5 Best Tricep Isolation Exercises: Sculpting Strong Arms

When it comes to building strong and defined triceps, it’s important to incorporate a variety of exercises into your workout routine. You can add tricep isolation exercises to specifically target the triceps, helping you to increase muscle strength and definition in this important area of the upper body.

Tricep isolation means any workout that works the triceps (the muscles on the backs of your upper arms) independently from your other muscles and joints.

In this article, we’ll simplify how to work out and isolate the triceps. We’ll also get to know how you can work your triceps independently from other muscles, like the biceps and chest, which frequently accompany your triceps.

What Are Tricep Isolation Exercises?

Your triceps are one of the most important muscles that power the strength of your arms. They help you with a multitude of things, namely, any kind of pushing motion.

And while it’s all well and good to perform workouts where your triceps work alongside other muscles like the chest— for instance during your pull-up progressions, pull-up alternatives and bench press workouts, sometimes they need a little extra love too.

Isolation exercises are the opposite of compound exercises. In an isolation movement, you work on one single muscle or across one joint. Think of a move like a tricep kickback (Hint: more on this later!) that singles out your tricep muscle and consolidates the work to your elbow joint.

Compare this to a move like bodyweight dips. Although these are certainly fantastic exercises to build up those triceps, dips engage multiple muscles, including the deltoids and pecs while also working across multiple joints (shoulders, elbows, wrists).

They’re a good tricep workout but are considered a compound move since there are so many factors at play.

Now let’s learn some of the best tricep isolation exercises that focus only on this muscle.

1. Tricep Pushdown

The tricep pushdown is one of the simplest moves you can do to help grow and develop definition in your triceps.

• Set-Up: Attach a straight bar or rope to the high pulley of a cable machine. Face the machine and keep your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Body Position: Grab the attachment with an overhand grip (palms down) for the bar or a neutral grip (palms facing each other) for the rope. Keep your elbows close to your torso and at a 90-degree angle. Your upper arms should be stationary throughout the exercise.
• Action: Push the bar or rope down by extending your elbows until your arms are fully extended and your triceps are contracted. Avoid moving your upper arms; only your forearms should move.
• Reverse: Slowly return the bar or rope to the starting position by allowing your elbows to flex.
• Reps: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.

2. Overhead Tricep Extension

• Set-Up: Hold a dumbbell or an EZ-curl bar with both hands. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
• Body Position: Raise the weight overhead until your arms are fully extended. Keep your elbows close to your ears and avoid flaring them out.
• Action: Lower the weight behind your head by bending at the elbows. Keep your upper arms stationary and focus on moving only your forearms.
• Reverse: Extend your elbows to raise the weight back to the starting position.
• Reps: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.

Pro-Tip: You can work on this move either standing or seated. If you struggle with balance or core stability, the seated variation may be more accessible for you.

That way, you’re not fighting to keep yourself standing up and taking away from your tricep activation. Seated overhead tricep extension lets you work less on keeping your back straight so you can hit your triceps more efficiently.

3. Skull Crushers

• Set-Up: Lie flat on a bench with a barbell or EZ-curl bar. Hold your bar with a narrow, overhand grip. In a pinch, you can also use one heavy dumbbell held horizontally, or two lighter dumbbells held vertically.
• Body Position: Extend your arms straight up above your chest. Tuck your elbows into your sides, making sure to keep them stable.
• Action: Lower the bar toward your forehead by bending at your elbows. Control the movement so you don’t hit your head.
• Reverse: Straighten your elbows to lift your bar back to the starting position.
• Reps: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.

4. Tricep Kickbacks

• Set-Up: Hold a dumbbell in one hand. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and bend your knees slightly. You can grab the side of a weight bench for support.
• Body Position: Bend forward at the hips until your body is almost parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and your upper arm close to your torso.
• Action: Extend your elbow to straighten your arm and lift the dumbbell back. Squeeze your tricep at the top of the movement.
• Reverse: Slowly bend your elbow to lower your dumbbell back to the starting position.
• Reps: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps per arm.

5. Close-Grip Bench Press

• Set-Up: Lie flat on a bench and grasp a barbell with a shoulder-width grip. The feet should be flat on the floor.
• Body Position: Extend your arms to lift the bar off the rack, keeping your elbows close to your body.
• Action: Lower the bar slowly to your chest while keeping your elbows tucked in. Focus on engaging your triceps as you lower the weight.
• Reverse: Press the bar back up to the starting position by extending your elbows.
• Reps: 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps.

