Tricep extension
Overhead dumbbell extension
Works
Equipment
How to do it
- Sit or stand holding a dumbbell with both hands overhead.
- Keep your elbows pointing forward and close to your head.
- Lower the dumbbell behind your head by bending your elbows.
- Extend your elbows to raise the dumbbell back up.
- Keep your elbows still throughout the movement.
Common mistakes
- Flaring the elbows out to the sides
- Arching the back to lift the weight
- Dropping quickly behind the head
What the evidence says
Over 12 weeks, training one arm overhead and the other with the arm at the side, the overhead arm grew about 1.4–1.5 times more: +28.5% vs +19.6% in the long head and +19.9% vs +13.9% in the whole triceps — and that with lighter absolute loads. If you only keep one extension variation, make it the overhead one.
Maeo S, Wu Y, Huang M, et al. «Triceps brachii hypertrophy is substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead versus neutral arm position». European Journal of Sport Science, 2023. View the study
In trained lifters, eight weeks of doing only the lengthened half of the range produced the same elbow-extensor growth as full range of motion. The non-negotiable part is the bottom, the stretch: you can cut the lockout without losing anything.
Wolf M, Androulakis Korakakis P, Piñero A, et al. «Lengthened partial repetitions elicit similar muscular adaptations as full range of motion repetitions during resistance training in trained individuals». PeerJ, 2025. View the study
At 0° of shoulder elevation the triceps long head generates the most force; from 90° upwards the medial head takes over as the main elbow extensor. So the overhead position isn't where the long head contributes most — and it's still where it grows most.
Kholinne 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 Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica, 2018. View the study
What isn't settled: What's well measured is shoulder position (overhead vs at the side). What isn't is the comparison between the actual variations: nobody has compared lying EZ-bar extensions vs cable pushdowns vs kickbacks over time at matched volume. The kickback in particular has no growth study at all — only the suspicion that it loads the triceps at its shortest length.
Other variations
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