-release pushup
C: Lying overhead triceps extension, triceps kickback, triceps dip, alternating triceps kickbacks, overhead triceps extension,
Complete three sets of the indicated number of reps for each move. Once you've completed all sets of one move, continue to the next, in ABC order, resting as needed. Alternatively, incorporate these tricep exercises into an upper-body workout routine.
(Kathryn Wirsing)Each one offers a lot of flex appeal