Most people never fully develop their triceps or fully develop size and strength because they don’t work it from all its different angles and different attachment points.

Within the tricep, we have the medial head, the lateral head, and the long head that all need attention and work together.

The medial head is on the inside of your arm, closest to your body. This is the head you would be working if you were actually doing a reverse pushdown (when you grab a bar on a high pulley, almost in a bicep curl position, and then push straight down).

This is one of the exercises that most people hardly ever do, and when they do, it tends to hurt the wrist. However, there are different attachments to make sure this doesn’t happen. Ask a trainer which is best for you, and for which exercise.

The long head of our tricep is the one most people work, and it runs along the bottom of our arm. It’s the one that hangs down there and gives it that classic hanging look that a lot of people are looking for. Our long head is going to be worked in almost every single tricep exercise, everything from close grip bench presses, to tricep pushdowns, whether you’re using a v-bar, a rope attachment, a straight bar, or dips.

The lateral head is that nice little knot you might have seen on the side of an arm. If you have a very well defined tricep, it tends to pop out a lot. This muscle is going to be worked with most tricep exercises as well.

This week in your workout, when you start working your triceps, consider separate exercises that focus on each of the three. You’ll love the difference you’ll see in a couple weeks of focus! Ask a trainer to help you get started.

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