having trouble getting tri's to contract

[JohnRobHolmes]

just like the title says. i cant feel a full flex on my tri's. today i did incline presses, skull crushers, close grip presses, and tricep pushdowns. i just cant feel the contractions of my tri's. my shoulders and chest want to do all the work. i know my triceps are flexing but its not powerful and i cant make them cramp or burn. any other excercises that i could do to give em a kick? is this just normal for triceps at first?

 

[Goodfellow]

Try dips or weighted dips if you can. Start with close grip bench, then go on to dips and then do some french presses i promise you they will be burning.



Karma is always welcome!

 

[b fold the truth]

I don't think that you have to FEEL them in order for them to get worked. My favorite Tricep Exercises are Board Presses and Incline Tate Presses. I feel the tates near the elbow and I feel the board presses the next day.

I have decent sized triceps...and I don't do extensions of any type.

B True

 

[Sub-Zero]

most people have bis too big compared to tri's but my tri's are actually improportional to my biceps, and ill just do weighted dips and skills after shoulder day (i lockout on all my shoulder motions tho)

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

i would say my bi's are much stronger than my tri's from rock climbing and bike riding. its something i have been trying to work on but my bi's just contract easy, work hard, and build much faster. i can get a killer pump in them, but my tri's are really hard to get pumped up. something to work on eh?

 

[Illuminati]

try doing lying tri extensions with db, only keep your elbows at a 90 degree angle from the body, and bring the weight down to the other pec.

also, here's an exercise that i do. its kind of a hybrid between an extension, and a pressing movement. i was fuckin around one day, trying to think of something new. get on a bench like you are going to do some db presses. rotate your hands so that your palms are facing each other. as you do the extension, try to move them in a straight line, with your arms tight to the body (keep the palms facing each other the whole time.) this will require you to drop your elbows while doing the extension. the end of the db should touch your shoulders. the position that you are now in, should be very similiar to a CG bench press, only you hands are at your neck, and the palms are facing each other. now press and extend up at the same time, tryin to move the weight in a straight line back to the starting position. <--give these a try. let me know what you think. also, if my description doesn't make sense, let me know, and ill try to write it up better...

 

[bignate73]

on a press you might not feel them cramp because when you lock out, you go to passive support (skeletal structure). you might feel it on pressdowns because the cable is pulling you slightly, or you just might not know how to flex your tri's.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

ill give that movement a try, illuminati. sounds like it would be really good. as to your comment bignate, i try not to lock out my arms for that very reason. however, even on pressdowns i cant get my tri's to contract fully. its like the power isnt there. i just dont know how to flex em yet i suppose. yep, thats the problem. its all soft when i push on it. task #1 for this month- harden them tri's!

 

[bignate73]

 

[Illuminati]

ill give that movement a try, illuminati. sounds like it would be really good. as to your comment bignate, i try not to lock out my arms for that very reason. however, even on pressdowns i cant get my tri's to contract fully. its like the power isnt there. i just dont know how to flex em yet i suppose. yep, thats the problem. its all soft when i push on it. task #1 for this month- harden them tri's!

cool. let me know how it goes....

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I don't know if anyone notices, but this is the guy that is 5'10", 135lbs. You aren't gonna have much tri's to speak of at that weight and height. Your arms are mostly bone and some thin muscle over them. Quit worrying about your tri's and start eating like a mad man with an emphasis on quality protein, lots of carbs, and dare I say it, lot's of fat too. Try to constantly lift heavier and heavier weights in the squat, bench, deadlift, press, chin, curl, leg press, barbell row and call it good. Do that for a year then see if you have a problem contracting your triceps. You can't contract your triceps, and they feel mushy because they are not developed at all yet. I hate to be the tough love giver, but you're worrying about all the wrong stuff right now considering your height, weight, and build.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

i do realize i am a small man (comparitively). however, i dont want to build an imbalanced body. i do eat large amounts of good protien, carbs, and fat too. diet has always been first in my life anyway. im not looking for massive tri's, im looking for contractions that equal my calfs, quads, biceps, chest, back, etc. its the only muscle that i dont have full control over- thus the reason that i want more ways to excercise it. studmuffin, i thought the point of excercising was to focus on weak points! am i wrong in picking out my tri's for some work since i am only "bone with some thin muscle" and my tri's are "not developed at all"?

