10 Best Medial Head Tricep Exercises

If you want bigger, stronger, more defined arms, you can’t just chase “bicep peaks.” Around two-thirds of your upper arm size is triceps, and a lot of lifters leave one crucial part undertrained: the medial head.

You know the classic triceps horseshoe look? That comes from all three heads of the triceps being developed and working together:

• Long head
• Lateral head
• Medial head (today’s main focus)

In this guide, we’ll cover exactly how to target the medial head without wasting time on “magic” isolation tricks that don’t actually exist.

Table of Contents:

• Triceps Anatomy & Function
• Why Each Triceps Head Matters
• The Medial Head: Location, Role & Aesthetics
• Can You Isolate the Medial Head?
• How To Emphasize the Medial Head (Key Technique Cues)
• 10 Best Medial Head Triceps Exercises
• Medial-Head-Focused Triceps Workouts
• Reference Table: Medial vs Lateral vs Long Head
• FAQs
• Key Takeaways
  

TRICEP ANATOMY & FUNCTION

The triceps brachii sits on the back of your upper arm and is responsible for elbow extension (straightening the arm) and helping stabilize the elbow during pressing and pushing.

It has three distinct heads:

• Long head
  • Largest of the three
  • Runs along the inner/posterior upper arm
  • Originates on the scapula, so it crosses the shoulder joint
  • Big player in overall triceps mass and any movement with your arm overhead
• Lateral head
  
  • Outer portion of your upper arm (what you see from the side)
  • Has a higher proportion of fast-twitch fibers
  • Contributes heavily to “pop” and top-end pressing strength
• Medial head
  • Smaller, deeper head sitting in the center/back of the upper arm, just above the elbow
  • Largely covered by the long and lateral heads
  • Has a higher proportion of slow-twitch fibers
  • Active in every elbow extension, even with very light loads

All three heads converge into a common tendon that attaches to the ulna just past the elbow, which is why every triceps movement will involve all three to some degree.

Why You Need All Three Triceps Heads

When all three heads are well-developed, you get:

• The horseshoe look on the back of the arm
• Strong lockout on pressing movements
• Stable, healthier elbows under load

If you’re a beginner, you’ll grow just by doing basic triceps exercises (pressdowns, dips, close-grip presses). Every head gets hit, and you don’t need to overthink it.

As you become more advanced, a few things usually happen:

• One head looks less developed than the others
• Overall triceps growth stalls
• Lockout strength or elbow comfort becomes a limiting factor

That’s when head-specific emphasis matters. You’re still training the whole muscle, but you start using grip, elbow angle, and rep ranges to put a bit more stress where you’re lagging.

Today, that’s the medial head.

THE MEDIAL HEAD OF THE TRICEPS

What & Where Is the Medial Head?

The medial head sits:

• On the back of the arm
• Underneath the long and lateral heads
• In the center of the triceps, just above the elbow

You don’t see it as clearly as the long or lateral head, but it fills out the bottom of the arm and contributes to that dense, finished look.

What Does the Medial Head Do?

Key roles:

• Assists with elbow extension in every triceps movement
• Provides important elbow stability under load
• Acts like “glue” between the long and lateral heads, helping them express strength

It’s also the only head that’s always active, even during low-resistance arm extension. Long and lateral heads tend to light up more as load and resistance go up.

Bottom line:
The medial head doesn’t have the same mass potential as the other two, but you can’t have strong, healthy, impressive triceps without it.

CAN YOU ISOLATE THE MEDIAL HEAD OF THE TRICEPS?

Short answer: No.

You cannot completely isolate any individual triceps head. All three work together in elbow extension.

What you can do is:

• Use specific grips and elbow positions that increase the relative contribution of the medial head
• Choose rep ranges and volume that better match its slow-twitch fiber profile

Think in terms of emphasis, not isolation.

What's more, the medial head is usually more active at certain points in a tricep exercise or compound pushing movements, rather than the entire time. 

