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Triceps training can be done with various exercises. The angle of the upper arms relative to the torso plays a major role in determining the load on the different heads of the triceps.
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triceps exercises
Active insufficiency and passive insufficiency
This article is part of a series on the meaning of
active insufficiency and
passive insufficiency and the practical implementation of these in your training. I will start again with a brief repetition of the principle of
active insufficiency and
passive insufficiency and then discuss the significance for training the triceps. For a longer explanation, refer to the first article in this series: ‘Training Calves with Straight or Bent Legs?
Active insufficiency‘
Active insufficiency and
passive insufficiency are conditions in which a muscle, or a certain head of it, cannot exert maximum effort.
Active insufficiency and
passive insufficiency can apply when a muscle crosses two joints.
Active insufficiency: A muscle that is already shortened over one joint cannot further shorten maximally. The muscle then cannot exert maximum effort in movement over the other joint.
Passive insufficiency: A muscle that is already lengthened over one joint cannot further lengthen over the other joint. The muscle then cannot exert maximum effort when it needs to contract again.
The anatomy of the triceps
To understand what this means for training the triceps, we need to start with anatomy again.
The triceps is a muscle consisting of three heads. Some researchers argue that you should actually see these heads as three different muscles with different functions. In the image on the right, you can see the location of the different heads and their points of attachment. There’s an important difference between the long head on the inside (left in the image) and the middle and outer head on the other side:
At the bottom of the muscle, all three heads end in a common attachment that runs over the elbow joint and attaches to a point on the ulna.
The head on the inside (the ‘long head’ /
longum) is attached above to a projection of the scapula (
tuberculum infraglenoidale). The middle (
medial) and outer (
lateral) heads are attached above to the humerus itself.
This difference in so-called
origin point is the most important fact for this article. It means that the long head is the only one that crosses two joints: The shoulder joint and the elbow. The medial and lateral head only cross the elbow.
Training Triceps: Elbows Forward?
This difference means that the long head is the only one lengthened when you bring the upper arms forward and up. The distance between the origin point on the scapula and the so-called
insertion point on the ulna then becomes longer. Try raising your straight arm as far up as possible, your upper arm is usually next to your head. The slight stretch you feel now is the long head of the triceps. With the medial and lateral head, nothing happens as long as the arm remains straight.
If you now try to bend the raised arm, you’ll feel a fuller stretch. This is mainly the longer head now having to lengthen over two joints simultaneously. This is when
passive insufficiency occurs. Besides making bending the forearm itself more difficult, it’s now also impossible for the long head of the triceps to contract maximally from that ‘double stretched’ position. This is especially noticeable when the elbow is raised higher than shoulder height (D and E in the image alongside).
This means that the medial and lateral head have to compensate. A bit like three people on a tandem bike with one deciding to pedal a lot less.
Rule of thumb: Performing exercises like the tricep pressdown with elbows above shoulder level shifts more emphasis to the medial and lateral head of the triceps. Visually, you’re then training more the outside of the triceps.
Training Triceps: Elbows Backward?
You can even make it harder for the long head to assist in extending the arm at the elbow. If you start a tricep exercise with the elbows behind the body as
kickbacks (can) be performed.
If you keep your elbows far behind the torso during kickbacks, the exercise ends in
active insufficiency. The muscle is already shortened at the shoulder. When it’s then shortened at the elbow (by extending your arm), it becomes so short that it can’t contract maximally anymore. Note that maximum shortening (the length of the muscle) is not the same as maximum contraction (the force with which it can contract).
Again, the long head can’t exert maximum effort and the emphasis shifts to the medial and long head.
In dips, you also start with the elbows behind the body, but you bring them alongside the body while extending the arm. The long head then lengthens at the shoulder while it shortens at the elbow. This prevents
active insufficiency.
To activate all three heads of the triceps as much as possible, it’s best to keep the elbows next to or slightly
in front of the body. If, for any reason, you want the long head to work less hard, start with an already lengthened (elbows forward) or shortened (arms behind the body) state of this head.
Sources
- Kholinne E, Zulkarnain RF, Sun YC, Lim S, Chun JM, Jeon IH. The different role of each head of the triceps brachii muscle in elbow extension. Acta Orthop Traumatol Turc. 2018;52(3):201-205.
- Gajdosik RL, Hallett JP, Slaughter LL. Passive insufficiency of two-joint shoulder muscles. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon). 1994 Nov;9(6):377-8. doi: 10.1016/0268-0033(94)90069-8. PubMed PMID: 23916358.
- Ali A, Sundaraj K, Badlishah Ahmad R, Ahamed NU, Islam A, Sundaraj S. Muscle Fatigue in the Three Heads of the Triceps Brachii During a Controlled Forceful Hand Grip Task with Full Elbow Extension Using Surface Electromyography. J Hum Kinet. 2015;46:69-76. Published 2015 Jul 10. doi:10.1515/hukin-2015-0035