 

[bignate73]

JRH,
dont worry about them feeling like they are contracting...really. if you want to practice, then do side tricep poses, you'll definitely gain that control over them, but if you are sticking with tricep exercises, even close grip bench, you'll be doing the right movements, even if you dont have the "connection" yet. when you get them more coordinated like your other bodyparts, you'll feel more of a mind/muscle connection.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

thanks bignate, time is on my side

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

I'm trying to help you. You said your tri's are mushy. Considering you height and weight and supposed narrow build, your triceps ar emost likely under-developed frok lack of heavy pressing exercises. Your triceps will recieve greater benefit from heavy benching and pressing for now than isolation movements. The routine I listed isn't perfect, nor complete from a training aspect as far as developing each muscle individually is concerned, but it's not really unbalanced per se and will lead to increased siz and stength throughout your entire body. But hey, what do I know. I must be some guy giving out bad advice. I think you might want some tribulis or something to raise that natural test cuz you sure do take things offensively very easily. i think the estrogen is too high, but that's just best guess.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

hahahaha! dont make fun of my lisp stufmuffin baby! point taken. single joint excersizes not the focus. push the big weights dammit!

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Now you're getting it. Alot of guys I wouldn't say just focus soley on the amount of weight you lift and try to lift more than it every time you lift and add more weight and keep doing that and doing that because there is alot more to bodybuilding than that, but for you, it's perfect. Ya, you're not gonna have a perfect physique training like that, but it will put on solid weight over your entire body, then you can sculpt and start learning about the finer points of building your body and what works best for you. You have to have some clay before you can sculpt it. See what I mean? Just eat ALOT, and work at lifting heavier and heavier weights at your routine and in a year or so from now you will have probably built enough strength and foundation to start sculpting it and building it up even more albeit like a bodybuilder. Most beginning lifters would be best training like a powerlifter for the first year or so with almost all emphasis on squats, deads and bench and a few isolation exercises to round it out a little. But those are just my opinions.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

i gotcha man. what i am wanting is to supplement my bench and dips with some extra tricep work. i just dont feel that they get enough work, ya know? my chest and shoulders take the weight, and i tend to let the bar drift low and let my bi's help me out on bench. i know it sounds crazy, but i promise it happens. thats my climbing coming back to bite my ass! i feel that if i could train my tri's to contract on command and catch up to my bi's, that i would start using them more without thinking about it instead of letting other muscles take over.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Ok. I get what you're saying. Maybe I've got some tips for you. You say you have a hard time getting your tri's to contract and use them properly. Ok. The triceps are a far stronger muscle than the biceps. Obviously like you said, the climbing gave you an unbalanced development in the arms. I know some guys that have been bouldering for several years that have to do pushups and dips or they start getting pains in their shoulders and back from their lats and bi's overpowering their chest and tri's. Here's a few exercsies that can help with getting your triceps to cooperate. Stand in the mirror and face it sideways. Let your arm hang loose and relaxed. Then slowly contract your tricep until it it fully flexed and hold that for a second or 2. Then slowly release the contraction. You should be able to see your tricep roll up and then bulge out and get hard. Then relax and sink back down. Really concentrate your mind in getting only the tricep to flex because it is easy to let the back, biceps and forearms help in contracting it. Contract it and relax it SLOWLY. It is a little harder than it sounds. The key is to not straighten the arm, but to contract it while in the relaxed position. The next exercise is similar. Stand sideways to the mirror and then straighten your arm as hard as possible using your tricep. this will really make it contract hard. Be carefull not to overdo it and to try to contract the muscle maximally rather than focus solely on straightening the arm otherwise you can stress your elbow joint. Another good exercise is to straighten your arm and then flare your lat muscle out. This can help in contracting the tricep because the lat will help the tricep contract. As for barbell exercises, I have found straight bar lying tricep extensions, barbell close grip bench, and dumbell kickbacks to be best for developing my triceps. Dips between 2 benches can also be great when used with weight. I knew a guy that did dips this way instead of using the regular dipping bars and he used BW +125lbs for 12 reps and he had some serious horseshoes. The best advice I can give is to really focus your mind on the tricep when working it. I really believe in the mind/muscle connection. Look at guys that work heavy construction that get fairly strong, but aren't exactly well developed in the bodybuilder sense. I believe alot of this has to do with not thinking about the muscle when using it. It has been proven that just lifting heavier and heavier weights is not the only way to make a muscle grow and actually far from it. I do believe that you cannot ignore strength as it is an important part of the equation, but lifting heavy weights without focusing on the muscles working is a good way to a crappy body imo. Now lifting heavy weights for strength and development and lifting lighter weights solely for deveopment is great way for strength and size. But these are just my opinions. Hope this helps.