HOW TO TARGET THE MEDIAL HEAD TRICEP

There are three main levers you can pull to hit the medial head harder:

1. Use a Reverse (Underhand) Grip When Possible

• Reverse-grip pushdowns
• Reverse-grip presses
• Reverse-grip floor presses

Underhand or supinated grips tend to:

• Shift more emphasis toward the medial head
• Often feel better on the elbows for a lot of lifters

2. Keep Elbows Tucked

• Elbows close to the sides
• No excessive flaring

This position:

• Involves the medial head heavily in stabilization
• Keeps tension locked into the back of the arm rather than dumping it into shoulders or chest

3. Use Higher Rep Ranges

The medial head has more slow-twitch fibers, which respond well to:

• Moderate to high reps: ~15–30 reps per set when you’re directly targeting it
• Sets taken close to failure, especially in those higher ranges

You should still use some heavier work for overall triceps development, but when you’re programming medial-head-emphasis exercises, lean into the higher-rep, controlled-tempo work.

10 BEST EXERCISES FOR MEDIAL TRICEP HEAD

These are the 10 best tricep medial head exercises to strengthen the medial head and aid in the overall strength and size of your triceps.

1. Reverse Grip Cable Pushdown

The cable machine triceps pressdown is one of the most common exercises you'll see people do for an arm workout. This variation of the tricep pressdown (aka triceps pushdown) emphasizes the medial head of triceps because it keeps your elbows at your sides and uses an underhand grip. Furthermore, most people find the underhand grip places less stress on the elbows. 

Here’s how to perform the reverse grip cable pushdown:

1. Attach the bar attachment (Straight or e-z) to a high pulley machine.
2. Stand facing the bar attachment and grab the bar with the palms facing up. Your grip should be shoulder width.
3. Keeping your elbows at your sides, upper arms stationary, and feet shoulder-width apart, lower the bar until your sides fully extend your arms.  Your elbows and upper arms should remain by your side throughout the exercise, and only your forearms should move.
4. Then begin to slowly elevate the bar attachment up towards your chest while inhaling. This is one rep.

Best rep range: 15-20 reps with a weight load that brings you to or near failure. 

2. Dumbbell or Barbell Reverse Grip Press

This is a big compound movement that works many upper body muscles, but the main movers are your chest and triceps. 

The reverse grip does two things, it takes stress off your shoulder muscles and shoulder joints (and elbow joint) and places more emphasis on the triceps and upper pecs.

For the triceps, it is particularly effective for the medial head. 

All in all, it's not a medial head exercise per se, but it is fantastic for the medial head and it allows you to go relatively heavy, which is good for hypertrophy and strength. 

We recommend doing this exercise at the start of your triceps workout, as it requires more energy, being that it is a compound movement. 

Note: You can do this exercise with a barbell or dumbbells. 

Here’s how to perform the dumbbell reverse grip:

1. With a dumbbell in each hand, you’ll grasp the dumbbells with palms facing your face. This grip is similar to doing a bicep curl.
2. You’ll begin by sitting on the end of a flat bench with the ends of the dumbbells resting on your knees. And you’ll slowly lay back on the bench.
3. You’ll then push the dumbbells straight up above your chest. Be sure that your palms are facing your shoulders.
4. Then slowly lower the dumbbells to chest height, and hold for one second before raising the dumbbells back to starting position. This is one rep.
5. Repeat movement for desired reps.

Best rep range and weight: If you really want to hit the medial head hard, use a lighter load and aim for 10-20 reps. However, this exercise can be effective in the 6-12 rep range as well. 

3. Reverse Grip Floor Press

This simple and highly effective shoulder-friendly pressing variation helps to build mass and strength in your triceps. The floor press focuses on the end range of chest presses (bench press) which is when the triceps are most active.

It is generally done to improve lockout strength and to hone in on tricep development. The reverse grip simply allows you to alter how the triceps are hit (i.e. medial head). 

