The 10 Best Long Head Triceps Exercises for Muscle & Strength (Plus Workouts)

If you’ve been hammering away at curls and pushdowns but your arms still look more like spaghetti than pythons, here’s the deal:

Your triceps make up two-thirds of your upper arm mass, with the long head being the biggest and meatiest part. The problem is that you don’t grow it properly with just any exercise. You have to give it the special, overhead attention it demands.

These are the 10 best long head triceps exercises to get the job done.

Want to jump straight to them?

Yes, take me to the exercises!

Easy Triceps Muscle Anatomy and Function

Biceps get all the love. They’re the “show-me-your-muscles” muscle. They’re the emoji 💪.

But if you want arms that are all-around powerful and fill out your T-shirt sleeves, you need to train your triceps.

The triceps are roughly twice the size (100% larger) of the biceps, and while you don’t need to train them twice as much, they do need your full attention to get the results you want.

You might be surprised to learn that the triceps are, in general, significantly bigger than even the lats and the pecs:¹

I bet most people would consider those two major muscles and the triceps a minor one. But that’s not the case, at least not in the average person.

In bodybuilders, powerlifters, and other strength athletes who’ve built massive backs and pecs, it’s probably another story, but the triceps is not a small muscle by any means.

What Is the Triceps Brachii?

First off, the fancy Latin name: Triceps Brachii.

• “Tri” means three.
• “Ceps” means heads (from the Latin caput).
• “Brachii” means “of the arm.”

So, your triceps is literally the “three-headed muscle of the arm.”

Those three heads are the lateral head, the medial head, and the long head.

The primary job of the three heads together is to straighten your elbow, or elbow extension.²

Every time you do a push-up, throw a ball, hoist yourself out of a swimming pool, or give someone a quick punch to the nose, you have your triceps to thank.

The three heads share a common insertion point: the big tendon that attaches to the pointy part of your elbow (the olecranon process of the ulna, if you want to be a cool nerd about it).

But they all have different starting points, which means they do slightly different things. Or do things slightly differently.

The Lateral Head

The lateral head is the “outer” one, the one you see looking almost like a horseshoe from the side, at least on people with well-developed, defined arms.

It starts on the upper part of your humerus (your upper arm bone), above the radial (spiral) groove. It’s the “power” head for forceful extension and works hard in pretty much all pressing movements, like bench presses and pushdowns.

The Medial Head

The medial head is located underneath the other two, and also starts on the humerus (but lower down than the lateral head).

It’s the workhorse of the triceps family, active in all forms of triceps extension. In the gym, it involves itself in every single rep, whether it’s light or heavy, regardless of arm position.

The Long Head

Now, let’s talk about the two-joint wonder, the long head.

The long head is, by far, the biggest of the three (~50% of the triceps’ muscle volume!) and the only one that crosses two joints. It starts all the way up on your shoulder blade (the scapula) and runs down the back of your arm.

It has not one, not two, but three big jobs.

• The first is extension of the forearm at the elbow joint. In other words, it helps straighten your elbow. That’s its primary job, the one it shares with the other two heads.
• In addition, because the long head actually originates above the shoulder joint, it has a second and a third job: it helps with shoulder extension (moving the arm back) and shoulder adduction (moving the arm toward the body).

That dual-joint action is what makes training it special. It’s one of the few cases where you can significantly and noticeably make a certain part of a muscle grow more simply by changing the angle at which you perform an exercise.

Training the Long Head of the Triceps

Since the long head is affected by your shoulder position, you can hit it differently based on where your arm is. You can’t just do pushdowns and call it a day (I mean, you can, but it’s not optimal).

To stretch it maximally, you need to put your arm up overhead (which is called shoulder flexion). When you stretch the long head at the shoulder, it can contract more forcefully at the elbow.

The best way to do this in the gym is with overhead extensions (dumbbell, cable, barbell, EZ bar, or machine – it’s all good). You get a fantastic stretch in the long head before you even start the rep.

Conversely, to fully shorten the long head, you need to put both your shoulder and elbow in positions that shorten it across both joints. That means:

1. Extend the elbow (lock the arm out straight), and
2. Extend the shoulder (move the upper arm behind the torso).

In other words, the long head becomes fully shortened when your arm is straight and behind your body, like when you do triceps kickbacks (note that kickbacks are still not a very good triceps exercise, at least not with dumbbells, because there is no tension on the muscle during the bottom half).

You lift your elbow up and behind your torso, contracting the long head at the shoulder, then you finish by extending the elbow = maximally contracted long head.

