I don't know who came up with this but I remember reading about it on the old Deepsquatter website. So thank you, Jason Burnell. Triceps Hell is lactic acid punishment for your arms. The goal is simple: 2 triceps movements, supersetted and both are done for 5 sets of 10 reps.
I did this on Sundays (one of my bench press days) and usually paired DB triceps extensions with triceps pushdowns. This is how I did it:
- DB triceps extensions - 10 reps (no rest)
- Rope triceps pushdowns - 10 reps (rest 1-2 minutes)
- Repeat until 5 sets of each exercise is done (100 total reps).
Obviously you can choose any two triceps movements but I'd probably stay away from "big" movements with a barbell, especially where fatigue is going to put you at risk. So close grip bench press would probably be a bad idea. I have done Triceps Hell with a variety of different versions of extensions (barbell, dumbbell, EZ curl bar) and different pushdown handles (rope, straight bar, bent bar, bands, etc.) I don't think it matters too much what implement you pick as long as your triceps go through absolute hell.
I have done this with dips as one of the movements (paired with triceps pushdowns). This is an acceptable substitution provided you can knock out repeated sets of dips after triceps pushdowns.
Make sure each and every rep is done in such a way that the triceps is the focus - don't just hammer the reps. In other words, make slow, passionate love to the back of your arms. Don't be a High School Jackhammer.
As someone who has long suffered from small and weak arms, after a few months of doing this once or twice a week in the final year of college, I finally had a football coach ask me, "What the hell do you do for your arms?" It was a day of great pride for me. Unfortunately, there was not a direct correlation between his arm admiration and my playing time.
