Why tricep workout mistakes matter
If your arms are not growing or your elbows always feel sore, chances are you are making a few common tricep workout mistakes. Since your triceps make up around 70% of your upper arm mass, neglecting or mis-training them limits how big and strong your arms can get, as highlighted in Gymshark’s 2024 training advice. Fixing your tricep training will not just improve arm size. It can also boost your bench press, pushups, and overall upper body performance.
Below, you will learn the biggest mistakes people make with tricep exercises, how they affect your progress, and what to do instead.
Mistake 1: Ignoring your triceps
Many lifters default to curls and more curls. When you put nearly all your arm effort into bicep work and barely touch triceps, you:
- Miss out on most of your potential arm size, since triceps are the larger muscle group
- Limit lockout strength on bench press and pushups
- Reduce shoulder stability because the muscles around the elbow and shoulder are not balanced
Gymshark’s 2024 guidance points out that overemphasizing biceps and skipping triceps caps performance on compound lifts and slows overall upper body progress.
How to fix it
- Aim for 2 to 3 dedicated tricep sessions per week, often combined with chest or shoulders
- Include at least 3 tricep movements each week, not just “a couple of sets” at the end of a workout
- Match your total weekly tricep volume roughly to your bicep volume so your arms develop evenly
You do not need to abandon curls. You just need to give your triceps equal attention.
Mistake 2: Rushing weight and progression
Moving too fast with load is one of the easiest tricep workout mistakes to make, especially on isolation movements.
For example, one lifter in the research developed persistent elbow tendonitis after pushing weighted pushups too quickly at the start of a training phase. Skull crushers and heavy pushdowns were also major culprits for joint pain. The problem was not just the exercise choice. It was how fast the weight jumped up without enough conditioning or attention to form.
Why this hurts your progress
- Tendons around the elbow adapt more slowly than muscles
- Rapid jumps in weight create high strain on a small joint
- Pain leads you to avoid tricep work altogether, which stalls growth
How to fix it
- Increase weight in small, regular steps, not big jumps
- Use “perfect form” as the rule for when you can add load
- Keep heavy, joint-stressful isolation work limited and focus your heaviest efforts on compound lifts like close grip bench press or dips
Think of progression as a steady ramp, not a staircase with missing steps.
Mistake 3: Using too much weight on pushdowns
Tricep pushdowns are a staple, but they are also where people often cheat the most. Gymshark’s 2024 advice calls out using too much weight as a major tricep workout mistake.
Common signs you are going too heavy:
- Your shoulders rock forward and back with every rep
- You have to lean into the cable or swing your torso
- Your elbows drift away from your sides and the movement turns into a weird half-row
All of that takes work away from your triceps and gives it to your shoulders, chest, and momentum.
How to fix your pushdown form
- Choose a weight you can move without any torso swing
- Stand tall, pull your shoulders down and back
- Pin your elbows close to your sides and keep them there
- Move only at the elbow joint, from about 90 degrees to full extension
- Squeeze for a second at the bottom of each rep
You will probably have to lower the weight. Your triceps will work harder, not easier.
Mistake 4: Bad skull crusher technique
Skull crushers are excellent for targeting the long head of the triceps, but they are unforgiving if you get careless. Going too heavy or gripping the bar poorly can cause elbow strain and even increase your risk of injury, especially when the bar passes close to your face.
Jeff Cavaliere of ATHLEAN-X has highlighted improper grip and setup on skull crushers as a common tricep training mistake that undermines arm growth.
Risky habits with skull crushers
- Starting with a heavy bar instead of learning the motion with light weight
- Letting elbows flare way out, which stresses the joints
- Letting the bar drift toward your nose or forehead with poor control
- Using a grip or bar that feels awkward for your wrists and elbows
How to fix skull crushers
- Start light and master control before adding weight
- Keep your upper arms fixed, elbows pointing mostly up, with a moderate flare that feels natural
- Lower the bar behind your head rather than directly to your forehead, which often reduces elbow stress
- Use a grip width and bar type that feels comfortable, such as an EZ bar or even dumbbells
If your elbows still complain, reduce volume, keep the reps slightly higher, or swap this movement for an overhead dumbbell extension, which can be more joint friendly.
Mistake 5: Letting dips and pushups turn into chest exercises
Dips and pushups can be powerful tricep builders, but subtle technique changes can shift the work away from your arms.
