Top 8 Amazing Tricep Exercises with Dumbbells

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Have you thought that you can perform varieties of different tricep exercises with dumbbells? Yes, there are lots of amazing dumbbell tricep exercises that you can do in the gym, park, or even at home if you have dumbbells with you. I will discuss best all top tricep exercises with dumbbells which you should include in your workout program.

After reading this complete article, you will be able to implement these tricep building exercises into your workout program. I have also shared some different ways to perform the same exercise, so read every instruction given under each exercise.

You will be happy to know that there is a dumbbell tricep workout which I have added at the end which you can implement into your dumbbell tricep workout program for better gains. So let’s start with the exercises.

Tricep Exercises With Dumbbells

1. Dumbbell Tricep Press

It’s a great dumbbell tricep exercise to build strength for bigger lifts. Many bodybuilders and powerlifters do this exercise to increase their strength and performance. This is a compound movement that will hit all three heads of the tricep.

How to do

1. Lie on a bench with dumbbells on each hand. Your foot should be behind the knees. Roll your shoulders back before starting the exercise to involve fewer anterior delts.

2. Your grip should be underhand making it look like a V from below. Tuck your elbows in and move down and up straight in line with the stomach (upper). Don’t lift your feet during the exercise.

3. You can use a neutral grip ( hands facing each other) as a variation but make sure that you go down and up in a straight line to create more stimulus on your triceps.

2. Dumbbell Skull Crusher

A great exercise to hit the long head and medial head of the tricep. This is a great strength-building exercise and will help you to get big and fuller-looking triceps.

How to do

1. Hold the dumbbells in your hands and lay down on a flat bench. Hook your feet under the pegs of a bench for balance.

2. Tight your abs and take your hands up. By maintaining a neutral grip, bring the dumbbells down at the side of the ears.

3. Stop at the bottom and then bring the dumbbells up while using your triceps and extend your elbows at the top.

You should progress with the exercise by lifting heavy dumbbells but make sure that you don’t pick so heavy a dumbbell that you cannot handle.

3. Close Grip Tricep Press

This is another great strength builder. If you want fully developed triceps, then you must perform heavy compound movements like tricep dumbbell press. This is an exercise for those who want to increase size and strength.

How to do

1. Hold one dumbbell on each hand and lay down on a flat bench. Point your feet back. Hold two dumbbells together.

2. Go down without changing the wrist position. Touch your lower chest with dumbbells and then go back straight up. You should always maintain that v position throughout the movement.

3. You can also perform this on an incline bench. But make sure that you are going straight up and down and maintaining that v angle.

This will target your medial head of the tricep which are overlooked muscles. Also, remember that you must train all parts of your muscles for better results. So don’t neglect any part of the muscles.

4. Tricep Kickbacks

This is a great isolation exercise for your triceps which you should add to your dumbbell tricep workout. Here, you can focus on each side separately which will help you to build symmetrical arms.

How to do

1. Hold a dumbbell on one hand and place the other hand on a bench. Your one leg should be on the bench for support.

2. Take your hands up behind the back such that arms are parallel to the ground. This will be your starting position.

3. From that rowing position, kick your hands up without lifting the elbow. Come back to the same position and go up again.

You should choose lighter weights for this exercise. If you go heavy, you may end up swinging the weights without engaging the triceps. To perform the movement slowly while feeling the right muscles.

5. Incline Kickbacks

We don’t take out hands back behind the body in our day-to-day life and that’s why our triceps get weaker. This exercise will put your body in that position which will make your weak muscles work.

How to do

1. Take a dumbbell on each hand and lay prone onto an incline bench. You can place your feet on the peg for support.

2. Take both your hands up and behind the back such that your arms are parallel to the ground. Elbow should be at a 90-degree angle.

3. Move your hands up and extend the elbow. Don’t swing the weights and slowly bring your hands back to the starting position.

It’s a little advanced exercise for those who are not familiar with kickbacks. So do the one-hand tricep kickback if you are finding difficulty with the double hand version.

6. Decline Tricep Extension

Do this on a decline bench. This is a good exercise to train the long head of the tricep. A decline bench will create constant tension on the muscle so it’s another good triceps variation.

