How is this different from the Foam Roller Lat Roll?

Both are done lying on your side with the bottom arm reached overhead, but the Foam Roller Lat Roll puts the roller on the side of the upper back below the armpit, with the chest turned slightly toward the ceiling. Here the roller sits above the armpit on the back of the upper arm, with the chest tipped slightly toward the floor and the top hand on the floor for support. The armpit lies between the two, so finish one area and reposition rather than rolling through it.

How long should I roll my triceps?

About 30 to 90 seconds of slow passes on each arm is enough for one round, with a pause of 20 to 30 seconds on any tender spot. One or two rounds before or after training covers most needs.

Should I foam roll my triceps before pressing?

It is a reasonable way to start the warm-up for pressing, dips or overhead work. Keep it short and follow it with dynamic arm and shoulder drills and a few light sets, and save longer rolling for after training.

Is it supposed to hurt, and why do my fingers tingle?

Expect firm pressure and some tenderness, roughly a 5 to 7 on a scale of 10, but never sharp pain. Tingling in the ring and little fingers usually means the roller has reached the elbow, and tingling or a dead feeling through the whole arm means it is too close to the armpit or has drifted onto the inner arm, so move back onto the middle of the arm or stop.

Will foam rolling fix tight triceps?

Not on its own. The looser feeling after rolling lasts a short while, so pair it with an overhead triceps stretch and keep training the triceps through their full range with exercises such as the Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension.

Foam Roller Triceps Roll

What Is the Foam Roller Triceps Roll?

Foam Roller Triceps Roll is an isolation exercise that primarily targets the triceps, using a foam roller to massage the back of the upper arm one side at a time. It is a beginner-level movement that needs no strength base, only the ability to lie on your side and reach one arm overhead comfortably.

You lie on your side with your bottom arm reached overhead along the floor and the roller under the back of that upper arm, then use your top hand and top foot to slide the roller between just clear of the armpit and a couple of inches above the elbow. People use it to ease the tight, heavy feeling in the back of the arm that builds up after pressing, push-ups, dips and triceps extensions, and as a quick primer before overhead pressing or throwing, where the arm has to reach fully overhead. Trainers usually place it at the start of a warm-up, ahead of dynamic arm and shoulder drills, or in a cool-down. The looser feeling it gives is modest and short-lived, so it works best as a regular habit rather than as a fix on its own.

The triceps has three heads. The long head starts on the shoulder blade just below the shoulder joint, so reaching the arm overhead lengthens it and presses it firmly into the roller. The lateral head covers the outer back of the arm, and the medial head lies mostly underneath the other two, coming to the surface near the elbow, where all three join one tendon at the point of the elbow. With the arm overhead, the back of the upper arm faces the same way as your chest, so tipping your chest slightly toward the floor brings the roller onto the triceps, while lying square on your side leaves it on the outer edge of the arm. How much weight your top hand and top foot take decides the pressure.

Anyone who presses, does push-ups and dips or trains triceps extensions can use it, as can swimmers, climbers and throwing athletes who feel tight at the back of the arm when reaching overhead. It builds no strength, so it belongs alongside triceps work such as the Cable Triceps Pushdown (Rope) and Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension, not in place of it. If lying on the arm is too much pressure, you can work the same area more gently by standing and leaning the back of your arm into a roller held against a wall.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Triceps Brachii (Lateral Head): Primary
Triceps Brachii (Long Head): Primary
Triceps Brachii (Medial Head): High
Latissimus Dorsi: Low
Teres Major: Low
Deltoid: Minimal
External Oblique: Minimal

Instructions

Lie on your side and reach your bottom arm straight overhead along the floor, resting your palm on the floor.
Place a foam roller across your body under the back of that upper arm, just clear of your armpit.
Rest your head on your bottom arm.
Keep your bottom leg straight, bend your top knee and plant your top foot on the floor in front of your bottom leg.
Place your top hand flat on the floor in front of your chest to control how much weight rests on the roller.
Tip your chest slightly toward the floor so the roller sits on the back of your upper arm rather than its outer edge, but not so far that the inner side of the arm comes onto it.
Use your top hand and foot to shift your body slowly toward your feet so the roller travels down the back of your arm to a couple of inches above the elbow.
Roll back to just clear of your armpit, taking about 2 to 3 seconds in each direction.
When you find a tender spot, pause on it for 20 to 30 seconds and breathe while the arm stays relaxed.
Continue for the set time, then roll onto your back and repeat on the other side.

