Dumbbell · intermediate · upper arms
Dumbbell plank single arm triceps
Also called Plank triceps kickback, Plank kickback, Single-arm plank triceps extension, Plank triceps extension.
This holds a push-up position on one hand while the other arm performs a triceps kickback: the upper arm stays back along your ribs and only the elbow opens and closes. The triceps is what does the work here, since straightening the elbow is the only thing happening. Everything else is holding still, and there is plenty of it. One shoulder carries your upper body, and your obliques stop your hips turning toward the arm that keeps moving. The short name for it is the plank kickback.
How to do it
- Step oneStart in a high plank position with one hand on a dumbbell and the other flat on the ground.
- Step twoFrom the plank, perform a triceps kickback by bending the elbow of the dumbbell arm to 90 degrees.
- Step threeExtend the dumbbell back by straightening your elbow until your arm is parallel to the ground.
- Step fourSlowly return the dumbbell to the bent position.
- Step fiveComplete all repetitions on one side before switching arms.
What usually goes wrong
Each starts with what you would notice.
The dumbbell arm swings down and back up, and your elbow travels with it.
WhyThe upper arm has stopped being a fixed point, so the shoulder is opening and closing alongside the elbow and the rep has become a small row.
FixHold the upper arm still against your ribs, roughly parallel with the floor, and let only the forearm swing. If it will not stay put, the dumbbell outweighs what this position can keep still.
The first half of every rep feels like nothing and only the last few inches burn.
WhyThat is how a kickback is built and not a mistake. With the upper arm level, the dumbbell hangs almost directly under your elbow at the bottom, so there is very little for the triceps to fight. As the forearm comes level with the floor the weight reaches its furthest point from the elbow, which is where the rep gets hard.
FixHold the straightened position for a beat before lowering, since the end of the range is the part actually loading the muscle. Swinging into it faster does not add anything.
Your hips turn toward the working side as the arm straightens.
WhyOne arm is off the floor and it is moving a weight out behind you, which pulls your body around after it.
FixTake a wider stance with your feet before you start, and keep both hip bones pointing at the floor. If they turn anyway, finish the set with a lighter dumbbell.
The supporting wrist and shoulder are what ache afterward.
WhyThat side holds your upper body on a single hand for the whole set while the other side works, and a flat palm puts the wrist near the end of how far it bends.
FixStack the supporting hand under its shoulder, spread the fingers and press the floor away. Gripping a second dumbbell or a pair of push-up handles keeps the wrist straighter if the position itself is what hurts.
What it is for
The plank single arm dumbbell triceps exercise combines a plank hold with a one-arm triceps kickback, targeting the triceps while requiring the core and shoulders to stabilize the plank position. It is an effective way to train the triceps with added core challenge.
Questions people ask
- What muscles does the plank kickback work?
- The triceps straightens the elbow and is the muscle being trained. Your abs and obliques keep your hips level while one arm works, and the supporting shoulder and chest hold you up. Only the elbow moves.
- Are triceps kickbacks actually worth doing?
- Better than their reputation. In the ACE-sponsored study comparing eight triceps exercises against the triangle push-up as a 100 percent reference, the dumbbell kickback measured 87 percent, level with dips and ahead of the overhead extension and both cable pushdowns, with those top three not differing significantly. That was a kickback done bent over a bench, not one done from a plank.
- What weight works for this?
- Lighter than you would use for a kickback with a hand on a bench. Here the weight is capped by what you can move without your hips turning and by how long the supporting arm holds out, not by your triceps.
- Why does the bottom of the rep feel so easy?
- Because the weight hangs almost under your elbow there, so it is barely asking the joint for anything. A dumbbell loads a joint most when it is furthest from it, which in this position means at full extension.
- Should I do it from a plank or bent over a bench?
- The triceps job is the same either way. From a plank you add work for your trunk and give up load. Over a bench you can keep the arm still more easily and use more weight. Nobody has compared the two.
- Does this train the long head of the triceps?
- It works all three heads, as any elbow extension does. The long head is the one that also crosses the shoulder, and with your arm held back beside your body it sits shortened at that end rather than lengthened. If a stretched long head is what you are after, the overhead extension is the exercise built around it.