THE BEST BARBELL-ONLY TRICEPS WORKOUT

When it comes to planning a triceps workout, most people immediately think of cables. While cables certainly lend themselves to productive triceps training, they’re far from your only option. In fact, with only a barbell at your disposal, you can blast your triceps while secondarily hitting other upper-body muscle groups, like chest and back.

HOW IT WORKS 

The pullover is generally used as a back exercise because bringing your arms from behind your head to over your face mainly calls on the lats. But the triceps get in volved too—particularly the long head, which runs down the inner side of your arm—assisting the movement. If you think about your triceps while you perform your sets, and actively flex them at the end of each rep, you’ll feel them get tired and sore. It’s not exactly “The Force,” but it does help you get more out of your exercises and the limited equipment you have.

DIRECTIONS 

Complete all the prescribed sets for one exercise before moving on to the next. If you have an EZ-curl bar instead of or in addition to a straight barbell as shown, feel free to use it as a substitute. It can relieve discomfort of the elbows and wrists. You may also perform the lying triceps extension and pullover on a bench or similarly elevated surface in order to put
more of a stretch on the triceps.  

1 CLOSE-GRIP FLOOR PRESS 

SETS: 5 REPS: 12 REST: 60 SEC.

Lie on the floor and roll the barbell up to your chest or have a partner hand it to you. Grasp the bar at about shoulder width and arch your back so there’s space between your lower back and the floor. Lower the bar to your sternum, tucking your elbows about 45 degrees toyour sides. When your triceps touch the floor (not your elbows), press the bar back up.

2 LYING TRICEPS EXTENSION

SETS: 4 REPS: 20 REST: 60 SEC.

Press the bar over your chest and then let your upper arms drift back to about a 45-degree angle. Bend your elbows to lower the bar behind your head, and then extend them to return to the starting position. Keep your elbows in line with your wrists throughout.  

3 PULLOVER

SETS: 3 REPS: 12–15 REST: 60 SEC.

Hold the bar overhead with an overhand, shoulder-width grip and lie back on the floor. Press the bar over your head and then reach back over your head, bending your elbows only slightly. Continue until you feel a stretch in your lats, and then pull the bar back over your chest, flexing your triceps as you go. Focus your mind on your triceps and you’ll feel them engage more throughout the exercise.