Common Mistakes

Rolling onto the elbow
Carrying the roller down onto the point of the elbow presses on bone and on the ulnar nerve in the groove beside it, so stop a couple of inches above the elbow.
Rolling into the armpit
Pushing the roller up into the armpit presses on the nerves and blood vessels that run to the arm, so stop each pass just short of it.
Lying square on your side
With the chest facing straight ahead the roller sits on the outer edge of the arm, so tip the chest slightly toward the floor, just far enough to bring the back of the arm onto it.
Dropping all your weight onto the arm
Letting the full weight of the upper body sink onto the roller makes the triceps tense up, so keep your top hand and foot taking some of the load and add pressure gradually.
Rolling too fast
Quick back-and-forth passes skim over the short length of the upper arm, so slow down to about 2 to 3 seconds in each direction.
Letting the head hang
Holding the head up in the air or letting it drop toward the floor strains the neck, so rest it on the bottom arm.

Injuries

Foam Roller Triceps Roll is a low risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The spots that need care sit at either end of the roll. At the bottom end is the elbow, where the ulnar nerve, the "funny bone" nerve, runs close to the surface in a groove between the inner elbow bone and the point of the elbow, so rolling onto the elbow can send a jolt or tingling into the ring and little fingers. At the top end is the armpit, where the nerves and blood vessels that supply the arm pass close to the surface. The radial nerve also wraps around the back and outer side of the upper arm bone, so long, heavy pressure on the outer edge of the arm can leave the back of the hand numb or the wrist weak. Lying on the bottom shoulder with the arm reached overhead can pinch the front or top of the shoulder, and letting the head hang strains the neck.

Keep the roller on the muscle, between just clear of the armpit and a couple of inches above the elbow, and tip your chest slightly toward the floor so it stays on the back of the arm rather than its outer edge, and not so far that it reaches the inner side of the arm, where the main artery and nerves of the arm run. Move slowly with a firm but tolerable pressure you can breathe through, and use your top hand and top foot to take weight off the arm whenever the pressure is too much. If your shoulder pinches with the arm overhead, bring the arm a little lower until the pinch goes away, and rest your head on your bottom arm so the neck stays relaxed.

To make it easier, take more weight through your top hand and foot, use a softer roller, or stand and lean the back of your arm into a roller held against a wall. To make it harder, lift your top hand off the floor and rest it on your side so more of your weight rests on the arm, use a firmer roller, or pause on a tender spot and slowly bend and straighten your elbow a few times while the roller stays still.

Stop if you feel sharp pain, or numbness, tingling or burning that runs into the forearm or hand, which points to a nerve rather than a tight muscle, and move the roller back onto the middle of the arm before trying again. Do not roll over a recent triceps or elbow injury, a swollen or tender bursa at the point of the elbow, or a bruise until the pain has settled and a clinician has cleared you. People who take blood thinners, have a clotting or circulation disorder or osteoporosis, have had recent shoulder, arm or breast surgery or lymph node removal, or are pregnant should check with a healthcare provider before rolling.

Overview

Primary Focus: Triceps
Equipment: Foam roller
Modality: Stretching
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How is this different from the Foam Roller Lat Roll?: Both are done lying on your side with the bottom arm reached overhead, but the Foam Roller Lat Roll puts the roller on the side of the upper back below the armpit, with the chest turned slightly toward the ceiling. Here the roller sits above the armpit on the back of the upper arm, with the chest tipped slightly toward the floor and the top hand on the floor for support. The armpit lies between the two, so finish one area and reposition rather than rolling through it.
Q: How long should I roll my triceps?: About 30 to 90 seconds of slow passes on each arm is enough for one round, with a pause of 20 to 30 seconds on any tender spot. One or two rounds before or after training covers most needs.
Q: Should I foam roll my triceps before pressing?: It is a reasonable way to start the warm-up for pressing, dips or overhead work. Keep it short and follow it with dynamic arm and shoulder drills and a few light sets, and save longer rolling for after training.
Q: Is it supposed to hurt, and why do my fingers tingle?: Expect firm pressure and some tenderness, roughly a 5 to 7 on a scale of 10, but never sharp pain. Tingling in the ring and little fingers usually means the roller has reached the elbow, and tingling or a dead feeling through the whole arm means it is too close to the armpit or has drifted onto the inner arm, so move back onto the middle of the arm or stop.
Q: Will foam rolling fix tight triceps?: Not on its own. The looser feeling after rolling lasts a short while, so pair it with an overhead triceps stretch and keep training the triceps through their full range with exercises such as the Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension.