With every muscle group in the body, there are two phases you must sequentially complete in order to fully develop the area: Mass and Detailing. For this article, we will focus upon hitting the triceps, and break down the mass and detailing phases and their movements.

There are two phases to making gains when it comes to triceps. The first is mass. Beginner bodybuilders should focus on mass. Period. You shouldn’t even be thinking about “defining your shape” and “bringing out your lines” until you have built up some actual triceps mass.

You build triceps mass by completing heavy movements using free weights as your primary tool. Skullcrushers are an excellent mass builder for triceps. Bench dips on parallel benches with a weight on your lap is very useful as well. Close-grip bench presses are superb for putting new inches of mass on to your triceps. Triceps dumbbell presses behind the head are also very valuable for isolating the triceps and assuring the arms receive an adequate workout. You should spend two years getting to know these movements very well, and tacking some serious mass onto your frame at the same time.

The second phase is the detail phase. It is in this time period that emphasis is placed upon triceps shape and lines. Unless you’re an experienced intermediate or advanced beginner, you shouldn’t worry about ‘refining’ your muscles. Once they are at least 16 inches and you have two years of training experience under your belt, you’re probably ready for triceps detailing.

Detailing is much more fun than mass building because you are able to utilize movements such as cable pressdowns and the wide variety of triceps machines. These help etch detail into the triceps and really allow the trainer to perfect the mind-muscle connection. Intermediate and advanced trainers should still complete some basic mass-building movements when training in the detailing phase to ensure they retain their initial mass gains.

Use the “Mass & Detailing” method for all body parts. For the first two years of training, you need to focus primarily upon mass training. These are the years when your muscles are most receptive to training stimulus, and when your gains will be at their fastest. It’s all downhill from there, once you reach the intermediate phase. Your gains will still come, but they will come much closer. When you reach the advanced stage, you’ll see that muscle gains come extremely slow. But then, however, you’ll have a very solid foundation of muscle upon which to etch detail and focus upon your lines and symmetry.

There is one exception to this matter. Athletes of any training level who partake in the use of anabolic steroids will want to immediately revert to the mass-building stage of their training. Introduction of AAS creates an instant growth phase which exceeds even beginner’s gains. To make the most of it, a return to mass training needs to take place. At that point, your recovery abilities will be so advantaged that you can afford to increase the intensity and set numbers simultaneously.

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