Penlan's Journal, 15 January 2016

Do you Exercise in a gym or at home? And if at home what equipment do you have? - Put simply any movement where you push away from yourself is working the triceps (although not necessarily in isolation) - While its tempting to just work on the parts where you see work is needed, its far, far better to work your whole body (including your triceps, of course!) My favourite exercises for Triceps (if you have access to equipment) are Close Grip Bench Press, Tricep pushdowns (on a high pulley) and Cross Bench Dips.  

Congrats on the new low! As for the DLAs, when you figure out a solution let me know. I'm starting to look like a deflated balloon!! 

Thanks Chuck, useful. I do work at the gym as well as at home. Home exercises tend to be based on the circuit training workouts I do at gym. As far as the machine go - I know I use the shoulder press, and chest press and some other things called pull ups and push downs... but don't kksow what the others are called. One I raise my arms vertically at right angles to shoulder height and bring them closed together in front of my chest, that works the pec, I know that ;) Another one is like pulling on a bell rope, a high reach and pull down. There are push ups and pull downs starting in various different positions and I use them all with a cardio exercise in between such as treadmill, rowing or bike, arms and legs versions. On the cardio machines I go for higher resistnace rather than speed, so will put the treadmill on max tilt and walk at 3mph, which works front and back of my legs, upper and lower. Bike I go for a higher resistance and I pull hard on Michael, the rowing machine. I have no idea of this regime is the best, and as you can tell, I don't have a trainer! I do remember from my cycling days that I would use a low twiddly gear to lose weight and a higher big gear to add strength. I had to have my bike adapted to have a bigger front clanger as the standard 48 x 14 ratio was too low for me, I most commonly used a 54x11 for my road riding. I do have very strong legs and have pushed a 1.25 tonne bandsaw across the floor to move it into place... So, I reckon I am using all my body reasonably well, but specifics for improving my triceps are useful. At home - I push against the wall, from quite a distance, my arms aren't strong enough (yet) to lift myself from the floor ;). I hold a full 2 litre (2kg) water bottle in each hand, hand down, upper arms out at shoulder level and raise my hands up to horizontal. I feel this should be working the triceps quite well. I alternate with using the biceps down and back up, and do front curls, which again uses the triceps more. I do these exercises as slowly as I can so the load is sustained and the muscles working all the time rather than allowing gravity to take over. I find lots of ways in my daily life to use my biceps, just not so much that I do really works on the triceps, which is why I am looking for extras for them :) Thanks for your time and your help. 

And Rhontique - well done! A deflated balloon is way better than one about to pop! 

Ah great, so you are training the rest of your body, that was my concern, If you were doing push ups, I'd recommend using a narrower hand placement to place more emphasis on your Triceps, and this can apply to the ones you are doing off the wall too - so your elbows are tucked in to your sides rather than flared out. Another one to try at home with your water bottles would be Overhead Triceps extensions (assuming you don't have high blood pressure?) - http://www.prevention.com/sites/prevention.com/files/styles/article_main_image_2200px/public/comp-706842-706843-ponytailextensions-dorit-thies.jpg?itok=P-tEnaGt Hope these help!  

Great! Thanks so much, off to look at the linky now. So far on the wall push ups I have just had my hands level to my shoulders. I will start to tuck them in. Nope, no high blood pressure, 120/72. resting pulse of about 55 - 58. 

Ah its just that if you have High Blood pressure its not recommended you do any exercises that require you to raise your hands overhead! Best of luck :)  

Thanks for all your help, I will keep you posted :D 

Good luck with reducing the rear arm flappage. You know, that's the one area where I have loose skin and some wrinkles from weight loss and I hate it. Hoping I can tone it up. 

Rear Arm Flappage - I luvvit - a whole new meaning to RAF :D That one will stick. Oh Jim, I feel for you, I sooooo want mine to not flap.... though somehow I think I will be joining your squadron. Hey, and thanks Draglist, I appreciate your support! 

You might want to try tricep dips: https://youtu.be/6kALZikXxLc - If the link doesn't work, search for 'tricep dips' on YouTube. 

Tricep dips -wow, Thanks Heidi, they look just the thing, but pretty hard! Not sure I have the upper arm strength yet, but will give it a go tomorrow. :)