24 weeks to Battering Ram Pushing Power III!

The last 8 weeks of this 24 week cycle, will bring about the completion of your new battering ram power! Get ready to break the walls down!

During this part of the assembly you will be hammering some serious meat onto your triceps. At the conclusion of these eight weeks you will have added a brand new three-dimensional appearance to your arms, and increased your pushing strength to the next level.

Give this series your utmost and I promise you great results, no matter your arm genetics. These workouts are geared in such a way, that with high-velocity intensity, your triceps will simply have no alternative but to grow.

These are some of my all-time favorite workouts, and I can personally attest to the fact that the back of your arms are going to inflate like balloons by the end of this series!

Let’s start this eight week cycle out on the right foot, and get straight into the hardcore aspect of it. Week one is going to focus on the stretch factor.

You will be using the hammer bar for the first exercise:

This is truly a power packed movement and will add slabs of beef to the long head of your triceps!

I like to use a bench that has a short back so I can go down to full extension and still have back support. But you can also do these on a standard flat bench. The movement is the same as a seated triceps press, except you will use the two handle bars in the middle, so that your hands are in the hammer position.

Make sure to get a good stretch at the bottom of this movement and go to peak contraction at the top of the motion. Getting a good stretch on any over head triceps movement will not only greatly increase the muscles explosiveness and strength, but also increases the long-head’s mass. Make sure to get a good squeeze at the top. Just like your bicep exercises, flex your tris hard at the top before doing another rep.

I think a lot of people’s triceps lag behind because they just "go through the motions", as opposed to really focusing on the triceps working during the movement.

Remember the triceps make up over 2/3^rd of your upper arm, so lets work ‘em hardcore!

This is also an exercise I recommend getting a spotter for. Getting 2 or 3 deep forced reps is awesome on this exercise.

Go for a rep scheme of 10-8-6.

This has to be one of the best tricep mass builders of all time! All the legendary greats thrived on these! Once you have the movement mastered you can really pile on the pounds and watch your triceps explode!

At the decline angle the stretch of this movement is amplified and your triceps will feel like they are being drawn and quartered!

This is one of the top three tricep movements; just make sure your triceps are doing the work! Make sure you are using the "contracting against the stretch" philosophy big time here.

You really want this to center on your triceps with this exercise. I want you to go heavy on these, but make sure you are exhausting your tris and not your delts or chest! This exercise is great for helping increase your other pressing exercises too, so keep that in mind, as you do this exercise.

Like I said we’re going to go heavy here, so go for 6-6-4.

In all humbleness, these have to be the most DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) tricep exercise I know of. After a few brutal sets of these, it hurts to just straighten my arms out for several days!

This is another exercise that will leave your arms throbbing in pain with a few forced reps.

They place immense stabilization strain and stretch on the tricep simultaneously!

But as a result they add a peak on your triceps that only this exercise can yield!

We’re going to go a little higher in the rep range here. I want you to work between 10 and 12 reps. Really concentrate on the stretch at the bottom and the contraction at the top. You’ll love this pump!

Exercise 4: Incline Rope Extensions - 3 sets

OK, I know the pump is making your arms shake at this point, but you still have 3 more sets, then you’re done. If you need a break in the action, or you want to use the rest technique I described in "8 weeks to bigger pecs" feel free to do so. This next exercise is going to require good concentration!

Attach the rope apparatus to a low cable pulley. Set an incline bench facing away from the stack of weights. Next, pick up the rope and sit down in the incline bench to perform overhead low-cable incline rope extensions.

Use the rope extension and splay the rope evenly in one fluid motion all the way to the top, implementing reverse supination as you splay the rope. This will give a hard peak contraction at the top of the motion. Stay strict! It’s easy to get sloppy with these.

So do as many drops as you have to so that you can stay strict for the total number of reps I prescribe.

You’ll be doing three sets of 10. Again use the "total reps drop set method", to achieve 10 perfect reps.

I love this exercise as it is great for building explosiveness and power! In addition to a great triceps exercise, power rack extensions will strengthen your triceps for all your compound pressing movements.

Exercise two: Smith Machine Reverse Press - 3 sets

This is very similar to the reverse grip triceps press, except you’ll be using a Smith Machine instead of a Barbell and you won’t perform these lying down. I favor doing these standing up. But if you don’t have a tall enough smith machine at your disposal you can do them seated just as well.

The technique is just like that of a standing or seated military press, except with a reverse grip.

