Q:  No matter how hard I try I just can’t seem to develop that horseshoe look in my triceps. The outer part is easily visible but the rest of it just ain’t there. What can I do bring out the rest of the muscle?

A:  The first thing you need to do is understand the anatomy of the muscle and then identify which exercises are best to work specific parts of it. As the name implies, the triceps consist of three heads. The medial and lateral heads originate on the upper-arm bone and attach on the ulna, which is one of the forearm bones. The long head originates on the shoulder blade and travels down the back of the upper-arm bone to attach on the ulna. Clearly, then, full development has to involve a variety of movements that work each of the three triceps heads. The medial and lateral heads are brought into action by movement at the elbow joint. However, the long head is only fully stimulated by movement at both the elbow and the shoulder joints. This is important because it tells us that the medial and lateral heads will be intensely worked by movements like press-downs and dips but the long head will only respond to overhead exercises, like overhead extensions and the lying French press.

Now we’re in a position to formulate an all encompassing triceps routine. Here’s a routine that will hit all heads equally, promoting balanced development of the coveted horseshoe:

Lying French Press

A great mass builder, but only if performed correctly. To prevent back involvement keep your head off one end of the bench and your feet, with knees bent, on the other end. Position the bar in line with your eyes, arms outstretched. Now move it back a couple of inches toward your head. This will transfer the tension from your shoulders and elbows to  the long head of your triceps. Keeping your upper arms locked and your forearms parallel, lower the bar to your forehead so that your triceps are fully stretched. Don’t allow your elbows to splay out as you press back to the start position

Triceps Pushdowns

Do pushdowns kneeling to make the movement stricter. Place yourself a foot away from the high pulley and bring the bar down to chest height. The movement should be in a semi circular arc towards your groin. Keep your elbows in at the sides – don’t allow them to drift back. Throughout the movement keep the wrists straight, shoulders down and don’t lock out the elbows at the bottom of the movement. Use a short angled bar to optimally target the medial and lateral heads of your triceps.

Tricep Push-Up

Here’s an awesome bodyweight exercise that isolates the long and medial tricep heads. Set an Olympic bar two feet from the bottom of a power rack. Take a palms down grip on the bar, with thumbs touching. Now back away from the bar until your arms are at full stretch. Keeping your butt down bend at the elbows to bring your head down and under the bar. Now, use your triceps to push back to the start position.

Dips

To target the triceps rather than the chest, keep your upper body perpendicular to the ground and your elbows in close to the body. Squeeze your triceps at the top position but don’t lock out your elbows. Slowly lower yourself without leaning forward, focusing on the stretch in the triceps. Push directly back up to the start position.

Put these exercises together as follows for a killer triceps routine that is guaranteed to give the complete development you’re after:

French Press 2 x 8-12 Reps

Pushdowns 2 x 12-15 Reps

super-setted with Reps

Triceps Push Ups 2 x 10-12 Reps

Dips 2 x failure Reps

As a final note on triceps exercises, never allow your wrists to bend back during your exercises. They should be kept straight at all times. This will prevent undue strain being brought to bear on the medial epicondyle, which would cause pain in the inner elbow area.