How to Get Horseshoe Triceps [1 Simple Trick to Unlock HUGE Gains!]

This article contains the best tricep workout I’ve ever created so you can build your own horseshoe triceps. I also created three videos that show you how to perform some of the best tricep exercises. Be sure to watch them at least – You will be glad you did. (They’re at the end of the article.)

Okay now, this tricep workout contains what I think are the absolute best exercise for overall tricep development.

Not all tricep exercises are created equal. Once you see that you’ll stop wasting your time with inferior exercises and get down to business.

As you know, horseshoe triceps are a hallmark feature of a bodybuilder’s arms. Chiseled triceps look impressive and add size and shape to your arms. The trouble is that triceps are hard to build. A lot of guys struggle with truly engaging the tricep muscles.

I struggled too. That was until I flipped the script on my tricep routine. I made one simple change to my arm workout and my triceps exploded.

My triceps went from soft and puffy marshmallow fluff to sculpted rock-solid concrete in a matter of weeks. If you want triceps that pop out of your shirt, this workout is for you.

Your triceps, as its name implies, are made up of three main muscles: The Long Head, the Lateral Head and the Medial Head. Many fitness gurus will have you believe you need to target each one, but I assure you that each of the exercises contained in this post with target all three heads. It’s all in how you perform the exercises.

Tricep Training is Critical for Develop Great Arms

Everybody wants nice big arms. Arms are the first muscle everyone trains.

Even kids flex their bicep muscle to show how strong they are.

Every young man who steps in the weight room knows how to curl dumbbells. I just makes sense. See it done once, and you get the idea.

Biceps are the favorite show muscle. Curls for girls, bro.

The thing is that biceps make up only 1/3 of your upper arm muscle mass. While triceps make up 2/3 of your upper arm.

Needless to say, if you want strong arms you need to train your triceps.

Tricep training will improve your biceps as an added bonus. This is the law of training antagonist muscle.

Tricep muscles make biceps look more balanced and full. Triceps provide a backdrop to display your biceps. Without well developed triceps it’s difficult to have defined biceps.

Building horseshoe triceps improves your press strength. Other benefits include greater stability, increased pressing power, and tighter shirt sleeves.

How to Develop Horseshoe Tricep Muscles

Triceps play and important role in pressing and pushing motions.

It’s no coincidence that tricep horseshoes must be built with heavy presses and shaped and defined with extensions.

The One Trick to Building Terrific Triceps

The one trick that turned on my tricep gains like none other is…

Upward movements are superior to downward movements. Any movement that moves to the weight away from the ground is best for creating horseshoe triceps.

Extensions and presses are the main weapons in your arsenal to build horseshoe triceps. The best tricep exercises for horseshoe triceps are:

French Press
Skull Crushers
JM Press
Single-Arm Overhead Dumbbell Extensions
Bench Dips and Bar Dips
Close Grip Bench Press

These are all great Tricep exercises, and frankly the best when it comes to building tricep mass.

I used to do a lot of rope push-downs for triceps. But, after a while my gains diminished.

I had to do a TON of volume to feel like I got a workout.

Upward movements using free weights, on the other hand, obliterate my triceps.

After just a few months of doing upward triceps movements exclusively, my horseshoes finally showed up!

Upward movements are better for multiple reasons:

Greater range of motion

It trains triceps through a greater range of motion.

Increased direct muscle tension

They also increase the direct tension. It’s much harder to use momentum or body english to assist the tricep.

With ropes pull downs it easy to shift tension away from the tricep.

Better Tricep isolation

Upward triceps movements are much, much better for Tricep isolation.

Overall, moving the weight up puts you in a better position to maximize your gains.

The Complete Horseshoe Tricep Workout

I like to do 2 sets of 25 reps to start my tricep workout.

This pumps the tricep with blood and warms it up. It helps establish mind-muscle connection to enhance the workout.

This Tricep workout doesn’t have to stand alone. You can incorporate it into a chest workout or shoulder workout. That’s what I do.

Tricep Workout #1

Perform 4 sets of each exercise.

French press 8-10 reps
Skull crushers 8-10 reps
One Arm Overhead Tricep Extension 10-12 reps
Dips AMRAP

Tricep Workout #2

Perform 4 sets of each exercise:

French Press 8-10 reps
JM Press 8-10 reps
Dips AMRAP
Laying One Arm Tricep Extension – 8-12 reps, but don’t stop at 12 if you have more gas in the tank, do as many as possible.

Perform this routine for as long as necessary. You should see a noticeable improvement within one month.

If not, you need to evaluate your training because something isn’t right.

Tricep Workout Tips

Lifting Tempo

Reps should be slow and controlled and smooth. But keep speed up between sets.

Rest under 1 minute between sets. Maximum 2 minutes rest between dip sets.

How much weight to use?

Use a weight that is challenging to complete all reps.

You want a weight you reach failure at between the two range or if you were to do one more rep it would fail.

Flex Hard!

one key to building horseshoe triceps is to FLEX your tricep muscles each rep. Keep your triceps tight and under tension the entire set.

“BUT, what about training all the tricep heads directly?”

To which I answer – Ain’t nobody got time for that.

There’s no reason to target each head (lateral head, medial head and long head) individually. The exercises in the workout routine provided will ensure complete development of all three tricep heads.

Honestly, I don’t do any exercises with the intent to specifically target one head or another.

I just focus on flexing my entire tricep as hard as possible and that seems to work just fine. All three tricep heads have developed nicely as a result.

As long as you focus on full range of motion with the exercises, you will hit all three tricep heads without question.