All five of these isolated tricep exercises target your triceps effectively to help you build muscle mass and develop your strength.

If you’re planning a workout for your triceps, we recommend using three of these exercises any time you are training your triceps or doing an arm workout.

Depending on your workout split, you could incorporate tricep isolation exercises into your push day workout (if you train push-pull-legs). If you work on an alternative workout routine like the bro split workout, all these exercises would be great additions to your arm day.

Benefits of Tricep Isolation Exercises

Tricep isolation exercises can help you get your arms from zero to hero (Seriously. If you want the Spiderman physique or a body like a Greek God, you need to train this muscle group).

But you don’t just look good. Tricep isolation has myriad other benefits. Take a look at some of the improvements you’ll be likely to see once you start isolating these arm muscles.

1. More Strength

Over time, if you’re working with heavier weights as you progress, you’ll start to feel more strength in your isolation lifts. Although typically you’re working with less weight than compound lifts, incremental weight increases over time will improve your strength capacity.

2. Hypertrophy

Your arms are also likely going to get bigger. With consistent and regimented training, you can achieve muscle growth, also called “hypertrophy.” Maximizing muscle hypertrophy helps you build the overall size of your muscles.

Tricep isolation exercises are great aesthetic workouts for your arms and will help you look more attractive with a balanced physique.

3. Joint Stability

One benefit of isolated tricep exercises is better joint stability. When you strengthen your triceps, you help support your elbow and shoulder joints, lowering your injury risk and giving you better overall joint function. The increased stability can lead to better performance in sports, plus contribute to long-term joint health.

Since the glenohumeral joint (your shoulder) is the body’s most mobile joint, it’s also among the easiest to injure! In that case, it’s extra important to train your surrounding muscles. Strong triceps are a key way you can mitigate injuries to this area.

For more information, read Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Glenohumeral Joint.

What Are the Three Heads of Your Triceps?

Now that we know how to isolate your triceps from other muscle groups, let’s go even deeper. Did you know that you can actually work your triceps in a way that isolates small parts of the tricep itself?

This is because your tricep muscles have three separate insertion points. Prepare yourself for some science speak as we delve into this section.

The triceps brachii, commonly known as the triceps, consists of three distinct heads (“tri” = three + “ceps” = head. The same principle applies to “bi”+ “ceps”).

Here’s where they are and how they work within your muscles.

1. Long Head

• First off, the long head of your triceps runs along the back of your upper arm. This muscle head originates from the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula (your shoulder blade) and inserts into the olecranon process of the ulna (your elbow).
• The long head helps you extend your elbows and shoulders, as well as adduct your shoulders (bring your shoulder/arm toward your body’s midline). Your long head is a major contributor to the overall size and shape of your tricep.
• The triceps long head also helps stabilize the shoulder joint.

2. Lateral Head

• This tricep head sits on the outer side of your upper arm. Its origin point is the posterior surface of the humerus (back of the upper arm bone) above the radial groove. It inserts into the olecranon process of the ulna.
• Your lateral head is mostly responsible for elbow extension. You can see the lateral head best from the side which determines your arm’s outer shape.

3. Medial Head

• Location: This tricep head lives on the inner side of your upper arm. The medial head sits underneath the long and lateral heads, originating from the back surface of the humerus below the radial groove. It also inserts into the olecranon process of the ulna.
• Your medial head plays a key role in extending your elbows. It’s activated in every type of tricep exercise. Though it’s not as visible as the other heads, the medial head helps stabilize your triceps and is relevant when it comes to endurance or high-rep tricep moves.

These three heads work together to extend your elbows and are activated when you make pushing and pressing movements.

Think about this in the context of the simple things you do daily, like pushing the door open. Evidently, they’re essential for your overall upper body strength and function!

Big Picture

There are a ton of benefits you can get from tricep isolation exercises , like enhancing your upper body strength, improving muscle definition, and better arm symmetry.

All these exercises can help to target and strengthen this muscle group more effectively than just compound movements by focusing specifically on the triceps.

Using a targeted approach that blends compound and isolation tricep exercises can lead to increased muscle mass and endurance. This will set you up for more efficient performance in other exercises, sports, and daily activities.

Strong triceps also improve shoulder stability and reduce your risk of injury, making tricep isolation workouts a valuable part of any fitness regimen you’re looking to build.