This Chest and Tricep Workout Promises Huge Muscle Development
Cardio, HIIT and full-body workouts all have their place in a well thought-out training plan, but sometimes you have to hit the weights room, especially if you're focusing on your chest and triceps. That's why we've created this chest and tricep workout, designed to pack on serious muscle.
Gyms aren't for everyone, but there's no denying that the huge amount of kit that's available at gyms allows you to hit different muscles in your chest and triceps from a variety of angles that bodyweight workouts simply can't. That's not to say bodyweight moves aren't effective. Far from it. You can check out some of our best upper-body bodyweight workouts below:
Your Chest and Tricep Muscles, Explained
But when it comes to your chest and triceps, angles matter. The chest, for example, is made up of three muscles, and require different movements and exercises to hit them properly. Hopefully you're starting to realise that endlessly pressing on the bench will only take your chest so far.
Pectoralis Major: The pectoralis major makes up most of your chest muscle mass. It is large and fan shaped, and is composed of a sternocostal head and a clavicular head.
Pectoralis Minor: The pectoralis minor lies underneath the pectoralis major. Its job is to help pull the shoulder forward and down.
Serratus Anterior: Located at the side of the chest wall.
The same goes for your triceps. Located on the back of your upper arm, the tricep is made up of three heads: the lateral, medial and long heads. And if you want to hit all three heads then yep, you've guessed it, you're going to need to do a range of different exercises.
Why It's a Good Idea to Train Chest and Triceps Together
Your chest and triceps, along with your shoulders make up what's generally known by trainers as the 'pushing' muscles of your upper body. By training them together and alternating workouts with the 'pulling' muscles of your back and biceps (and not skipping leg day, of course), you can create a balanced workout regime that hits each body part hard, but also allows optimal time for recovery whilst you focus on other regions.
How Many Times a Week Should You Train Chest and Triceps?
The jury is out on the exact best way to spread your workouts throughout the week, with factors such as your age, experience and the amount of work you do in any given session effecting how often you should hit individual body parts. But as a good rule of thumb, training your chest and triceps every five to seven days should lead to optimal growth.
Best Chest and Triceps Workout - How It's Done
Keep an hour aside for this chest and tricep workout from PT Jeremy Scott — it'll blast your chest and triceps using a variety of methods to sear your muscle fibres.
The volume of the workout promises an immediate pump long after you've hit the showers, and the continual stress on your muscles ensures optimum growth and, crucially, noticeable muscle-gain.
When you're tackling the workout, which is inspired by bodybuilding deity Arnold Schwarzenegger, don't rush your reps. Focus on contracting the muscles being worked and controlling the movement through the entire range of motion.
The Workout
Flat dumbbell chest presses
4 sets of 8-12 reps
Muscles worked: chest, triceps
Incline dumbbell bench press
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Muscles worked: upper chest, front deltoids, triceps
Dumbbell skull crushers
3 sets of 8-12 reps
Muscles worked: triceps
Triceps rope pushdown
5 minutes non-stop
Muscles worked: triceps (lateral and medial head)
TRX triceps extension
3 sets 8-12 reps
Muscles worked: triceps (long head)
Floor press and push-up superset
10-1 descending ladder (10 floor presses and 10 push-ups, then 9 and 9, 8 and 8, and so on until you reach 1 rep of each)
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