The bench press is widely recognized for its effectiveness in building the chest, but its impact on the triceps is also significant.1 We’ll explore how well the bench press stimulates the triceps, whether it’s sufficient for developing the long, short, and inner heads of the triceps, the optimal bench press grip width for targeting triceps, and a comprehensive list of exercises to ensure every triceps head is thoroughly worked.
Plus, if you don’t know about the 18 set rule, there’s a full explanation on why that’s the optimal amount of weekly volume.
Does the Bench Press Target Your Triceps?
The bench press is a compound exercise that’s a staple in any solid strength training routine. Many people, especially those new to lifting, often wonder how much others can bench, as it’s one of the first exercises lifters learn and a common topic among experienced gym-goers.
While the bench press is great at building chest size and strength, one might wonder if it also effectively targets the triceps.
It turns out that the bench press does work all three heads of the triceps to some extent, but whether or not that stimulus is enough is a different question.
Is Bench Press Alone Enough To Grow the Triceps?
Depending on a lifter’s goal, the bench press could be enough to grow the triceps, but it’s probably not the best option.
Powerlifters for example do a lot of heavy presses, so they’re gonna get a lot of work in their triceps because of that. And since a powerlifter’s main focus is to build strength and increase their numbers on the core lifts, they probably won’t care as much about the overall “aesthetic” of having chiseled triceps.
On the other hand, a bodybuilder or physique athlete will definitely want to incorporate more than bench into their routine so every triceps head is hit.
Why You Should Do More Than Bench for Triceps
As mentioned above, physique athletes and bodybuilders need to do more than bench press to build their triceps. It just won’t be enough to give them the kind of results they’re looking for. This is because in physique-based sports, athletes are evaluated on their overall muscle development and symmetry.
While the bench press will work the triceps a bit, it won’t be enough to properly develop all three heads of the triceps, and could leave an athlete’s arm development lacking.
Bench press is a great way to measure strength, but that doesn’t mean it will give an athlete an impressive set of triceps.
In any commercial gym, you’ll often find many people who can bench press 225 for reps but still lack well-developed triceps. This is a very common issue.
For the best overall physique, athletes need a more complete plan for triceps than just bench.
The bench press does work the triceps, but it’s not sufficient for full arm development.
What Head Does the Bench Press Hit Most? (Lateral Head Triceps Focus)
In a 2020 study to see whether bench press alone could build the triceps, researchers found that the bench press performed poorly compared to triceps isolation exercises when it came to developing the long head and the medial head of the triceps.2
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However, the bench press was on the same level as isolation movements when it came to developing the lateral head of the triceps. So while it’s not a great exercise for overall development, it does do a good job of building the lateral head.
An Overview of Triceps Anatomy & the Three Heads of the Triceps
The triceps aren’t one muscle, but three separate muscles that all together form the much sought after “horseshoe” look that bodybuilders and experienced lifters have.
Research has shown that at different shoulder elevations, each head of the triceps is emphasized to a different degree.4
So to get the best triceps workout possible, a lifter has to do exercises that hit the triceps from all different angles. And it’s important to understand how each head functions, and how to target it best.
The Long Head
The long head is the largest part of the triceps, located on the inner part of the arm, and is especially important for lifters who want to grow their arms, or for physique athletes who need the best overall development. Since a lot of people struggle to hit this head of the triceps, they mistakenly believe they have bad triceps genetics, but really they just need to improve their triceps training.
The long head gets the most work when the arms are directly above the head, since in this position the long head is fully extended. So any variation of overhead triceps extensions will hit this head the best.
The Medial Head
The medial head is the smallest of the three triceps heads, but plays an important role in stabilizing and straightening the elbows, and fills out the inner portion of a well developed triceps.
The medial head is activated most when the arms are at a 90 degree angle, but still close to the body (think rope triceps pushdowns), and functions to help lockout the arms. In the bench press the medial head will get some work when locking out, but since the arms are away from the body, it’s not the best choice for working this muscle.
The Lateral Head
The lateral head is where the bench press shines. This head of the triceps helps to straighten the elbow, (just like the medial head), but only takes over when the arms are under a significant weight load.
A heavy bench press will be too much for the medial head alone, so the lateral head will take over.
And during the triceps activation study, the bench press actually performed just as well as other exercises when it came to building the lateral head. So in this case, the bench press is a winning choice.
Major Muscles Worked in the Bench Press
The bench press is a compound exercise that hits most of the muscles of the upper body, and is an overall great size builder for the upper body (even the back gets a good workout from the bench!). But the bench press excels at developing three muscles in particular.