How to do

1. Hold the dumbbells on your hands and lay down on a decline bench. Hook your feet under the pegs of a bench.

2. Keep your elbows up at a 90° angle. By maintaining a neutral grip, take your arms down and stretch your triceps at the bottom.

3. Stop at the bottom and then push the dumbbells up and back to the starting position.

Your elbow should be back slightly rather than pointing straight up as this will engage your triceps more. You can also do it with your elbows straight up. Try both and choose the best which suits you the most.

7. Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extension (Single-hand)

This exercise will focus more on that long head of the triceps. It’s good for those who have one side weaker than the other because you can train each part separately.

How to do

1. Stand straight and take one dumbbell on your hands. Lift the dumbbells and hold them with your elbows extended.

2. From that position, start lowering the dumbbell until your triceps are fully stretched at the bottom.

3. Move the dumbbells up by bringing your hands up and extend your elbows fully at the top.

Your elbow should point up towards the ceiling. Go back up and repeat the movement. Breathe in when you go down and breathe out when you go up.

Don’t swing the weights. Use weights according to your strength to fully control every single rep. Don’t compromise your form to move heavy weights.

Its always better to move your body in a full range of motion. It will make your muscles do the most work in each rep. Also, it will help you in improving mobility and range of motion.

8. Double-hand Tricep Extensions

This is similar to the single-hand overhead extensions. Here you will grab one dumbbell with both hands. Here you can lift more weights and is good at building strength.

How to do

1. Take one dumbbell and hold it with both of your hands. Take it back and behind the head and keep your elbows extended. This will be your starting position.

2. Start the exercise by lowering the dumbbell while keeping your elbows in. Stop until your triceps are fully stretched.

3. From the bottom position, push the dumbbells up with both your hands, extend the elbows at the top and then repeat the movement.

It’s ok if your elbows are going out but make sure it’s not going too far out. Everyone has a different level of flexibility so don’t go too far down if you are not comfortable with it. Don’t go too heavy as it can lead to injuries if you mess your form.

You can do this exercise either by standing or sitting. Remember that you engage more core when you stand.

These tricep exercises with dumbbells will really help you to get the results that you are looking for. But you should know how to combine these exercises together to make the best workout for your individual goals.

So here is a workout program down which I have designed for you. So check it out.

Tricep Workout With Dumbbells

This is a very effective workout for triceps with dumbbells which you can implement into your program right now. This will make your triceps strong and will give that extra inch to your arms.

I have already discussed each exercise above with proper form and technique. You can scroll up and get the details of each exercise separately. So let’s get into the workout.

Warm up- Always start with a warm up before performing any main set. Do 2 sets of 15 reps -single hand overhead tricep extensions. Don’t fatigue the muscle, just warm it up.

1. Close grip tricep press

We will start with this multijoint compound exercise which will increase the strength of your triceps.

• Do 3 sets of 8
• Take 2-3 minutes rest in between each set.
• You can go heavy on this. Make sure that your shoulders are rolled back.

2. Dumbbell skull crushers

This will engage your long head more and stretches your tricep creating more range of motion which is beneficial in every aspect.

• Do 3 sets of 12 reps
• Take 2-3 minutes to rest after each set
• Don’t overextend to the point where you lose tension from the triceps.

3. Tricep kickbacks

We should target each muscle with different angles and positions. So here we are taking our triceps behind the body which is more challenging and thus will give you better gains.

• Do 2 sets of 12 reps
• Take 1-minute rest between sets
• Don’t use heavyweights. Start with low weights and after a few weeks, you can increase the weights if you can do 10-12 reps properly without losing form.

4. Overhead dumbbell tricep extension

This will train both your left and right triceps equally which reduces muscular imbalances especially if your one side is weak.

• Do 3 sets of 12 reps from each hand
• Take 1-minute rest in between sets
• Again don’t go heavy on this. Don’t overextend if you lack mobility.

Also Read-

• 12 Best Dumbbell Exercises for Shoulders + Dumbbell Shoulder Workout
• 10 Best Tricep Exercises with Cables