TRI HARD

Fill out summer t-shirts with the help of these triceps-sculpting tips and techniques

Summer’s finally here, and it’s natural to want to pump up your arms to look in peak condition for a week on the beach. But focusing exclusively on everybody’s favourite mirror muscles, the biceps, would be a big mistake. The powerful but easily neglected triceps actually make up roughly two-thirds of your upper-arm mass, making them a much smarter area to target.

If you want to pack out your summer t-shirts, or look good clutching a cocktail, targeting your triceps is the best way to go in the weeks ahead.

01. Lock in an arms day

If your triceps are looking a little underdeveloped and underused, it’s probably because they are. Neglecting your triceps is an easy mistake to make, even for regular gym-goers. If most of your workouts focus on your chest, shoulders and biceps, your triceps may not be getting more than a few incidental workouts along the way.

“If you find your arms lagging behind your bigger body parts, think about giving them their own training day,” suggests Laidler. “Getting your triceps out of the shadow of your chest workout, in particular, will provide your triceps with a better opportunity to grow.”

But if you lack the time or inclination for a dedicated arms-only session, there are other, subtler techniques to try.

“An alternative is to shock your system by inverting your usual training order,” suggests Laidler. “Try pre-exhausting your triceps with focused triceps exercises before training your chest. By focusing on your triceps first, it'll give them their due chance to grow.”