An Optimal Triceps Workout Routine

The most important part of triceps training to make the long head grow is the overhead extension part. Research shows that overhead triceps extensions can grow the long head up to 40% more than regular pushdowns.³

So, to build triceps in the most effective way, you need to hit them from all angles. An “optimal” triceps routine should, in my opinion, include three types of movement:

1. An overhead movement.
   • You put your arm up, stretching the long head.
   • Examples: Overhead rope extensions, lying triceps extensions, dumbbell overhead extensions.
2. A pressing movement.
   • This is where you can move the most weight.
   • Examples: Dips, bench presses (close-grip for even more triceps focus).
3. A pushdown movement.
   • Great for a good squeeze and pump.
   • Examples: Pushdowns, rope pushdowns, reverse pushdowns.

You don’t need to do all of these in one workout, but you should use them in your training week. If you do a lot of pressing for your chest and shoulders, you might not need to do any more in your actual triceps workouts.

Top 10 Long Head Triceps Exercises

Here are my top 10 picks for making that long head pop.

As we went over earlier, putting the long head of the triceps in a stretched position for more tension is a tremendous growth trigger.

So, you’re going to see a lot of overhead movements on this list.

After that, I’ll show you how to combine the exercises into a complete and effective triceps workout.

Here we go, in alphabetical order:

1. Barbell Incline Triceps Extension

Also called “skullcrushers,” the barbell incline triceps extension is an isolation exercise for the triceps where you can use quite a bit of weight.

Set a bench to a ~45° incline, but instead of crushing any skulls, I want you to lower the bar down behind your head. When you lie back and perform the movement this way, you get a really good stretch in the long head.

Pro Tip: If you feel this one in your wrists (or elbows), use dumbbells to allow them to rotate naturally.

How to Do Barbell Incline Triceps Extension

1. Set a bench to about a ~45° incline and lie back against it, holding a barbell with a narrow overhand grip.
2. Extend your arms straight up so the barbell is positioned over your shoulders, keeping your elbows still and close together.
3. Lower the barbell in a controlled manner by bending your elbows until the bar is slightly behind your head.
4. Press the barbell back up to the starting position by extending your elbows, focusing on engaging the triceps.
5. Repeat for reps.

2. Barbell Standing Triceps Extension

The classic French press, or as we call it, the barbell standing triceps extension, puts the long head in a maximally stretched position when you lower the weight behind your head.

It’s an excellent exercise, although I have to say that I prefer doing it with a dumbbell instead because of the wobbliness factor of a barbell.

Pro Tip: Keep your elbows close to your head, pointing up, and move only your forearms. Don’t let your elbows drift forward; that’s how you turn a great triceps exercise into a weird overhead press.

How to Do Barbell Standing Triceps Extensions

1. Grip a barbell with a close grip, and lift it up to straight arms over your head.
2. Lower the barbell behind your head while keeping your upper arms still and vertical.
3. Reverse the motion and extend your arms again.
4. Repeat for reps.

3. Close-Grip Bench Press

The close-grip bench press is the heaviest you’ll ever be able to load your triceps.

Does it isolate the long head? Not at all. But it hits all three heads, and the long head has to do a lot of work to help you press that bar. And more load = more muscle.

Pro Tip: Close-grip doesn’t mean hands touching. Too close of a grip puts stress on your wrists without benefiting your triceps. Place your hands at around 95–100% of your biacromial distance. That’s the distance between the two bony points at the top of your shoulder blades that you can feel on your shoulders.

How to Do Close-Grip Bench Presses

1. Lie on the bench, pull your shoulder blades together and down, and slightly arch your back.
2. Grip the bar narrower than in a regular bench press so that your hands are directly above your shoulders or even closer.
3. Take a breath and hold it, and unrack the bar.
4. Lower the bar with control until it touches your chest somewhere where the ribs end.
5. Push the bar up to the starting position while exhaling.
6. Take another breath in the top position and repeat for reps.

4. Bar Dip

The bar dip is a classic upper-body compound exercise. Some, perhaps most famously bodybuilder Mike Mentzer, consider it the most valuable triceps exercise, calling it the “squat for the upper body.”

Dips aren’t optimal for isolating the long head, but they’re not supposed to be. It’s a great compound lift that packs mass on the entire triceps, including the long head.

If your bodyweight is too easy, add weight with a dip belt.

Pro Tip: To make it triceps-focused, you stay as upright as possible (leaning forward hits the chest more). Go as deep as you comfortably can to get a nice stretch at the bottom and involve the long head more.

How to Do Bar Dips

1. Grip a dip station about shoulder-width apart, and climb or jump to get into the starting position.
2. Lower yourself with control until your shoulder is below your elbow, or as deep as you comfortably can.
3. Reverse the motion and return to the starting position.
4. Repeat for reps.

5. Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extension

You can do dumbbell standing triceps extensions several ways. You either grab a heavy dumbbell with both hands or a light one with one hand and lower it behind your head.

The first is a top mass builder that allows for heavy progressive overload, and the second is great for isolating each arm. Both are S-tier long head tricep exercises that give you maximum stretch and tension.

You can also do them seated, by the way, for more stability.

Pro Tip: Make sure you get a full stretch at the bottom. Don’t cut the rep short. I see many only lowering the weight until their forearm is about parallel with the floor. That’s robbing yourself of gains.

How to Do Dumbbell Standing Triceps Extensions

1. Lift a dumbbell up to a straight arm over your head.
2. Lower the dumbbell down behind your head, while keeping your upper arm still and vertical.
3. Reverse the motion and extend your arm again.
4. Repeat for reps.

6. Lying Triceps Extension

My favorite triceps exercise: lying extensions. Not necessarily my top long head exercise (although it’s close), but my fave overall. I consider it unparalleled for building big triceps. I only have anecdotal evidence for my conclusions, but my gut has yet to betray me.

Many lifters do this exercise as a skullcrusher, lowering the bar to the forehead, but for more long head action, you’ll want to go deeper, down behind your head, like in the GIFs above.

Pro Tip: You can use an EZ bar to save your wrists and elbows if a straight bar feels uncomfortable. Or use dumbbells.

7. Machine Overhead Triceps Extension

If you’ve read this far, you know that overhead extensions are the way to go for long head growth. And the machine version is fantastic because it locks you into a stable path that lets you focus 100% on annihilating your triceps without worrying about stability.

But some machines are better than others.

• A poorly designed one with a resistance curve where the tension drops off near lockout is less effective than a cable or dumbbell overhead extension.
• However, if your gym has a quality machine for overhead extensions, you have potentially the single best movement for long head triceps development.

Pro Tip: Lock your elbows. I don’t mean lock them out at the top (though you should do that, too). I mean lock your upper arms in place and don’t let them drift.

How to Do Machine Overhead Triceps Extension

1. Sit in the machine and adjust the seat so that the handles are aligned with or slightly above your shoulders.
2. Grip the handles with both hands and keep your elbows close to your head.
3. Press the handles upward by extending your elbows until your arms are fully extended.
4. Lower the handles back to the starting position in a controlled manner by bending your elbows.
5. Repeat for reps.

8. Overhead Cable Triceps Extension

The overhead cable triceps extension is my number one long head exercise if you don’t have a top-tier machine. It puts your arms in a perfect, fully stretched overhead position. The rope also lets you split your hands at the top of the movement for a fantastic contraction.

You can do overhead extensions either from the bottom pulley (or close to the bottom) or from the top one.

• With the bottom pulley, your elbows are overhead and even slightly behind your head at the start. That means you completely lengthen the long head, and because you pull the cable from behind and below, the tension remains high throughout the entire range.
• With the top pulley, the cable pulls more downward and forward, and your elbows don’t go as far behind you, so the long head will be a little less stretched or loaded.

That being said, I still prefer the top pulley variant. It’s easier to get into and out of, and it feels less awkward to me. But the bottom pulley is objectively a little better, albeit marginally.

Pro Tip: When doing the exercise from the bottom pulley, lean forward and keep your upper arms beside your ears (like in the animated GIF above), not behind your head. You get a full stretch at the bottom without yanking your shoulders into weird territory, and make your core into a stable launchpad for more power.

9. Triceps Bodyweight Extension

No free weights or machines? No problem. With the triceps bodyweight extension, you can get a good long head workout with nothing but your own body as resistance. All you need is a bar, a wooden beam, a sturdy table, or something similar.

It’s the best bodyweight option available for the long head. Not quite as isolated as, for example, an overhead dumbbell extension, but it does stretch the long head under load, especially if you lean forward enough so your upper arms are in front of your torso during the eccentric part, which is exactly what you want.

Pro Tip: To make it harder, lower the bar or walk your feet further back. To make it easier, raise the bar (a Smith machine is great for this).

How to Do Triceps Bodyweight Extension

1. Grab the bar using an overhead grip, with your hands about shoulder-width apart.
2. At the starting position, your arms should be fully extended, and your core and glutes activated as in a standing plank position.
3. Bend the arms, bring your torso forward, and lower your head below the bar. Do the movement slowly and controlled.
4. Reverse the movement by straightening your arms.
5. Repeat for reps.

10. Triceps Kickback

Wait, what? Triceps kickbacks? Aren’t kickbacks kind of a bad triceps exercise?

