10 Best Bodyweight Triceps Exercises At Home

“You can create the perfect triceps by just pushing yourself off your wall.”~ Unknown.

Yep, you don’t require a posh gym membership to train your triceps. All you need is your BODY!

But why should you train your triceps? 

For starters, you can’t fill out your shirt unless you train them. (Your triceps are 33% larger than your biceps!)

Secondly, from moving your computer mouse to lifting your shopping bags, your triceps come into play in just about every daily activity.

So, if you’re guilty of neglecting your triceps, it's time to give them some love! In this blog, we'll share with you the best bodyweight tricep exercises that’ll give you those toned arms to die for!

Let’s go!

10 Best Bodyweight Tricep Exercises

Your search for bodyweight tricep workouts ends here! Check out the best bodyweight tricep exercises without equipment.

1. Tricep Bench Dips

This bodyweight tricep exercise for beginners is great for developing strong, toned triceps and for improving your upper body strength.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, anterior deltoid.

How to perform

• Sit on the edge of a bench with your hands on either side of you gripping the bench.
• Your knees should be bent at 90 degrees and firmly planted on the floor.
• Now move your butt off the bench and steady yourself. This is the starting position.
• Slowly lower your butt towards the floor until your upper arms are parallel to the floor.
• Pause for a second and then return to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

Tip

For an advanced variation, extend your legs with your heels pressed into the floor.

2. Wall pushups

This is one of the best bodyweight tricep exercises for beginners as it helps you master proper push-up form.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, deltoids, trapezius, rhomboids.

How to perform

• Assume a hip-width stance and stand around 2 steps away from a wall.
• Begin by placing your palms on the wall about shoulder-width apart.
• Bend your elbows and lean in until your head almost touches the wall.
• Pause for a second and then extend your arms back to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

3. Decline push up

One of the best bodyweight tricep exercises as it helps you master your pull-ups and bench presses.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• With your palms on the floor, lift your feet and place them on a chair or bench for support.
• Your hands should be more than shoulder-width apart with your fingers pointed overhead.
• Ensure that your body is in a straight line from your head to your feet. This is the starting position.
• Keeping your elbows close to your body, lower down until your upper arms are parallel to the floor.
• Raise yourself back to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

4. Narrow / Close grip pushups

The narrow grip in this bodyweight tricep exercise fires up your triceps like no other!

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• Begin in a plank position with your hands on the floor slightly less than shoulder-width apart. 
• Ensure that your head, hips, and spine form a straight line.
• Keeping your core engaged, inhale and lower your body towards the floor until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Your arms and elbows should be pressed to your body.
• Pause for a moment, exhale, and then press yourself back up to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

5. Plank to push-up

This fantastic bodyweight tricep exercise increases your ability to stabilize your spine while you move.

Muscles worked: Triceps, core, chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• Begin in a plank position with your forearms positioned on the floor at shoulder-width distance.
• Engaging your core, push yourself up into a regular plank by extending one arm first and then the other.
• Perform a regular push-up and then lower your elbows one after the other back into the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

You might like: The Most Effective Dumbbell Exercises To Target Every Muscle Group

6. Close-grip incline push-ups

Try this bodyweight tricep exercise at the end of your triceps training routine.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders, back muscles.

How to perform

• Stand a few feet away from a bench.
• Now lean forward and place your palms on the bench such that your thumbs are touching and your fingers are spread out.
• Keep your heels lifted and your toes planted firmly on the ground.
• Keep your body in a straight line with your glutes tightly squeezed. This is the starting position.
• Now lower your chest towards the bench by bending your elbows.
• Pause for a second before slowly returning to the starting position.

• Perform the desired number of reps.

7. Feet Elevated Bench Dip

Since your feet are elevated in this bodyweight tricep exercise, you’ll feel a serious burn in your arms!

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• Sit on the edge of a bench (that is knee height) with your hands placed next to your hips, fingers pointing forward, and gripping the edge of the bench.
• Place your feet on another bench that is approximately the same height as the bench you are sitting on and slide your butt off the bench. This is the starting position.
• Engaging your core, bend your elbows and lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. 
• Now push yourself back up to the starting position by extending your arms. Pause at the top and feel the contraction in your triceps.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

8. Pike pushups

Wanna conquer the mighty handstand pushup? This bodyweight tricep exercise can give you the vertical pushing power you need!

Muscles worked: Triceps, latissimus dorsi, rhomboids, trapezius, biceps, abs.

How to perform

• Begin in a high plank position with your hands shoulder-width apart on the ground and your feet hip-width apart. Your body should be in a straight line from your head to your heels.
• Lift your hips up and back, keeping your legs and arms straight, until your body forms an inverted V-shape. Your head should be looking at your feet.
• Slowly lower your body towards the ground by bending your elbows until your head almost touches the ground. Keep your elbows close to your body.
• Pause for a second and then slowly push back up to the inverted V position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

9. Diamond pushups

This bodyweight tricep exercise is the perfect preparatory move before you advance into pull-ups or close-grip barbell bench presses.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders, core.

How to perform

• Start in a high plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.
• Bring your hands together so that your thumbs and index fingers form a diamond shape on the floor directly under your chest.
• Engage your core and lower your body towards the floor until your chest is just above your hands. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
• Pause for a moment and then push back up to the starting position.
• Perform the desired number of reps.

10. Parallel Bar tricep dips

One of the best bodyweight tricep exercises as it allows for a greater range of motion that leads to higher muscle activation and growth.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders.

How to perform

• Grasp the parallel dip bars and suspend your body with your arms straight and your torso held upright. Your legs should be off the ground with one leg crossed behind the other.
• Keep your elbows tight to your body and your shoulder blades pinned back. This is the starting position.
• Now inhale as you lower yourself by bending your elbows until your upper arms and forearms are at right angles to each other and your triceps are fully stretched.
• Exhale and use your triceps to rise back up to the starting position.
• Hold the contraction for a second and then repeat for the desired number of reps.

Tips

• Don’t lower your body to the point where you feel excess stress on your shoulder joint. Instead, focus on the lockout and contraction of the triceps at the top position.
• You could use the backrest of 2 stable chairs if you don’t have access to parallel bars. Make sure that you place something heavy on the chairs to prevent them from moving.

Tips for performing bodyweight tricep exercises

Here’s what the pros have to say about doing bodyweight tricep exercises at home.

1. Target all 3 triceps heads

While doing bodyweight tricep exercises at home, you can target different heads of the triceps by either:

• Bringing your hands closer together or 
• Lowering your forearms to the ground 

2. Be consistent

Aim to do bodyweight tricep exercises at home at least 2-3 times a week. 

Choose 3 to 4 simple exercises and perform 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps each. For the advanced bodyweight tricep exercises without equipment such as diamond push-ups, you could do 6-10 reps.

3. Challenge yourself

As you get more comfortable with bodyweight tricep exercises, progress to using equipment such as dumbbells and resistance bands to increase the difficulty and challenge your muscles.

Check out Burnlab’s adjustable dumbbell kit and resistance band sets here.

4. Mix it up

Bodyweight tricep exercises are most effective when combined with other exercises that target different muscle groups. For example, you can combine tricep exercises with bicep exercises, chest exercises, or back exercises to create a well-rounded upper-body workout.

Conclusion

If you’ve always thought that you needed complex equipment to train your triceps, we hope our blog has helped change your view.

So stop ignoring your triceps and try these amazing bodyweight tricep workouts today!

And if you ever need some amazing at-home workout gear, don’t forget to check out Burnlab’s collection right here!