maratoolStanding Bent-Over One-Arm Dumbbell Triceps Extension
How to do the standing bent-over one-arm dumbbell triceps extension
- With a dumbbell in one hand and the palm facing your torso, bend your knees slightly and bring your torso forward, by bending at the waist, while keeping the back straight until it is almost parallel to the floor. Make sure that you keep the head up.
- The upper arm should be close to the torso and parallel to the floor while the forearm is pointing towards the floor as the hand holds the weight. Tip: There should be a 90-degree angle between the forearm and the upper arm. This is your starting position.
- Keeping the upper arms stationary, use the triceps to lift the weights as you exhale until the forearms are parallel to the floor and the whole arm is extended. Like many other arm exercises, only the forearm moves.
- After a second contraction at the top, slowly lower the dumbbell back to the starting position as you inhale.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
- Switch arms and repeat the exercise.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder.
Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range.
How this movement works
One joint moves, and it moves the load away from the body. With nothing recruited to assist, the target muscle reaches its own limit rather than the limit of the weakest link in a chain — which makes this useful for adding volume after the heavy compound work, not for opening a session.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
Dumbbells let each side work on its own, surfacing a strength difference between limbs that a barbell would quietly cover for, and leaving the wrist free to rotate through the movement.
Every exercise using:Dumbbell
These train the triceps too, using equipment this one does not:
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 99 triceps exercises in this database, 44 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.