So, normally your palms would be turned away from you, here they will be facing you. Basically a palms turned inward grip. Keep your shoulder blades tight into each other and press the weight up and down like a normal shoulder press.

I like to keep my hands in-line with my shoulders, but some people prefer a closer grip. Use whichever grip stresses your triceps the greatest.

Stick with a rep scheme of 10-8-6

Exercise three: Straight bar attachment pushdowns

3 sets

Exercise three will be using the straight bar attachment for pushdowns. This is an excellent way to hit both the lateral and medial heads of the triceps because the attachment keeps your hands in the neutral position throughout the entire set!

You’ll be using this piece of equipment to perform straight bar attachment pushdowns:

These are essentially standing kickbacks!

Keep your elbows close to your sides and place you hands in the handle bar so that your hands are in the neutral position.

Press the bar down with the power of your triceps until your arms are totally extended. At the bottom of the range of motion your four knuckles should be aiming directly at the floor. You should feel a strong contraction at the bottom of this movement; hold that contraction for one second before proceeding to the next rep. These really pop your triceps up!

The first two sets go for a rep range of 6-9. But on the last set utilize the triple-drop set principle to get a mega-blood pump! On the last rep of the triple-drop set, hold that rep statically to get even more blood into the area. By this point in the workout your triceps should be totally engorged with blood.

These are an old school classic. French presses stress all three of the tricep heads pretty evenly, and the positioning of your body allows you to handle maximum poundages.

I definitely recommend going heavy here!

As Jacob points out,

"Fast twitch muscle fibers are worked more efficiently with heavier poundages; these are greater in diameter( as are their units as a whole ) than their slow twitch counterparts, which is why this is considered a mass exercise!"

You can do them on a bench, but I prefer the Preacher French press.

To do this variation of the French press, simply raise a preacher bench up as high as it will go. Now lean your upper back against the slanted side of the preacher bench for a brace. You’ll have to bend at the knees to get into position, but focus on resting your upper body against the preacher bench for support.

This form of the French Press helps isolate the triceps more, by keeping the focus off stabilizing your back.

Let me explain the easiest way to finish the movement if you are alone.

Begin by placing a flat bench on the opposite side of the preacher bench you are working on. Now, after failure set the dumbbell on the padding next to your shoulder. Hold onto the dumbbell with one hand as you stand up and twist around. Then simply lower the dumbbell down to the flat bench.

If you have a spotter, which I recommend, you can avoid all that, but if you are alone it’s hard to go to total failure on a French press because you literally "get stuck" and can’t do anything with the dumbbell. I prefer this method if I’m alone because it’s easier to go to failure and it isolates the triceps more.

If you have a spotter aim for 2 or 3 forced out reps.

Think heavy here. With a scheme of 8-6-4.

Exercise 5: "Tail-ends" 2 sets

I call these tail-ends because they are a great way to finish off a blood-pumpin’ triceps onslaught!

They really hit around the insertion point of the triceps near the elbow, what I call the "tail-end" of the tricep.

These are simple and don’t require much energy. I just go for a good pump.

These are essentially the same movement as Rope Press downs, except we are cutting the movement in half.

With your palms facing each other, push the rope. Start the reps at belly-button level and never go any higher than that. You are essentially cutting out the top half of the regular range of motion. Basically you’re getting a little bit of push-down then the splaying of the rope.

Press the rope down and out so that your palms are down and you are pulling the rope to either side as if you were trying to rip it in two(splaying). Lock out your arms and feel a peak contraction in the triceps and finish with some reverse supination. Now return to the starting position.

Like I said, just go for a pump, and don’t count reps here. Stop when you can no longer splay the rope apart.

We’re going to take the power/stretch principle to the next dimension for week three. As we discussed super setting power exercises with stretch exercises (and vice versa) is an excellent way to stimulate hypertrophy in the targeted muscle. Week three will over-emphasize that theory with some extreme conditioning to the triceps.

This stretch/power combo is excellent for packing beef where you need it most.

It allows you to start heavy, and finish hard.

Overhead EZ-bar tricep presses place a huge amount of strain on your long heads. Performing them in the standing position really allows you to muster some force as you pump out reps. For these to be effective you need to let the weight pull on your triceps. You should feel a hard stretch in the bottom of the range of motion.

As you start the ascent, contract against that stretch until you peak out at full extension. Your triceps should be tight and fully flexed when you hit the top of the range of motion. Watch closely in the mirror to make sure your form is right and the bar is balanced evenly throughout the sets.

