Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Health & Fitness
  3. Evergreens

The tricep exercises Ryan Reynolds’ fitness trainer swears by

Get bigger and stronger arms with these Hollywood-worthy tricep exercises

By
Ryan-Reynolds, Deadpool 2 Berlin
Sebastian Reuter / Getty Images

When Deadpool actor and businessman Ryan Reynolds walks the red carpet or graces the silver screen, most people notice his sculpted physique and muscular arms. Ryan Reynolds’ fitness trainer, Don Saladino, swears by these effective tricep exercises. As a successful Hollywood fitness trainer, Don has over 25 years of experience in the industry and the muscles and workout routines to prove it. If you want wider and more powerful arms, the first step is to work your triceps. Here’s why you should add these effective tricep exercises to your workout routine.

1. Prone Kickbacks

Man doing dumbbell tricep prone kickbacks drawing illustration
Lio Putra / Adobe Stock

An interesting study by the American Council of Exercise revealed that tricep kickbacks were among the best exercises for targeting your triceps. Don Saladino is ahead of the curve, and he’s been including tricep kickback variations in his workout routines for years. Tricep kickbacks are a triceps isolation exercise where you can target one or both arms at the same time. Don recommends prone kickbacks where you’re laying on your front on a bench, but you can also perform this movement standing up. Don suggests focusing on form over momentum.

How to perform prone kickbacks:

  1. Lay down on your front on a bench.
  2. Hold two dumbbells with your palms facing your body.
  3. Drive your elbows back into the starting position so your upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor.
  4. Without moving your shoulders, squeeze your triceps and extend your arms back behind you.
  5. Carefully bring the weights back to the starting position.
  6. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Recommended Videos

2. Close-grip push-ups

man doing push ups outside
Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

Push-ups don’t require any equipment, and they’re worth adding to your workout routine to pump those triceps. They improve your balance and posture and increase muscle definition. Don recommends a close grip where your hands are about shoulder-width apart, keeping your glutes engaged and your elbows in.

How to perform push-ups:

  1. Start on all fours with your hands about shoulder-distance apart.
  2. Extend your legs back behind you so your spine and legs form a straight line, and your knees and hips are in the plank position.
  3. Lower yourself down until your chest touches the floor and your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
  4. Push yourself back up to straighten your arms.
  5. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

3. Suspension trainer tricep extension

Suspension trainer tricep extension people in gym working out together
Henadzi Pechan / Shutterstock

The suspension trainer machine has strong anchored straps with handles, and it’s an excellent way to level up your triceps workout. Don powers through a suspension trainer tricep extension, making sure he keeps his elbows in and his glutes and core engaged. 

How to perform suspension trainer tricep extension:

  1. Set your suspension straps to a suitable height and hold one handle in each hand with an overhand grip.
  2. Extend your arms straight out in front of you and carefully lean into the handles until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. 
  3. Bend your elbows and lower yourself forward until your head is between your hands and you feel a good stretch in your triceps.
  4. Extend your arms back to the starting position.
  5. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

4. Crossbody tricep extension

row of dumbbells
Ivan Samkov / Pexels

There’s tricep extension, and then there’s Don Saladino’s preferred and highly effective way of performing the crossbody tricep extension. Tricep extensions are known to fuel arm growth, but Don Saladino’s chosen crossbody variation is a game-changer. 

How to perform crossbody tricep extension:

  1. Lay down flat on your back on a bench, holding two dumbbells.
  2. Extend your arms straight up above your chest to the starting position. Your palms should be facing your feet.
  3. Carefully bend your elbows and bring both dumbbells in toward each other and down to your chest.
  4. Lift your arms back up to the starting position. 
  5. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

5. Single-arm overhead extension

Woman doing dumbbell tricep exercise.
dusanpetkovic1 / Adobe Stock

Interesting research compared the cable pushdown and overhead tricep extension and revealed overhead tricep extensions resulted in 40% more muscle growth and size compared to the cable pushdown. The long head of your tricep muscle is fully lengthened during the overhead tricep extension, which is why it delivers superior results. This exercise targets all three heads of your triceps muscles. Don suggests performing the single-arm overhead tricep extension with a cable machine for best results.

How to do a single-arm overhead tricep extension:

  1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart 
  2. Grip the cable with one arm behind your head and make sure your upper arm is vertical, and your elbow is bent.
  3. Your elbow should be pointing forward, and your shoulder should remain stable.
  4. Extend and straighten your elbow to lift and stretch the cable up overhead.
  5. Carefully lower the cable back to the starting position.
  6. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Steph Green
Steph Green
Steph Green (Steph Zee) is a singer-songwriter and professional writer with over 12 years of experience in healthcare and… Read Full Bio
Topics
Health & Fitness
Tired of shaky workouts? Meet the MERACH UltraWalk W60 Plus – a walking pad built to last
Animal, Canine, Dog

Finding time to exercise is hard enough. The last thing you need is fitness equipment that feels unstable, sounds like it’s about to fall apart, or struggles to keep up with your pace. Yet that’s exactly what many budget walking pads deliver. Lightweight frames, noisy motors, and limited performance often turn what should be an enjoyable workout into a frustrating experience.

The MERACH UltraWalk W60 Plus aims to change that. Instead of simply offering another compact walking pad, MERACH has built a treadmill-grade under-desk fitness machine designed for long-term reliability, stability, and everyday convenience. Whether you’re walking while working, squeezing in a quick cardio session, or looking to stay active without leaving home, the W60 Plus is engineered to make movement feel effortless.

Read more
Health & Fitness
From wheelchair to walking: The power of mindset, movement, and never giving up
Steph Zee Christmas Secret Music Video Steph Green

I never expected I’d have to learn how to walk again. That journey took me from writing for doctors and magazines to spending thousands of hours researching health and autoimmune disease. When we have excellent health, many of us don’t give it much thought until those sneaky symptoms start to show, and one day it all comes crashing down. Now, our health becomes one of the most important priorities. When we feel good, we can be more productive and chase our dreams. When our health declines and we don’t feel so good, one of our biggest dreams is just to feel better. 

I became a health writer 12 years ago, shortly after graduating with my creative writing degree and getting a diagnosis of the autoimmune bone condition, ankylosing spondylitis. In an effort to improve my health, stay mobile, and help prevent my bones from calcifying and fusing, I spent thousands of hours studying everything from nutrition and naturopathy to conventional medicine and holistic healing. I heard this somewhere, so I can’t take credit, but I like to say I went to “save my ass university”, because pain and illness are some of the biggest motivators.

Read more
Health & Fitness
I tried Magic Mind for a month and here is what happened to my productivity
Furniture, Business Card, Paper

I am proudly an all-brown beverage man. I say it often: I am coffee in the morning, bourbon in the evening, and Pepsi/Coke in between. I know what you’re thinking: What about water? Well, all of those are mostly water. And who wants to drink the same thing they bathe in? That sounds gross. All jokes aside, the coffee addiction is real, and I am not alone. Who thinks they can truly conquer a day without a hard shot of caffeine? I would get it in an IV if it were feasible to do on the subway instead of a cup to go. But that doesn’t have to be the only way you develop your productivity. Instead, you can look to the more natural and healthy methods to maintain and increase your effectiveness. I got my hands on some Magic Mind recently, one of the many different products that claim to elevate brain health, increase mental performance, and, of course, replace the coffee without losing the energy boost. But does it work?

The scientific hoolah

Read more