drtbear1967
Musclechemistry Board Certified Member
Want Horse Shoe Triceps?
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I can remember years ago wishing that outer portion of my triceps would just show up. It used to be nonexistent even at extremely low levels of body fat.
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Years later and a bit of science to back it up I have a pretty decent answer. Research seems to show that the triceps muscle has slightly different functions depending on the shoulder degree of elevation and the degree in which the elbow is bent.
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So what is best for the outer horseshoe? None of them really.
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True isolation of a muscle is not going to happen. You can alter the angle and make certain parts of the muscle at an advantage or disadvantage and make it “isolate” a certain part but it’s never in true isolation. But not all is lost.
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Starting with arms at your side the inside part of your triceps is the big player. It generates the most force throughout the entire range of bending your elbow, but as the arms start to rise in front of us, the inside portion begins to lose its advantage with force production. That places more “isolation” on the part of the triceps you can’t see. It’s under the other two portions of the muscle. So the further and further towards the sky the arms go the less effective the inner part (long head) becomes at generating force. In return the lateral head is allowed to work more.
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It’s shown that the lateral head fatigues quickest, followed by the medial, and lastly the long head(inside portion). We can look at that many ways (and this is my speculation I haven’t read this anywhere).
.
It’s possible that your lateral head isn’t growing because it gets overworked. Possibly try to stop your tricep extension set well before failure. That may allow adequate stimulation to that portion of the muscle and stimulate growth. I’m open to ideas on this one.
.
.
I can remember years ago wishing that outer portion of my triceps would just show up. It used to be nonexistent even at extremely low levels of body fat.
.
Years later and a bit of science to back it up I have a pretty decent answer. Research seems to show that the triceps muscle has slightly different functions depending on the shoulder degree of elevation and the degree in which the elbow is bent.
.
So what is best for the outer horseshoe? None of them really.
.
True isolation of a muscle is not going to happen. You can alter the angle and make certain parts of the muscle at an advantage or disadvantage and make it “isolate” a certain part but it’s never in true isolation. But not all is lost.
.
Starting with arms at your side the inside part of your triceps is the big player. It generates the most force throughout the entire range of bending your elbow, but as the arms start to rise in front of us, the inside portion begins to lose its advantage with force production. That places more “isolation” on the part of the triceps you can’t see. It’s under the other two portions of the muscle. So the further and further towards the sky the arms go the less effective the inner part (long head) becomes at generating force. In return the lateral head is allowed to work more.
.
It’s shown that the lateral head fatigues quickest, followed by the medial, and lastly the long head(inside portion). We can look at that many ways (and this is my speculation I haven’t read this anywhere).
.
It’s possible that your lateral head isn’t growing because it gets overworked. Possibly try to stop your tricep extension set well before failure. That may allow adequate stimulation to that portion of the muscle and stimulate growth. I’m open to ideas on this one.
.