Well, yes, dumbbell kickbacks aren’t all that great. It’s not that they do nothing (you’re still moving a weight), but the resistance profile is terrible. At the bottom of the lift, the dumbbell is just hanging. Gravity pulls it down, but your triceps aren’t doing much. In the middle of the lift, there’s still very little tension, and only at the very top is your triceps actually fighting gravity.

That’s why I suggest you use a cable if you want to do kickbacks. In fact, cable kickbacks give you tension in the one place the long head isn’t hit by most of the other exercises above: the fully shortened (squeezed) position.

That being said, dumbbell kickbacks can still be a useful exercise if you don’t have a cable pulley system or feel discomfort when performing overhead dumbbell extensions. But don’t make them your first choice of triceps exercises.

Pro Tip: Use a cable. Really.

How to Do Triceps Kickbacks

1. Hold a dumbbell or a cable attached to a lower pulley in one hand, palm facing your body.
2. Bend your knees slightly and lean forward at the hips until your back is almost parallel to the floor.
3. Keep your upper arm close to your side, with the elbow bent at about 90 degrees.
4. Extend your arm straight back by straightening your elbows. Only your forearms should move.
5. Squeeze your triceps at the top of the movement.
6. Lower the dumbbell or cable attachment back to the starting position.
7. Repeat for reps.

Long Head Triceps Workouts for Muscle and Strength Gains

With the long head triceps exercises we’ve just covered, you can design a workout for any experience level that will make your triceps blow up like toads.

But what if you don’t want to design your own?

Then follow one of ours!

For Beginners

If you are new to strength training, you don’t need a separate triceps workout, let alone worry about isolating different triceps heads.

Instead, I recommend you start with a simple full-body program, training two or three times per week. For the first few months, the pressing you do for chest and shoulders will take care of your triceps.

Our Beginner Barbell Program, Beginner Machine Program, or Beginner Strength Training Program are excellent choices to begin with.

And they are all free to follow in our workout log app, StrengthLog.

Here’s what the Beginner Strength Training Program looks like:

Workout A

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Squat	3	6–8
Overhead Press	3	8–10
Barbell Row	3	8–10
Triceps Pushdown	2	8–10
Leg Curl	2	8–10
Crunch or Hanging Knee Raise	2	10–12

Workout B

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Deadlift	3	5–6
Bench Press	3	8–10
Lat Pulldown	3	8–10
Barbell Curl	2	8–10
Leg Extension	2	8–10
Standing Calf Raise	2	10–12

• If you want to train twice a week, you do Workout A on one day and Workout B on another, with at least one or two days of rest between.
• If you want to train three times per week, you do workouts A, B, A the first week, then B, A, B the second week, and so on.

For Intermediates

If you’re an intermediate-level (or above) lifter and looking for a triceps workout to build muscle mass and strength, you can’t go wrong with the StrengthLog Triceps Workout.

Here’s what it looks like:

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Close-Grip Bench Press	3	6
Barbell Lying Triceps Extension	3	8
Overhead Cable Triceps Extension	3	12–15
Tricep Pushdown	3	20

It features everything from heavy compound presses to high-rep isolation work, with a big focus on the long head.

Those are just two examples of the triceps workouts you’ll find in StrengthLog.

We have triceps workouts using advanced strength training techniques like supersets and dropsets, and workouts where you train triceps with another body part, like a chest and triceps workout, back and triceps workout, and many more.

Plus, many of our training programs, the bodybuilding routines in particular, contain complete triceps workouts, and almost all with a heavy long head emphasis because we know how important it is for complete arm development.

Follow These Workouts in StrengthLog

What’s the best way to track these workouts?

With StrengthLog, our workout log app.

That way, it’s super easy to keep track of your weights and reps and make sure you’re on the right track.

The app remembers what weights you used in your last session and automatically loads them into your next session. And trying to improve on your last workout is the key to improving and getting stronger over time.

Download it and start tracking your gains today.

Final Rep

Alright, let’s wrap this up. You can do pushdowns until you’re blue in the face, but if you’re not specifically training the long head, you’re leaving gains on the table.

You don’t need to do all of the above. Just pick one or a couple, nail the form, track your progress, and watch your arm day finally start to pay off.

Want more?

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to get notified of new articles and get weekly training tips!

Leave this field empty if you’re human:

Click here to return to our full list of strength training exercises.

Last reviewed: 2025-11-12

References

1. Strength and Conditioning Journal 39(5):p 33-35, October 2017. Large and Small Muscles in Resistance Training: Is It Time for a Better Definition?
2. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Triceps Muscle. StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
3. Eur J Sport Sci. 2023 Jul;23(7):1240-1250. Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position.