
Originally Posted by
O-Train
Triceps are fairly simple if you understand the anatomy.
The long head crosses both the elbow and the shoulder joint. With the other two heads only the elbow joint is important but with the long head you need movement of the humerus/upper arm also.
For this reason skull crushers are a great exercise for building the triceps. Like was mentioned previously a cambered bar should be used vs. a straight bar. I also like to use dumbbells. You just have to be mindful of chronic wrist and elbow injuries that can develop. One of the other reasons this is a very effective exercise is because it's a lot harder to cheat. If you go to a typical gym and watch people training triceps you will see most people doing push/press downs with awful technique and too much weight. Dips are a great alternative to skull crushers, both provide good activation of the long head because the upper arm moves away (anterior or posterior) from the frontal/coronal plane of the body. aka not at your side