Triceps
The triceps and the role they play in elbow extension makes them a necessary accessory muscle in the bench press, especially towards the top of the rep at lockout. And while the bench might not do a great job at developing the triceps overall, they’re still a strong part of the bench press.
Chest
A lot of people think of the chest as one muscle, but it’s actually made up of two separate muscles; the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor.5
The pectoralis major is the larger portion of the muscle, and is the muscle that does most of the work in various chest presses and flyes. The pectoralis minor is a smaller muscle that sits under the pectoralis major, and functions as a stabilizer.
Both parts play a key role in the bench press.
Shoulders
The shoulders, like the triceps, are made up of three separate muscles; the anterior deltoid, medial deltoid, and posterior deltoid. In the bench press, it’s the anterior, or front deltoid that gets the most work, since it plays a key role in all forward and overhead pressing movements.
How Does Grip Affect the Muscles Worked in the Bench Press?
In a study from The Journal of Physical Therapy Science, researchers looked at how the hand positioning in a press (in their case the pushup) affects which muscles are worked.
Since the pushup and bench press are so similar, it’s safe to assume that the grip a lifter uses on the bench press will also have a large influence over which muscles are targeted.
Source: Imágenes de Samuel Perales Carrasco via Canva.com6
For example, using a wide grip on the bench press will put more focus on the chest, and onto the front deltoid, taking the triceps out of the exercise (the triceps still get worked, just not as much).
On the other hand, using a close grip is actually a common technique known for building the triceps. Of any variation of the bench press, the close grip bench press is the best for targeting, and building up the triceps.
And finally, with the standard bench press grip (about shoulder width) there is a much more balanced activation of the muscles, hitting the triceps, shoulders, and chest to a moderate degree.
How Many Reps & Sets Is Best for Triceps Exercises
The best range of reps and sets is unique to each individual and takes some experimentation to get right, but the 18 set rule gives a helpful starting point.
MRV or max recoverable volume, is the maximum number of reps and sets a lifter can do, and still come back to the gym the following week fully recovered. In any given training block (mesocycle), a lifter’s goal should be to get as close to their MRV as possible, slowly working towards it as the weeks go by.
If a lifter is failing to hit their MRV, they can still make progress, but they’ll be leaving a lot of gains on the table.
This is a big reason people find themselves getting stronger but not bigger. Their volume is off.
There’s room for flexibility here, but ideally these reps should be between 30 to 85% of a lifter’s 1RM and within 4 reps of muscular failure. The point here isn’t to completely destroy the muscles with every set.
(If that was the case, anyone doing 500 pushups a day would get huge.)
No, the goal is to find the sweet spot where the muscles are getting as much work as possible, without hurting recovery.
So if on average 18 sets per week is the MRV for triceps (total sets, so bench included), then anything more than that will start to hurt recovery. Lifters should experiment with how many sets per week they can do while still fully recovering, and when they’ve been pushing their MRV for awhile and start to see they can no longer recover, it’s time for a deload week.
Bench Press vs Other Exercises for Triceps: Which Is Better?
As mentioned earlier, it’s going to depend on the lifter’s overall goal. If a lifter’s main focus is to build strength, then a compound movement like the bench will outperform a cable triceps pushdown.
However the cable pushdown would easily beat out the bench press in terms of overall hypertrophy for the muscle. The best approach is to combine bench press with accessory exercises.
And even if a powerlifter’s main focus is building strength, they can easily add a few accessories into an 8 week powerlifting program, and see a boost in triceps growth, without hurting their strength gains.
The Best Bench Press Variations for Triceps
As we’ve learned so far, people should understand that the bench press is only an average triceps builder. However, this doesn’t mean that lifters should completely disregard the bench press for their triceps.
Well as it turns out, there are two variations of the bench that are actually great to build and harden muscles in the triceps, while also building significant strength.
However, if you’re looking for a killer arm exercise, you may want to consider adding in this hidden gem – the Tate press exercise.
The Close Grip Bench Press
The close grip bench press was mentioned earlier, but this is a bench press variation that is actually made to build the triceps. By using a slightly narrower grip, and keeping the arms tight to the body, this lift keeps the tension on the triceps, but still allows the lifter to push heavy weight!
There are also a number of close grip bench press alternatives available that can supplement bench press variations and effectively grow your triceps.
The Board Press
At first glance the board press doesn’t look like it would be a great triceps builder, but it actually is for two reasons.