The research notes that:
- Leaning your torso forward on weighted dips moves tension from your triceps to your chest
- Tricep pushups performed with incorrect technique lose tricep emphasis and reduce their effectiveness
How to keep dips tricep focused
- Stay more upright rather than leaning heavily forward
- Keep elbows relatively close to your sides as you descend
- Lower until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor
- Press up by driving through your palms and thinking “straighten the elbow”
How to keep pushups tricep focused
- Place your hands just inside shoulder width, not ultra narrow to the point of wrist pain
- Keep elbows tucked closer to your body, not flared out wide
- Maintain a straight line from head to heels and avoid sagging through your midsection
- Focus on feeling your triceps straighten your arms at the top
Small posture changes can turn these from “mostly chest” into “chest and serious triceps”.
Mistake 6: Ignoring your elbow and grip position
Grip and elbow angle matter more than most people realize. In the research, tricep exercises using a pronated grip (palms facing down) and certain cable pushdown variations repeatedly irritated one lifter’s elbows. In contrast, close grip bench press did not cause pain, even though it still should hit the triceps.
Grip that does not agree with your joints can slowly lead to tendon irritation and chronic discomfort.
What to look out for
- Pronated grip cable work that causes a sharp or nagging elbow ache
- Extremely narrow grips on presses that stress your wrists without improving tricep activation
- Elbows flaring in ways that feel unstable or painful
Research suggests that bringing your grip closer than shoulder width on close grip bench press only helps tricep activation up to a point. Going narrower than shoulder width does not give extra benefit and can strain your wrists.
How to find joint friendly positions
- Start with about shoulder width for pressing exercises and adjust slightly inward or outward until it feels strong and natural
- Experiment with different pushdown attachments, such as ropes or neutral grip handles, if a straight bar hurts
- Pay attention to any recurring “pinch” or ache at the elbow and modify that grip or angle rather than pushing through
Your body will usually tell you when a grip is a bad idea. Your job is to listen.
Mistake 7: Training only one or two tricep heads
Your triceps have three heads: long, lateral, and medial. No single tricep exercise can perfectly isolate one head, and you cannot completely turn any of them off. However, the angle of your arm and the type of movement can emphasize different heads more.
The Squatwolf guide from June 2025 stresses that failing to train the triceps with varied elbow positions and rep ranges leaves you with incomplete development and a lack of the classic “horseshoe” shape.
How to cover all three heads
Use a mix of:
- Overhead movements for the long head
- Examples: overhead dumbbell extensions, cable overhead extensions
- Pressing or dip style exercises for overall mass
- Examples: close grip bench press, tricep focused dips, heavy pushups
- Pushdowns and kickbacks for detail and the lateral head
- Examples: cable pushdowns, rope pushdowns, kickbacks
A simple template:
- One heavy compound press or dip
- One overhead extension
- One pushdown or kickback variation
Covering these angles helps you avoid the “one dimensional” look and strengthens your triceps in all the positions they are used.
Mistake 8: Neglecting different rep ranges
Doing every tricep set in the same 8 to 10 rep zone is another common tricep workout mistake. The triceps contain a mix of fiber types, and they respond well to a combination of heavier and lighter work. Gymshark’s 2024 guidance highlights the importance of using different rep ranges and not getting stuck in one comfort zone.
How to use rep variety
Try splitting your work like this:
- Heavy, lower reps, 4 to 6 reps
- Best for compound lifts like close grip bench or dips
- Moderate reps, 8 to 12 reps
- Great for most tricep extensions and pushdowns
- Higher reps, 12 to 20 reps
- Useful for lighter isolation work and to get a strong mind-muscle connection
You do not need to hit every range in every workout, but across the week your triceps should feel both heavy loading and extended time under tension.
Mistake 9: Relying only on cables and machines
Cable pushdowns and machine extensions can feel smooth, but relying on them for almost all your tricep work is not ideal. The Squatwolf 2025 guide points out that overuse of machines and cables can limit:
- Range of motion
- Stability demands
- Overall muscle engagement
This can slow growth and sometimes create aesthetic imbalances.
How to balance your exercise selection
Include:
- Free weight compound work
- Close grip bench press
- Dips
- Weighted pushups
- Free weight isolation work
- Dumbbell skull crushers
- Overhead dumbbell extensions
Then use cables and machines as useful accessories:
- Cable pushdowns with good technique
- Cable overhead extensions
- Machine dips or extensions if they suit your structure
Think “free weights first, cables and machines to finish”.
