Kicking Back to Great Arms

Written by Shoshana Pritzker Wednesday, 30 June 2010 20:00

by Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D. FACSM

Although there are good reasons to focus your training on hips, thighs and buttocks, it is important not to ignore the arms. Clearly, no one starts out to have a soft triceps, but somehow, soft posterior arms can develop over time if you if you do not keep after them. Possessing a firm upper arm is an indication that you have done your training homework and you are serious about your fitness and diet. If they become an afterthought or even worse, a workout causality by omission, the back of the arms can especially become soft, loose, and almost floppy. Unfortunately, fat just loves to accumulate on the back of the arms, and this tendency can make an otherwise average conditioned upper arm appear to be further out of shape than it really is.  This problem is only accentuated with aging, but you don’t have to look like a senior citizen well before your time. The good news is that it is never too late to commit to working towards a firmer posterior arm.

The triceps brachii muscle lives on the back of the upper arm.  Sure the triceps are activated with pushing activities, but generally we activate pulling muscles and not pushing muscles in a typical day. This means if you want to firm the posterior part of your arm, you will need to activate the triceps strongly in your workouts because they won’t get much stimulation the rest of the day. Triceps kickbacks (also referred to as dumbbell kickbacks) will provide intense direct stimulation and result in a new level of firmness and shape to the back of your arms. This exercise is especially effective for the outer area of your posterior arm.

Muscles used.   The triceps brachii muscle sits on the posterior (back) side of the upper arm (arm in Latin = brachium or brachii). This muscle is comprised of three distinct heads ("ceps = heads) hence the "tri" part of triceps. The long head of the triceps brachii is often described as the "inner head".  It begins on the scapula (shoulder blade) just inferior to (below) the head of the humerus bone at the shoulder joint. The muscle belly of the long head of the triceps gradually forms a tendon and joins the tendons from the other triceps heads to form a common triceps tendon. The triceps tendon crosses the elbow joint posteriorly and attaches on the ulna bone near the elbow. The ulna is one of two bones in the forearm. The long head along with the other heads of the triceps brachii function to extend the forearm. However, the long head has another important function. It can also act to extend the shoulder (pull the arm to the rear of the body), because the long head crosses the shoulder and attaches to the scapula.

The lateral head of the triceps brachii begins along a small vertical strip on the back (posterior) part of the humerus bone of the upper arm, about 2/3 of the way towards the shoulder joint. It is anchored to the triceps tendon which attaches to the ulna. The only function of the lateral head of the triceps is to extend the forearm at the elbow joint (i.e. straightening the elbow joint so that the forearm moves from a bent to straight position). The medial head of the triceps brachii lays between and generally deep the other two heads of the triceps brachii. It begins along a rather large portion of about the upper two-thirds of the posterior part of the humerus bone. The fibers in this head extend down the arm where they join the common triceps tendon to insert on the ulna. The medial head shares duties for extension of the forearm with the other heads of the triceps.

Exercise: Triceps (dumbbell) kickbacks  Dumbbell kickbacks preferentially activate the lateral head of the triceps brachii in part because the arm is pulled into extension. All three heads of the triceps are activated to extend the elbow joint.
1.    Position a flat bench in front of a mirror. Grab a dumbbell in your right hand. Lean forward and place your left hand and left knee on the flat bench for support. Your right foot should be flat on the floor and right knee slightly bent.
2.    Keep your back straight and look up to make sure it stays straight and tight. Bring the upper arm of the limb holding the dumbbell up to the side of your rib cage. Position your arm so that it is parallel to the floor and in line with your spine. Your elbow should be pointing directly backwards.
3.    Keep your upper arm close to your body and push the dumbbell back and up by extending (straightening) the elbow joint. You must make sure that your upper arm remains parallel to the floor throughout the exercise.
4.    Stop the dumbbell just short of having your elbow locked out straight. Pause for a count of one at the top position. Be sure to keep control of the weight, and keep your arm in the correct positions (this is not easy to do when you start to get tired).
5.    Slowly lower the dumbbell over a count of three, and pull the dumbbell all the way to the front of the shoulder.
6.    Continue into the next repetition by straightening the elbow without pausing and repeat until your set is done. Usually, if you want to tone the back of your arms, you can use a medium-light weight but try to get through 15 repetitions.
7.    Take a short break, then switch the dumbbell to the left arm, and position yourself with the right knee and hand on the bench for support. Work up to three sets with each arm.

It is important to keep your upper arm and elbow close to your rib cage and that you do not move them at all during the set. The only movement should be from the elbow and not the shoulder.
To increase the range of motion and to make the exercise a little harder, you can elevate your arm above parallel to the floor so the elbow as high as possible throughout the whole movement. You can also heighten the toning and tightening properties of the triceps muscles by pausing for 2-3 seconds at the top of the movement before starting down with the weight. But, be prepared, because this will really make the exercise much harder to do.

It is really easy to develop poor form with this exercise, so you will have to work hard to keep your exercise performance correct. To help you do the exercise properly, you can use the mirror to see that your elbow is stationary against your side, and the extension of the elbow is complete. You should also be careful to use your triceps muscles to straighten your elbow. At all costs you must avoid jerking the weight upwards with body momentum. It is unnecessary to fully straightened or "lock" out your elbow joint in each repetition. In fact, if you forcible and rapidly locked the elbow joint out each time while holding the dumbbell, you could irritate the bursa in the elbow joint and over time, this could become inflamed and painful. Rather, it is preferable to stop the extension phase of the lift just short of fully locking out your elbow joint because this will ensure that you have placed constant tension on the triceps muscle throughout the entire set and it will minimize any risk of bursa injury in your elbow. The muscle will be under constant tension and not allowed to rest until the end of the set, and this makes the exercise harder and somewhat fatiguing, but it will be well worth the benefits.

You can do the exercise without the support of a bench, but by bending over or by bracing your upper body on a bench or some other fixed structure. However, by placing your knee and hand on the bench, as described above, you will eliminate any lower back movements and this reduces the chances of any back injuries. It is also stabilizes your upper body and makes it more difficult to “cheat” with any jerking movements if your hand and knee are on the bench.

It is not necessary to hoist large weights for this exercise. In fact, you will likely find that relatively light weights will be quite adequate especially at first, since you will be maintaining constant tension in the muscle throughout the set. After a few weeks, you can move to a slightly heavier dumbbell as the long head of your triceps strengthens and tightens.   You will not find this to be a terribly easy exercise. In fact it is pretty hard to do correctly, even with light weights. However, you will fall in love with the effects of the exercise. Tightening, toning and firming your arms will transform your upper body and it will change older looking arms to young shapely arms.