Dumbbell Tricep Kickback
The dumbbell tricep kickback is a bent-over isolation exercise where you straighten your arm behind you with your upper arm held against your side. It isolates the triceps, with peak tension near full lockout. Pick it as a light finisher or when you want triceps work that's easy on the elbows.
Muscles worked
The dumbbell tricep kickback trains the triceps.
Primary
Weekly sets for triceps
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for triceps, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the dumbbell tricep kickback
- 01Place one hand and knee on a bench, or hinge forward with a flat back, holding a dumbbell in your free hand.
- 02Lift your upper arm until it's parallel to the floor and tight to your side, elbow bent at 90 degrees.
- 03Extend your elbow to push the dumbbell back until your arm is straight.
- 04Squeeze your triceps at lockout, then lower slowly back to 90 degrees.
- 05Keep your upper arm still for every rep, then switch to the other arm.
Coaching cues
- Upper arm parallel and frozen
- Squeeze hard at lockout
- Light weight, clean reps
Common mistakes
- Letting the upper arm drop toward the floor kills tension, so hold it parallel to the floor throughout.
- Swinging the dumbbell back with momentum skips the hardest part, so pause at lockout every rep.
- Using a heavy dumbbell forces a swing, so choose a load you can hold at full extension.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Dumbbell Tricep Kickback alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your dumbbell tricep kickback free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.