This exercise is also good for those with shoulder issues as it has a limited range of motion. The shoulder joint usually has the most stress at the bottom range during a bench press. 

Here’s how to perform the reverse grip floor press:

1. You’ll begin by positioning yourself on the floor underneath the barbell. Your eyes should be underneath the bar, and your legs can be straight or bent. (similar to laying on the bench to do a bench press)
2. Now grip the bar with your palms facing towards your head and pull your elbows towards the torso. The back of your arms should be touching the floor. This is the starting position.
3. Push your arms straight to drive the weight up until your elbows are fully extended. Do not lift your shoulders off the floor. Concentrate on pushing your body deeper into the floor.
4. Then bring your elbows back down, pausing at the bottom before doing another rep. This pause helps to increase stability and control and maximize contraction. Be sure that you are maintaining tension and strength throughout the entire lift.

Best rep range: 8-20 reps.

4. Palm Out Bench Dip

This might be a bodyweight, but this is an effective exercise for any fitness level targeting the triceps. By simply positioning your hands differently, you can emphasize the medial head. The movements in this exercise will help to improve the overall conditioning while also increasing the strength in your core and upper body.

Here’s how to perform the palm out bench dip:

1. Begin by sitting down on a bench with your hands next to your thighs. Just as you would perform a traditional bench dip, but turn your hands so that they are aligned horizontally with the bench.
2. Then begin walking your feet out until your legs are extended and lifting your bottom off of the bench, and your arms will be extended.
3. Hinging at the elbow, begin lowering your body down as far as you can go. Your arms will form a 90-degree angle.
4. The push up through your palms back to the starting position. This is one rep.
5. Repeat for the desired reps and sets.

Best rep range: Perform 15-20 reps. If you are finding 20-25 reps too easy, then you can place a weight plate or dumbbell on your lap to add resistance, rather than doing endless reps. 

5. Dumbbell Tate Press

This tricep isolation exercise provides a deep stretch in the muscles, making it an effective exercise to build mass and strength. Stretching tension is shown to be the highly effective for hypertrophy and strength. It's not just about contraction tension when exercising.

As for the muscle heads of triceps, this exercise is effective for all three heads, and it does a good job of keeping the medial head highly activated the entire time. 

Here’s how to perform the dumbbell tate press:

1. Start as though you are about to perform a DB bench press. Keep your feet firmly planted into the floor, core engaged, and pull your shoulder blades down.
2. Begin with the dumbbells positioned directly above your shoulders (top of the bench press). Now bend your elbows to move the ends of the dumbbells down to your lower chest. Be sure that you keep the triceps contracted and do not relax the muscles even when they get to your chest.
3. Be sure to keep control over the dumbbells and extend your elbows to push the dumbbells back to the starting position. This is one rep.
4. You can do this in an alternating manner or simultaneously. 

Best rep range: 10-15 reps

6. Reverse Grip JM Press

The JM press is a compound exercise that will target the triceps and work the pecs and delts. Not only will this exercise increase the overall size and strength of your triceps, but it will also help to increase the amount of weight you put in pressing variations such as the bench press and overhead press.

This is a great all-around tricep exercise, and one that keeps the medial head activated to a high degree.

Here’s how to perform the JM press:

1. Lie back on a bench and grasp the barbell about shoulder-width apart with hands and your thumbs wrapped around the bar.
2. Unrack the bar. With your arms fully extended overhead, tuck your elbow 45 degrees from your sides towards your feet.
3. Now begin bending your elbows and lowering the bar towards your chin/neck with control until your forearms and biceps touch.
4. Then explosively extend your elbows. This is one rep.

Best rep range: 8-12 reps

7. Cable Concentration Extension (Reverse Grip)

The cable concentration triceps extension allows you to train side at a time, thus ironing out muscle imbalances. Overall, it's a great tricep exercise as it hits all three heads very effectively, and it does place more tension on the medial head tricep than some other tricep exercises.

