Muscles Worked: Triceps, A great isolation exercise that targets the triceps, especially at the bottom around the elbows.
Spotter Required: No (unless you are lifting heavy or going to failure)
Minimum Equipment required: Bench press and EZ barbell & weights
The Best Equipment to Use: An Olympic bench press with an Olympic EZ barbell & weights
Warming up: If skull crushers are your first triceps workout I suggest 2 warm-up sets using 50% of the weight you would normally execute the exercise. If you have already performed a triceps exercise prior to skull crushers there is no need to warm-up
How often should I perform this exercise: Skull crushers are great for improving your triceps, especially at the bottom of the triceps near the elbow. You can perform them with every triceps workout
When should I perform this exercise: Skull crushers use a bit of energy so I recommend doing them near the start of a triceps workout, probably after a compound move such as upright dips or close grip bench press.
How to do the exercise: Lying on a bench press holding onto the barbell with a narrow overhand grip, with a width slightly less than shoulder width. Make sure your feet are firmly on the ground and not on the bench press.
Holding the barbell over your chest with your elbows locked, start to lower the weight towards your forehead using all the power of your triceps to control the movement. Once the barbell reaches the forehead begin to move the weight back to the start position without locking your elbows.
Remember to keep your upper arms still throughout the workout, only moving your forearms. Finally make sure that your elbows stay in line with the shoulders throughout the exercise and do not let them flail out or this will reduce the effectiveness of the triceps.
To further increase the emphasis on the triceps you can move the bar back a bit (further up your chest) so that at the bottom of the movement you go slightly beyond your forehead.
If you find that your elbows hurt during skull crushers I strongly suggest checking your grip width, asking a partner to check your form and also making sure you are not lifting too heavy. Injuries to the elbows are horrible and can put you out for weeks, so if it hurts stop and access the workout.
Mentality: Keeping balance is very important, keep your head on the bench at all time and make sure you don’t move it, a tip is to focus on a spot on the ceiling. As you become tired it is likely your arms will begin to move or possibly flair outwards, if this happens take a second or two to stabilize yourself.
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