The triceps is the muscle in the back of your upper arm that straightens your elbow. The pectoral muscles are the muscles of the chest. A chest and triceps workout for women can strengthen your triceps and help the back of your arms look lean and toned while improving your posture and respiration.

Exercises To Include in a Chest and Triceps Workout for Women

Generally speaking, you can work both your triceps and your pectoral muscles with pushing motions. You'll notice that most of the following exercises include some element of pushing.

1. Hand Release Pushup

This exercise starts out in the plank position, with your core muscles of your abdomen and back engaged and your shoulders directly over your wrists. You then lower your chest slowly to the ground by bending your elbows to a 45-degree angle. When you reach the ground, before you push yourself back up, lift your hands off the ground. You should allow your hands to hover above the ground for one to two seconds before you release them and push yourself back up. Do 10 to 12 reps of this at a time.

2. Triceps Dip

To do this exercise, you need a sturdy chair without wheels or armrests. Place your hands on the edge of the chair while you are sitting on it and scoot forward so that your butt is hovering in the air in front of your chair. You are supporting yourself with your straight arms on the chair and your feet planted firmly on the floor. Keep your elbows pointed straight back as you bend them to lower your butt, then straighten them to return your body to your starting position. Do 10 to 15 reps, being careful not to allow your elbows to flare out to the sides.

3. Overhead Triceps Extension

To perform this portion of a chest and triceps workout for women, you need a dumbbell. Choose a lighter weight at first, such as a one- or two-pound dumbbell. You can always increase the weight later if you need more of a challenge, but do not choose a heavier weight than you can handle.

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, grip the weight by the top of the bar, and hold it over your head. Bend your elbows to lower the weight behind your head, keeping your upper arms alongside your ears and your head as still as possible. Return to the start position by raising your arms. Perform this exercise slowly, and do 10 to 15 reps.

Benefits of a Chest and Triceps Workout for Women

Fitness experts often recommend working the chest and triceps muscle groups together because they do not impede one another. In fact, these muscle groups work together in many ways to stabilize the shoulders and move the upper extremities. A chest and triceps workout for women makes sense because a lot of the exercises work these muscle groups at the same time.

As you work on your chest muscles and biceps, use the ZOZOFIT app to track your progress as you work toward your fitness goals. iOS users can try out either our one month or three month subscription plan and you'll even receive a 7-day free trial to get you started today (and Android users can still utilize the ZOZOSUIT for the scanning process).