Long Head Tricep Workouts That Will Level Up Your Arms

Hitting a plateau in your tricep training? Feeling like your routine’s gone stale? It’s time for a serious gear shift. If your triceps aren’t popping like they used to, it's not just about working harder—it's about working smarter.

Understanding the unique anatomy of your triceps and introducing the right tools and techniques can dramatically boost both the effectiveness of your workouts and the appearance of your arms.

Welcome to your ultimate guide for shaking things up and supercharging your triceps routine. Let’s get you out of those stale workouts with lame equipment. First, we’ll talk about the anatomy of the triceps, and then we’ll help you do some serious arm leveling with targeted exercises and cutting-edge equipment.

Breaking Down the Triceps

The triceps brachii, or as most of us call it, the triceps, is a real powerhouse tucked into your upper arm. Not only does it give your arms that chiseled, well-defined look, but it also kicks in for all sorts of movements, from your day-to-day tasks to those intense athletic feats. If you’re aiming to max out your arm workouts and push your performance over the edge, understanding this muscle is key.

The tricep is a three-headed muscle. You have your long, you have your lateral, and you have your lateral short. Here's what that means:

• The long head of the triceps is your heavy hitter. It starts from the infraglenoid tubercle of the scapula and stretches over to join the elbow action. Since it spans both the elbow and shoulder joints, it’s not just helping you push through those heavy reps but also keeps your shoulder strong and stable.
• The lateral head shows up on the outside of your arm, especially when you flex. It’s rooted in the upper part of your arm bone, the humerus, and hooks up to your elbow. Think of it as your go-to for power when you’re pushing your limits in lifts that need your arms out to the sides.
• Lastly, the lateral short—or the medial—is buried underneath, and kicks in for those finer, more precise arm movements. It’s all about subtlety and control, coming from the lower back side of your humerus.

Targeting the Long Head

When you’re talking serious arm training, especially in bodybuilding and strength sports, giving some extra love to the long head of your triceps is a game changer. Here’s why zeroing in it matters:

• Bulk and Beauty: The long head is the boss of the triceps group, parked right on the back of your upper arm. Pump it up right, and it not only adds serious mass to your arm but also rounds out your muscle profile for that sleek, powerful look.
• Strength and Stability: This muscle is unique because it stretches across the shoulder joint, bringing a whole lot more to the table than just elbow power. Strengthening the long head boosts your ability to dominate in overhead lifts, throws, and presses—vital for athletes who need every bit of edge they can get.
• Dialing Up the Intensity: Isolating the long head turns up the heat on your workouts. It means you’re specifically torching this part of your muscle, which can drive more growth and strength gains, which is key for fixing those muscle imbalances or getting that symmetrical look.
• Mixing It Up: Keeping your muscles guessing will help you avoid those dreaded plateaus. By targeting the long head along with other parts of the triceps, you keep your workouts fresh and your muscles under pressure to adapt and grow.

But it’s tricky to target the long head. Any amount of hand rotation and you’re shifting that load back into your lateral heads, so maintaining a hammer grip is key for hitting the long head hard.

Using Cable Machine Ropes and Tricep Ropes to Target the Long Head Tricep

A lot of people use cable machine ropes and tricep rope to zero in on that long head of the tricep, and they're not wrong—cable workouts do hit all parts of the triceps. But they're not the best for isolating the long head.

Still, you can work the long head with cables or ropes, but you gotta keep it tight to ensure the load stays where it should.

Here’s how most folks would hit the long head with a typical cable tricep ropes setup:

Step 1: Set Up the Cable Machine

• Start by hooking up a tricep rope to the high or low pulley of a cable machine.
• Next set the cable weight stack with enough plates for 8-15 reps performed with clean form (this is to properly isolate the triceps and avoid a ‘total body’ triceps dance session.

Step 2: Assume Desired Position

• For Triceps Rope Push Downs you will stand arms length from the high pulley triceps rope.
• From a split leg fighting stance lean the torso slightly forward and grip rope just above hand stops.
• To perform standing or lying cable overhead triceps extensions, face away from the high or low cable machine with arms bent 90 degrees at elbows and reach behind to grip the tricep rope just above hand stops.

Step 3: Bend and Extend Against Resistance

• From an elbows bent position with body frozen, forcefully extend against the resistance until arms are fully extended and straight then repeat to set conclusion.
• For maximum triceps long heads isolation, it is crucial that you don’t allow the body to recruit triceps lateral heads. This occurs when elbows drift outward away from the body when going gets difficult. So stay focused and keep elbows tucked inward at shoulder width at all times during exercise.  

Step 4: Start Strong and Finish Weak

• The key to progressive resistance exercise is to challenge the body with more resistance than normally encountered, which in turn induces an adaptive response. This makes your muscles better prepared to survive the next uphill battle.
• Therefore to maximize the gains, you must master the movement by making each repetition as clean and precise as the one before it, thereby increasing the exercise ‘time under tension’ as evidenced with severely swollen and quivering triceps.

Step 5: Seek New Ways to Grow

• While cable and rope workouts like this can do the job to an extent, they’ve got their limitations. They just don’t measure up to some more direct, hard-hitting methods.

A Superior Long Head Triceps Workout: The Hammer Grip

If you’ve been sweating it out with those cable machine ropes and tricep ropes but still aren’t getting the long-head tricep workout results you want, it’s time for an upgrade. The Tacti-Triceps helps you maintain the hammer grip that keeps the focus tight on the long head.

The Tacti-Triceps grips are specially designed to primarily target the triceps long heads, with a hammer style grip and laser like precision.

While a tricep rope can be used to train triceps long heads, it can’t match the performance of rubberized tactical hand grips. Combined with a super-flexible aircraft cable suspension, it frees up joints and triceps muscles for maximum extension -- think Triceps Pose in a bodybuilding competition to get a notion of how your arm might look while using Tacti-Triceps. It's just that good.

If you’re looking to switch things up and blast the total triceps, there’s the Tacti-Triceps Plus. It has the patented tactical rubberized grips as well, so you'll do a set of long head extensions first, and then raise the weight and grab the lateral tricep V-bar grips on top of the yoke for triceps push downs, which is like a triceps cable bar.

Kick Your Long Head Triceps Workouts Into High Gear With Tacti-Triceps

If you’re not hitting your gains and trying to figure out what’s next, Tacti-Triceps may be able to help. It’s got three setups: Single, Double, and Double-wide. Each one is crafted to help you hit those tricep targets, whether you’re after precision, versatility, or an all-out arm arsenal.

TACTI-TRICEPS 'Single': Precision Engineered for Peak Performance

Precision in Every Extension: When it comes to honing in on that long head of your tricep, nothing does it quite like the TACTI-TRICEPS 'Single'. This is your elite gear for those who are serious about isolating and refining their triceps big head.. Each rep is designed to hit with sniper-like precision, focusing intensely on the triceps long head to maximize growth and shape. This gym bag tool is ideal for both beginners looking to get it right from the start, and seasoned pros who want to isolate each tricep and fine-tune their arms to God-like perfection.

Built for the Solo Warrior: If your workouts demand that each arm carries its own weight against resistance, the Tacti Tri Single is your trusty sidekick. This configuration is about making every single rep count. With its patented tactical grip design and a super flexible cable that can handle up to 400 pounds, you're equipped to push down and extend with an intensity that dumbbell kickbacks could only dream of. For those dedicated to the art of arm sculpting, this tool promises minimal effort waste and maximum muscle activation.

TACTI-TRICEPS 'Double': Better than a Two Hand Triceps Rope

Step it Up: Ready to kick your workout up a notch? The TACTI-TRICEPS 'Double' brings you the versatility of a double tricep rope, and robustness needed to handle full weight stack attacks. Transition seamlessly between different tricep exercises without wasting repetitions on less than optimal triceps targeting. This setup is perfect for the athlete who craves quality over quantity and refuses to compromise on their tricep cable attachments. Featuring dual fist filling AR rifle grips plus super flexible suspension cables, this tricep rope cable attachment seriously delivers on the promise.

For the Ambitious Athlete: This configuration is all about balance and breadth in your training regimen. The Double allows you to engage in dual arm tricep workouts, covering everything from tricep press downs to cable overhead extensions -- all while maintaining the brutal efficiency of targeted long head triceps muscle building. It’s the obvious choice for lifters who demand high performance and expect their equipment to take them to the peak of potential.

TACTI-TRICEPS 'Double Wide': Ultimate Arm Arsenal

Go All In with Double-Wide: For those who kill it in every workout, the TACTI-TRICEPS 'Double Wide' is your ultimate arm arsenal. This triceps rope attachment alternative lets you attack all 3 Triceps heads from every angle, ensuring comprehensive engagement of muscles for balanced development and explosive growth. With an optimally spaced 14.5" wide beam and dual tactical grips, you’re equipped to keep elbows tucked in as you handle the heaviest loads with perfect form and unparalleled precision.

Supersize Your Sessions: The Double Wide isn’t just big; it’s clever. It’s built to maximize every part of the triceps trifecta. By merging the ability to perform triceps long head extension isolation, immediately followed by lateral heads V Bar Handle Tricep Push Downs with maximum weight to create intense super sets and legit gains. This makes the Double Wide the professional’s choice for achieving superior shape, size, and strength. If your goal is to build triceps that not only perform but also impress, then the Double Wide Super Set yoke is definitely your tool of choice.

Lock in Your Gains with Tacti-Triceps

Don’t settle for second-rate equipment. With Tacti-Triceps, you’re choosing top-tier exercise equipment that brings serious results to your extension dimensions. Whether you’re all about sculpting that long head for a cross pose, or blasting through a full-tricep workout super set, we’ve got the gear to get you respect.

So take hold of Tacti-Triceps today, then bend, extend, and win your war for more tomorrow.

---

About the author: Daniel Emick is a personal fitness and lifting expert, and the CEO of LPG Muscle.