Go heavy on the presses. Don’t go any higher than 8 reps, and no lower than 4.

As soon as you finish with the presses, go immediately to a dip station.

To target your triceps with dips, keep your body as vertical as possible as you go up and down throughout the set. Sink deep into the bowels of this exercise and explode your way back up. Feel your triceps flex hard and get a solid contraction as you lock out at the top of the range of motion.

You shouldn’t have to add any additional weight here. The presses will have your tris pretty exhausted. Just use your body weight until you reach failure.

Get ready to expand your blood vessels to the max, and double your mitochondria count!

This is one of my favorite super sets of all time.

We’re going to start out with a great all purpose tricep exercise, the V-grip pushdown.

This piece of equipment is a valuable tool for building the triceps. The positioning of the hands during this exercise keeps the medial and lateral heads flexed through the entire set, similar to the contraction your triceps receive after splaying the rope apart during rope pushdowns.

Again, I want you to go heavy on the first part of this superset. Squeeze your triceps hard and really focus on the power this exercise rallies.

Aim for a rep range of 6-9 for the V-grip press downs.

Now go immediately to a decline bench station. We’re going to be performing close-grip push ups using the decline bench to enhance the stretch.

Place you feet on the pad where your calves would normally rest during a decline bench press. You may have to adjust the foot pad to compensate for height.

Next, place your hands on the bar where you feel most comfortable performing a close-grip bench press. I prefer taking a very narrow grip on these, usually around 8 or 9 inches apart.

Once you’ve got yourself into position, start doing regular close-grip push ups. As you get to the bottom of the range of motion, you should feel your body weight strain your triceps hard. Just go for a total pump here. Don’t even count reps.

I’ll even take this exercise another step to increase the intensity. Once you "feel" failure coming on, start performing partial reps, to burn your triceps out. Another favorite technique of mine with close-grip push-ups is the 21’s technique to target the upper and lower triceps through a full range of motion.

Repeat this giant set a total of three times.

With the execution of this giant set you will be driving the last nail into your battering ram instrument of war. This a truly insane giant set, and its intentions are downright sadistic…to test your threshold of pain!

If you can make it through this giant set you are more than a man, you’re a myth!

Let’s get ready to test your tricep limitations. Can you make it through? We shall soon see.

We’re going to be utilizing the hammer bar for the first three parts of this giant set.

I don’t advise you to go too heavy for the attempt. Just aim to get a feel for the movement. Once you’ve established your tolerance to the giant set, adjust the weight accordingly.

By the time you get through step three, you’re going to have a hard time just getting into position to do the diamond push-ups. If step four comes easy, you need to add more weight. This giant set will really test your overall endurance and strength of your triceps under extreme conditions!

3 sets

No doubt your triceps are fatigued to the max after the preceding giant set. They should be engorged with enough blood to fill a Red Cross van. At this point your triceps should literally be in a state of shock.

For this reason, I highly recommend giving yourself the rest period we discussed in the battle plans for 8 weeks to bigger pecs.

Exercise two is going to consist of tricep cable kickbacks.

But we’re going to do them a little differently (did you expect any less?).

Face the low pulley while on your hands and knees. Take any attachments off the low pulley station. For this variation of the kickback, no extra apparatus on the low pulley is required. You’ll be gripping the cable with your bare hand. Most low pulleys will have a small ball near the end. I recommend using that as a gripping mechanism.

I feel this variation provides a more natural range of motion for your triceps and that you’ll get a much better contraction. Be sure to stress reverse supination on your kickbacks.

Kick your arm back and squeeze hard, keeping your upper arm stationary throughout the whole set. After failure, alternate arms, and repeat. Continue in this manner until you have completed three sets per arm. Go for a rep scheme of 12-10-8. You can use you free hand to squeeze out the additional reps required should failure come before you complete you necessary reps.

Repeat each of the four phases as follows:

Week 5: Repeat Week One

Week 6: Repeat Week Two

Week 7: Repeat Week Three

Week 8: Repeat Week Four

The triceps are literally the force behind the blow of your new found battering ram pushing power. It takes a championship mentality to set a new goal and stick with it. I have every bit of faith that as disciplined athletes your extraordinary efforts are going to be rewarded with much fuller pecs, delts, and tris at the completion of this 24 week series.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these workouts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. Keep it hardcore fellow athletes, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!