This is one of those exercises that you do with complete mind-muscle connection, really focusing on slow and controlled reps with maximum range of motion and tension. 

Use an underhand grip to increase the medial head activation even more!

Here’s how to perform the cable concentration extension:

1. Begin by attaching a single grip handle to a high cable pulley.
2. Grab the handle with your right hand and kneel down. Be sure that your left knee is on the floor and your right foot is planted on the floor.
3. With your torso tall and erect, rest the back of your right arm on your inner thigh, this will be similar to concentration curls.
4. Then, extend your forearm down until your arm is straight, be sure that you’re flexing your tricep. Exhale through this portion of the exercise.
5. Now slowly extend your elbow until your forearm is parallel to the floor and inhale throughout this portion of the exercise. This is one rep.
6. Repeat for the desired number of sets and reps alternating arms between sets.
7. For your left hand, you’ll need to place your right knee on the floor and your left foot planted on the floor.

Best rep range: 15-20 reps

8. Cable Rope Pushdown (Neutral Grip)

The cable rope tricep pushdown is said to be a lateral head exercise, because it is; however, EMG studies show it is great for both the medial and outer heads. In fact, the level of activation among the two for this exercise is almost exactly the same.

Use high reps and you can really exhaust and overload your medial head with this one.

Here’s how to perform the cable rope pushdown:

1. Start by attaching the rope attachment to the cable machine and grab the rope with an overhand grip.
2. You’ll begin with the ropes at your chest level. And stand with your feet slightly apart.
3. Tighten your abdominals and tuck your elbows, then inhale slowly and start pushing down until your elbows are extended, keeping your elbows close to your body while bending your knees.
4. Be sure to keep your back straight during the pushdown.
5. Then exhale and return to the original position. This is one rep.
6. Repeat for the desired number of sets and reps.

Best rep range: 15-25 reps

9. Cable with Rope Overhead Extensions

The cable overhead extension will hit all three heads, with emphasis on the long head. However, if you use a high rep range and don't cheat on your reps (fully extend), then your medial head will get some serious activation with this variation of the overhead cable machine tricep extension.

Note: Dumbbell overhead extensions are just as effective as the cable machine. The main difference is the cable machine offers constant resistance. You can also do either with one arm at a time to help fix muscle imbalances between your stronger side. 

Here’s how to perform the cable with rope overhead extension:

1. Begin by connecting the rope attachment to the cable pulley at the lowest position.
2. Then turn to face away from the cable pulley with your feet shoulder-width apart, and both hands are holding the rope with palms facing inwards (neutral grip). Your elbows will be bent with your forearms touching your biceps behind your head. Feel a good tricep stretch at the bottom.
3. You’ll then extend your elbows to bring your arms straight and the rope overhead. This is one rep.
4. Repeat for the desired number of sets and reps.

Best rep range: 15-25 reps

Related: Best Cable Arm Exercises

10. Diamond Pushup

If you’re looking to build your triceps, the diamond push up, aka triangle push up, is one of the best tricep exercises, let alone exercise for triceps medial head. It’s a difficult movement that contributes to the horseshoe shape that you desire.

It targets both the lateral head and the medial tricep head faster than any gym machine can do. Similar to the traditional pushup, the slight change in the positions of your hand will increase the difficulty and change the muscles targeted.

Here’s how to perform the diamond pushup:

1. You’ll begin by getting into a pushup position. And form a diamond on the floor with your hands directly under your chest.
2. Be sure to have your elbows at 45-degrees.
3. With your back straight, squeeze your glutes and engage your core, and then slowly lower yourself towards the ground. Be sure to keep proper form.
4. Stop when your chest is almost touching the floor, and then push back up without flaring your elbows or arching your back. This is one rep.
5. Repeat for the desired number of sets and reps.

Best rep range: Failure each set.

