Triceps Brachii

The triceps brachii makes up roughly two-thirds of the total arm volume. If you want big arms, the triceps is where to focus your attention, not the biceps. Its three heads (long, lateral, and medial) all work to extend the elbow, but the long head has an additional role: by crossing the shoulder, it also participates in extension and adduction of the humerus.

In the gym, the triceps works in every pressing movement: flat bench, incline bench, military press, dips. In compound pressing exercises, the triceps is the main synergist of the chest and the deltoid. As isolation exercises, cable push-downs, overhead extensions, close-grip bench, and skull crushers cover all the necessary angles. For complete development, include at least one exercise with the arm along the side (push-down) and one with the arm overhead (overhead extensions).

The triceps is a muscle with a high proportion of fast-twitch fibers, which means it responds well to both heavy loads with low reps and moderate loads with medium-to-high reps. A mixed approach works best: heavy compound movements like close-grip bench or weighted dips for strength, and cable isolation with higher reps for volume. The triceps recovers relatively fast and can tolerate training frequencies of 2-3 times per week.