Exercise Spotlight: Triceps Kickbacks
If you remember back to my first Exercise Spotlight post, I mentioned that "I'll be explaining, dissecting, (occasionally lambasting), and detailing a variety of exercises to introduce into your workouts." Well, let the lambasting begin.
Triceps kickbacks might be one of the most popular, yet least efficient, movements to ever be performed in the history of recorded exercise. It's got so much going against it, it's a wonder why people still do it on a regular basis.
Actually, strike that, reverse it. It's not so much of a mystery. It's one of the exercises that looks like you're doing a lot of work. You're bent over a bench, with dumbbell in hand, heaving it to and fro.
Maybe you're also doing some grunting or sweating, and the exercise can make you decently sore. And as we all know, you've gotta get sore to get results, right? Um, no, wrong. But that's a whole 'nother topic.
The How-To: The most common method is to kneel with one leg on a flat bench (also place the same side hand on the bench for support). Using the free hand, bring a dumbbell to the "start position" with the arm bent and the elbow in the same plane as the shoulder (the upper arm is parallel to the ground and the forearm is pointed directly down).
From here, keep the palm facing your body and straighten the arm until your wrist is in the same plane as your shoulder, and the entire arm is parallel to the ground. At this point, the triceps are maximally contracted.
Keep the spine straight and flat, not curved or hunched, while also keeping the head and neck neutral (not looking up at the mirror, nor looking back at the dumbbell as it moves).
Return to the start position, bending the arm until the hand is pointed directly down. It's unnecessary to bring the arm any closer to your head. This doesn't work the triceps any better, but 95% of people still do it.
Wrong-o.
Main Muscles Involved: The triceps of the one working arm. That's it.
Common Variations: People sometimes do the exercise while standing completely upright. This warps the exercise even more, makes it even less effective at training the triceps (it's actually closer to being a biceps exercise), and actually exposes the shoulders to unnecessary stress.
Standing Wrong-o
Best Suited For: Moderate to high reps (10-20 reps per set). Going too heavy makes it too tempting to short-change the range of motion and use momentum to move the weight. You end up looking like a total dingbat, like this dude.
Contraindications/Who Should NOT Perform This Exercise: People who are not at least 90% towards their physique goal.
This exercise is so specialized (working the triceps of one arm and nothing else) that if you're not already very close to your goal, it's a waste of precious training time and energy to do this when there are more effective, more versatile exercises you could use instead.
Fun Fact: When I first started lifting weights, many, many moons ago, I was training in my garage with my buddy Sam. Misguided youths that we were, it was arm day and we were doing triceps kickbacks.
Anyhow, I was halfway through my set and Sam was watching my exquisite form when he said, "You know, from this angle, it kinda looks like you're jerking off an elephant when you do that." I nearly dropped the dumbbell on my foot from laughing so hard. And to this day, anytime triceps kickbacks are mentioned, I think of Sam.
Triceps kickbacks might be one of the most popular, yet least efficient, movements to ever be performed in the history of recorded exercise. It's got so much going against it, it's a wonder why people still do it on a regular basis.
Actually, strike that, reverse it. It's not so much of a mystery. It's one of the exercises that looks like you're doing a lot of work. You're bent over a bench, with dumbbell in hand, heaving it to and fro.
Maybe you're also doing some grunting or sweating, and the exercise can make you decently sore. And as we all know, you've gotta get sore to get results, right? Um, no, wrong. But that's a whole 'nother topic.
The How-To: The most common method is to kneel with one leg on a flat bench (also place the same side hand on the bench for support). Using the free hand, bring a dumbbell to the "start position" with the arm bent and the elbow in the same plane as the shoulder (the upper arm is parallel to the ground and the forearm is pointed directly down).
From here, keep the palm facing your body and straighten the arm until your wrist is in the same plane as your shoulder, and the entire arm is parallel to the ground. At this point, the triceps are maximally contracted.
Keep the spine straight and flat, not curved or hunched, while also keeping the head and neck neutral (not looking up at the mirror, nor looking back at the dumbbell as it moves).
Return to the start position, bending the arm until the hand is pointed directly down. It's unnecessary to bring the arm any closer to your head. This doesn't work the triceps any better, but 95% of people still do it.
Main Muscles Involved: The triceps of the one working arm. That's it.
Common Variations: People sometimes do the exercise while standing completely upright. This warps the exercise even more, makes it even less effective at training the triceps (it's actually closer to being a biceps exercise), and actually exposes the shoulders to unnecessary stress.
Best Suited For: Moderate to high reps (10-20 reps per set). Going too heavy makes it too tempting to short-change the range of motion and use momentum to move the weight. You end up looking like a total dingbat, like this dude.
Contraindications/Who Should NOT Perform This Exercise: People who are not at least 90% towards their physique goal.
This exercise is so specialized (working the triceps of one arm and nothing else) that if you're not already very close to your goal, it's a waste of precious training time and energy to do this when there are more effective, more versatile exercises you could use instead.
Fun Fact: When I first started lifting weights, many, many moons ago, I was training in my garage with my buddy Sam. Misguided youths that we were, it was arm day and we were doing triceps kickbacks.
Anyhow, I was halfway through my set and Sam was watching my exquisite form when he said, "You know, from this angle, it kinda looks like you're jerking off an elephant when you do that." I nearly dropped the dumbbell on my foot from laughing so hard. And to this day, anytime triceps kickbacks are mentioned, I think of Sam.
posted by Chris Colucci at 11:10 AM
<< Home