MEDIAL HEAD TRICEP WORKOUT

These aren’t “medial head only” sessions (that’s not possible), but they prioritize medial-friendly exercises and high-rep finishers while still training the long and lateral heads hard.

Workout 1

1. Close-Grip Bench Press – 4 sets of 6–8 reps
2. Overhead Rope Cable Extensions – 3 sets of 10–15 reps
3. Straight Bar Cable Pushdowns – 3 sets of 10–15 reps
4. Diamond Push-Ups – 3 sets to near failure

Workout 2

1. JM Presses – 4 sets of 6–8 reps
2. Reverse Grip Cable Pushdown – 4 sets of 8–12 reps
3. Skull Crushers – 3 sets of 10–15 reps
4. Cable Concentration Extensions (Reverse Grip) – 3 sets of 12–20 reps

Can you remember which of these triceps exercises target the medial head?

Reference Table for Exercises Targeting The Three Tricep Muscle Heads

FAQs:

Here are some answers to common questions about the triceps and more specifically the medial head of the tricep...

Can the medial triceps head actually grow?

Yes, but it has less growth potential than the long and lateral heads. Think of it as:

• Crucial for elbow health and stability
• Important for a full, dense look at the bottom of the arm
• A “supporting actor” that lets the bigger heads express more strength

You won’t turn it into a giant bulge, but you can absolutely make it thicker and stronger.

What’s the best rep range for the medial head?

Because it has more slow-twitch fibers, it responds very well to:

• 15–30 reps with lighter to moderate loads
• Sets taken close to failure

That said, you still want a mix of 5–15 rep work across your triceps training for complete development.

How much of my triceps training should focus on the medial head?

A simple rule of thumb:

• ~40% of triceps sets for long head
• ~40% for lateral head
• ~20% for medial head emphasis

Since many movements hit two heads strongly at once (e.g., long + medial, lateral + medial), you’ll naturally get plenty of medial-head work if you’re programming intelligently.

How many triceps sets per week?

General starting points:

• Beginners: ~10 sets per week
• Intermediate: ~15 sets per week
• Advanced: 20+ sets per week (including pressing compounds that hammer triceps)

Split this over 2–3 sessions per week, and remember to count bench and overhead pressing in your total triceps volume.

How to target the long head tricep?

When you place your arms overhead, which puts your shoulder joint at 180˚, you’ll stretch your long head. This stretch puts tension on your long head, which means the long head will be emphasized. As such, exercises like the overhead tricep extension and skull crusher are best for the long head.

Related: Best Long Head Tricep Exercises

How to target the lateral head tricep?

The lateral head is best targeted with an overhand grip or hammer grip, and elbows at the sides. For example, cable rope extensions, overhand straight bar pushdowns, and bench/parallel dips. 

Related: Best Lateral Head Tricep Exercises

Which single triceps exercise is best overall?

If we had to pick one for size and strength across all three heads:

Close Grip Bench Press

It lets you:

• Load the triceps heavy
• Train through a large range of motion
• Progressively overload for years
• Hit all three heads hard with plenty of room to grow

But for complete development, combine it with overhead work, pushdowns, and higher-rep medial-emphasis moves like reverse-grip pushdowns and diamond push-ups.

KEY TAKEAWAYS OF MEDIAL HEAD TRICEP EXERCISES

• You can’t isolate the medial head, but you can emphasize it.
• Reverse grip, elbows tucked, and higher reps are your main tools.
• Aim for 10–20 total triceps sets per week, with ~20–25% biased toward medial-friendly exercises.
• Strong medial triceps = better elbow stability, stronger lockouts, and a fuller arm.

Work these medial-head-focused movements into your triceps sessions, stay consistent, and you’ll see—and feel—the difference every time you press, dip, or lock out a heavy bench.

More Triceps Exercise Guides:

• Best Dumbbell Tricep Exercises
• Best Barbell Tricep Exercises
• Bodyweight Tricep Exercises
• Stretches for Triceps

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