Developing Strong Triceps for Improved Push-ups

Improving your push-up capability can be a challenging yet rewarding goal that enhances your overall body strength. While chest and shoulder muscles are crucial, having strong triceps is equally important for mastering push-ups.

If your triceps lag behind, incorporate exercises like dips and kick-backs to target and strengthen these three-part muscles located on the back of your upper arms.

Trainer Sydney Lotuaco explains the correct form for triceps dips:

To perform triceps dips effectively, ensure your hips are not excessively forward to prevent strain on your knees and maximize triceps engagement. Keep your shoulders relaxed, fingers facing your body, press your feet firmly into the ground, and maintain proper alignment. This will fully activate your triceps as you lower yourself down.

Enhance shoulder and back engagement with triceps kick-backs:

For triceps kick-backs, hinge at your hips, retract your shoulders, and extend your forearm from the elbow to achieve a full range of motion as demonstrated by Colette Dong in the video above.

While these exercises isolate and strengthen the triceps, certified trainer Roxie Jones suggests focusing on compound movements to develop strength in your triceps, chest, and shoulders concurrently for optimal push-up performance. Triceps act as auxiliary muscles in push-ups, with the primary muscles being the chest and shoulders.

To activate all three muscle groups effectively, start by practicing push-up motions with hands elevated and legs straight to acclimate your body to the full position. Using a resistance band above the elbows can help control chest placement, easing the load and facilitating progress.

Ultimately, consistent practice is key to improving push-up proficiency.

Here’s the proper technique for a full push-up:

Before mastering full push-ups, focus on eccentric push-ups to strengthen the lowering phase. Begin in a high plank position, lower your body in a controlled manner, then reset and repeat. Concentrating on the eccentric phase helps build strength before moving on to full push-ups.

By dedicating time to enhance tricep strength and refining your push-up form, transitioning from modified to standard push-ups will become more achievable.