Mistake 10: Poor exercise order
Starting your tricep workout with high rep isolation sets can exhaust the muscle before you reach your heavier lifts. Squatwolf’s 2025 guidance notes that doing this can cause early muscle fatigue and even contribute to tricep pain after training.
Better order for your session
Generally, you will get more out of your workout if you:
- Start with a heavy compound movement
- Close grip bench press or dips
- Move to a secondary compound or a heavier isolation exercise
- Skull crushers, lying extensions, or close grip pushups
- Finish with lighter, higher rep isolation
- Rope pushdowns, kickbacks, or band work
This way, you are strongest when it matters most and you save the “burn out” work for last.
Mistake 11: Skipping mind-muscle connection
If you only think about moving the weight from A to B, you are likely losing tricep activation. Gymshark’s 2024 advice underlines that chasing heavy loads at the expense of feel is a key reason people fail to see tricep growth.
How to improve mind-muscle connection
- Slow your reps slightly, especially on the way down
- At the top of a press or pushdown, pause and consciously squeeze your triceps
- Visualize your elbow joint straightening while your shoulder stays quiet and stable
- On your first warmup set for each exercise, go extra light and focus only on feeling the triceps work
You will probably find you can get more out of less weight when you actually recruit the right muscle.
Mistake 12: Forgetting progressive overload
On the flip side, some people never change anything: same weight, same reps, same exercises. According to Gymshark’s 2024 guidance, failing to apply progressive overload is a fast route to plateaus in tricep growth.
Simple ways to gradually increase challenge
You do not have to add weight every workout. Try:
- Adding 1 to 2 reps to a set each week until you reach the top of your rep range, then increasing the load slightly
- Reducing rest times in small steps for isolation work
- Doing one extra set for a key exercise in a training block
- Switching to a more challenging variation, for example regular pushups to weighted pushups when you can do 20 clean reps
Keep a simple training log. Progress that you write down is easier to track and maintain.
Mistake 13: Overtraining and under recovering
Training your triceps hard every time you hit upper body, especially right after heavy chest or shoulder workouts, can lead to:
- Persistent pain around the elbow
- Sore triceps that never quite recover
- Stagnant strength and size despite lots of effort
The Squatwolf June 2025 article recommends at least 24 to 48 hours of recovery before you hit triceps hard again.
How to balance training and rest
- Avoid training triceps intensely on back to back days
- If you do chest or shoulders one day, keep the next day lighter or focused on other areas
- Use deload weeks occasionally, where you reduce volume or intensity
- Pay attention to nagging joint pain, not just muscle soreness
You want your triceps to be tired from a good workout, not constantly beat up.
Mistake 14: Blaming “bad genetics” instead of fixing basics
According to insights shared by Jeff Cavaliere on ATHLEAN-X in 2023, triceps are rarely truly “stubborn” if you train them correctly. Often, slow progress is a result of technique flaws, poor exercise selection, lack of progression, or inconsistent effort, not unchangeable genetics.
Cavaliere also notes that multiple small errors, from training to nutrition and recovery, can combine to significantly slow muscle growth. Tricep workout mistakes are just one piece of that puzzle, but they are a piece you can control.
How to move forward
- Fix one or two mistakes at a time rather than trying to change everything overnight
- Audit your training week and ask: are you giving triceps enough focused work, in good form, with gradual progression?
- Align your nutrition and sleep with your training goals so your body has what it needs to grow
When you tidy up the fundamentals, your triceps will usually respond.
Putting it all together
To get the most out of your tricep training, keep these key points in mind:
- Do not ignore your triceps in favor of more curls
- Progress weight gradually and protect your elbows
- Use strict, controlled form on pushdowns, skull crushers, dips, and pushups
- Train all three tricep heads with a mix of overhead, pressing, and pushdown style movements
- Mix rep ranges and prioritize heavy compound work early in the session
- Balance free weights with cables and machines
- Apply progressive overload without overtraining
Pick one or two changes from this list and apply them in your next tricep workout. As you refine your technique and programming week by week, you will feel your triceps working harder, your elbows staying happier, and your arm and pressing strength finally starting to move in the direction you want.
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