SKULL CRUSHERS/ to the head or slightly in abck of

[punch]

I have tried both and it seems that bringing the bar slightly in back of the head and raising wieght from that position puts more stress on the Tricep. What do you all think??

 

[TheOak84]

i bring it behind my head and get a nice stretch... i feel when i bring it to my head, i dont feel it as much untill half way up..

 

[punch]

A friend of mine suggested trying this movement on a decline bench. Despite my skepticism it worked very well. I have to do a huge warm up before doing skulls otherwise my elbows hurt big time.

 

[TheOak84]

ya i do 3 progressive warmups something like:

(with a curl bar) dimesx15, 25x10, 35x8
then workset, 45x8, 45 and a dimex8..

so, 3 warmups, but, if i do chest or delts first, just 2 warm ups

 

[louden_swain]

I go behind the head because it is more comfortable for me. I feel that I can get a deeper stretch. The convential skull crusher is garbage to me since in places negative stress on the elbow, plus it doesn't feel natural. I will never force my body to do a movement that it rejects.

I keep my upper arm angled and stationary at 60 degrees.

I love to perform this exercise on an incline. I feel that it is easier to control the movement.

 

[Thaibox]

The best thing about seated skull crushers is that when your elbows are pulled back over your head, your tris are stretched, therefore creating a full range of motion that you can't get out of other tri lifts. So, if done seated upright or inclined, the bar should touch behind your head. Laying of course would be different.

 

[R CRUSHER]

hmmmm...i do them behind my head, to my nose, and to my neck(kinda like a tate press). they all feel different.

 

[gymtime]

Are you talking seated, upright tri extensions? or regular flat bench skulls? It seems like two different excercises are being discussed here.

 

[baza]

I agree with thaibox, I found that if you go to your eyes or forehead, you triceps aren't perpendicular to your body, so it's not hitting them properly. When they are angled it doesn't seem to be working as good, and seems as though you are cheating. Just my opinion. Angled I mean away from your body, not the other way, which Thaibox is talking about.

The best thing about seated skull crushers is that when your elbows are pulled back over your head, your tris are stretched, therefore creating a full range of motion that you can't get out of other tri lifts. So, if done seated upright or inclined, the bar should touch behind your head. Laying of course would be different.

 

[Thaibox]

Are you talking seated, upright tri extensions? or regular flat bench skulls? It seems like two different excercises are being discussed here.

Seated upright extensions: The best way would be to have your elbows above your head do to the stretch, so you'd want to hit(or go toward) the back of your head

Flat skulls: Your upper arms should be at slightly less than 90 degrees from your body(to avoid lockout stress release), and remain stationary throughout the entire movement. So, it would only be possible to touch the front of your head. Am I right in my thinking?

 

[gymtime]

Seated upright extensions: The best way would be to have your elbows above your head do to the stretch, so you'd want to hit(or go toward) the back of your head

Flat skulls: Your upper arms should be at slightly less than 90 degrees from your body(to avoid lockout stress release), and remain stationary throughout the entire movement. So, it would only be possible to touch the front of your head. Am I right in my thinking?

You are correct sir. If you bring the bar over and behind your head on a flat skull, that will force your upper arm to move as well, which is all wasted motion. Not only that, this will promote cheating by the temptation to swing the bar up using your shoulders, not your tris.

 

[Savage]

Go to the CHIN. It really brings in the tri action.

 

[Y_lifter]

I make the form habit of bringing it down and LIGHTLY touching the back of the hand where the wrist joint is onto my forehead..

That takes the bar just behing the head..

 

[R CRUSHER]

i guess you do what feels good for you.

i get stale doing the same skull's all the time. i even do them with hex dbells holding the smooth sides together with palms facing each other.

 

[Deepsquat]

when I lay back on the bench, I hang my head over the end, that way I get a full stretch, but don't have to change the angle of my elbow, I am able to keep it straight up and down.

 

[endpoint]

ohhhhhhh so you DONT let it hit you in the head.....

 

[supersizeme]

when i perform the crushers of the skull, i bring the bar down to my forehead. i have found that from watching people who bring the bar back down behind their head, it usually ends up looking like more of a pullover than a skullcrusher.

 

[Bigsatan13]

Seated upright extensions: The best way would be to have your elbows above your head do to the stretch, so you'd want to hit(or go toward) the back of your head

Flat skulls: Your upper arms should be at slightly less than 90 degrees from your body(to avoid lockout stress release), and remain stationary throughout the entire movement. So, it would only be possible to touch the front of your head. Am I right in my thinking?

Yes you are correct. I think that the exercise Punch is refering to is called "lying tricep kickbacks", according to Weider's "Superhighway to Great Guns" poster I have hanging on my office wall, it is the most underrated tricep exercise. You lie flat on the bench, using the E-z curl bar, extend your arms straight back so they are parallel to the floor. Lower the bar to the floor so your arms are at 90 degrees at the elbow and then kick the weight up to parallel again. I never tried this exercise so I can't give my opinion on whether or not it works.

 

[Charlie Kane]

Here is a pic and description of the exercise BIGSATAN13 is describing.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/adamextensions.htm

I really rate this exercise very highly. While the weight you use is not very heavy in comparison to other tricep exercises. It gives a great stretch and awesome pump.


CK

 

[Bigsatan13]

Here is a pic and description of the exercise BIGSATAN13 is describing.

http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/exercise3/adamextensions.htm

I really rate this exercise very highly. While the weight you use is not very heavy in comparison to other tricep exercises. It gives a great stretch and awesome pump.


CK

How do rate it against regular kickbacks? I use regular kickbacks and even though most people don't like them, they give my outer horseshoe definition like nothing else.

 

[Vortexx]

Bringing the arms overhead while lying skullcrushing will indeed provide better stretch and less torsion forces on the elbow, BUT you have to do them very controlled in order to prevent the arms from swinging otherwise it will end up as a barbell pullover....

Really, you should have some sort of modified Larry Scott bench to keep you arms fixed for the lying skull crushers, if you are creative than you can improvise something in your gym with benches and ropes etc....