First, this exercise is made to help powerlifters build up their lockout strength. Since the triceps primary function is elbow extension, this means the board press is working the portion of the bench that recruits the triceps the most, giving them a ton of work.
Second, since the board press has a limited range of motion when compared to a regular bench press, it can be loaded up with more weight. Whatever a lifter’s 1RM on bench is, they could easily add 20lbs or more to it when doing the board press.
Since the lateral head of the triceps only kicks in when the weight load is too heavy for the medial head, this exercise would be a perfect way to put more weight on the triceps, without straining the joints.
How To Hit All Three Heads of the Triceps
For the strongest and most aesthetic arms possible, it’s important to train all three heads of the triceps. Knowing which exercises emphasize each individual head is crucial to targeting weak points, and building the best arms possible.
Source: Ibrakovic via Canva.com7
Below are a few of the top exercises for the triceps, to target each head.
Long Head Tricep Exercises
For the long head of the triceps, the dumbbell overhead triceps extension is a go-to exercise. This exercise is perfect for hitting the long head of the triceps because of the position of the arms (overhead, with the long head of the triceps getting a full stretch).
Medial Head Triceps Exercises
A great exercise to target the medial head of the triceps is the rope pushdown. As compared to the straight bar triceps pushdown (which targets the lateral head more) using a rope allows the lifter to use a neutral hand grip, putting more emphasis on the medial head.
Short Head Triceps Exercises
To hit the short head (or lateral head) of the triceps one of the best exercises is actually a variation of the bench press; the close grip bench press! The form for this exercise is almost identical to the standard bench press with two small tweaks.
First, the hands should be just slightly closer than shoulder width apart. A common mistake is putting the hands too close, but that just puts strain on the wrists.
Place the hands where they would go for a standard bench press, and then move them a few inches in.
Second, keep the arms tight to the body throughout the movement. This puts the tension on the triceps, without letting the chest take over, and protects the shoulders throughout the movement.
So let’s settle the debate once and for all.
The bench press does engage the triceps, and for some lifters, it might be sufficient. However, it often doesn’t provide enough tricep work to meet every athlete’s needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the Bench Press Effectively Train the Inner Triceps?
Among the different parts of the triceps, the inner triceps are the least engaged during the bench press. This is because the inner triceps, (or long head of the triceps), is targeted most when the arms are above the head.
The bench press would not be a good choice for lifters trying to build up the inner triceps. They’d be much better off using behind the head triceps extensions, using a cable or dumbbell.
How Does the Bench Angle Affect the Muscles Worked?
Different bench angles put more emphasis on different areas of the chest. For example, in an incline bench, more emphasis is placed on the upper chest, and the front deltoid.
In the decline bench, less emphasis is placed on the shoulders, and the lower chest does most of the work.
And finally, with the flat bench press, everything is worked in a balanced way. So lifters can vary the angle of their bench press to work on whatever area of the chest they feel is lacking development, and then use the flat bench press as an overall muscle builder.
Which Exercise Engages the Triceps More: Bench Press or Dips?
Triceps dips win this match up. No contest.
With the dips, a lifter is able to target the triceps directly by keeping the body upright, or target the chest by leaning forward more, whereas the bench press is pretty limited in its ability to hit the triceps.
Lifters also have the option of using a weight belt to do weighted dips, giving the triceps an even more intense workout. So if the goal is to build the best triceps, the bench press simply can’t compete with the dips.
References
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2Brandão, L., de Salles Painelli, V., Lasevicius, T., Silva-Batista, C., Brendon, H., Schoenfeld, B. J., Aihara, A. Y., Cardoso, F. N., de Almeida Peres, B., & Teixeira, E. L. (2020). Varying the Order of Combinations of Single- and Multi-Joint Exercises Differentially Affects Resistance Training Adaptations. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 34(5), 1254–1263. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32149887/>
3bobakphoto. Canva. Accessed 20 April 2023. <https://www.canva.com/photos/MADFvaWM0pw-young-man-in-gym-exercising-chest-on-the-bench-press/>
4Kholinne 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 May;52(3):201-205. <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6136322/>
5Baig, M. A., & Bordoni, B. (2022). Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Pectoral Muscles. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31424825/>
6Imágenes de Samuel Perales Carrasco. Canva. Accessed 20 April 2023. <https://www.canva.com/photos/MAEwcoaANQY-man-doing-bench-presses-with-weights-in-a-bar-indoors/>
7Ibrakovic. Canva, 29 July 2022. Accessed 20 April 2023. <https://www.canva.com/photos/MADFM5gWIXM-bodybuilder-exercising-triceps/>