Barbell Lying Tricep Extension
The barbell lying tricep extension, often called the skull crusher, is an isolation exercise where you lie on a bench and bend only your elbows to lower the bar toward your head. It trains all three heads of your triceps, with a good stretch on the long head. Pick it for direct triceps size work.
Muscles worked
The barbell lying tricep extension 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 barbell lying tricep extension
- 01Lie on a flat bench and hold the bar over your chest with an overhand grip at shoulder width or slightly narrower.
- 02Angle your arms slightly back toward your head so your triceps stay loaded at the top.
- 03Bend only at the elbows to lower the bar toward your forehead or just behind your head.
- 04Stop when you feel a strong triceps stretch with your upper arms still in place.
- 05Extend your elbows to return the bar to the start, keeping your upper arms still.
Coaching cues
- Upper arms stay fixed in place.
- Lower toward the top of your head.
- Elbows point at the ceiling.
Common mistakes
- Letting your elbows flare out wide shifts work away from the triceps, so keep them pointed forward.
- Swinging your upper arms turns it into a pullover, so lock your shoulders and bend only the elbows.
- Dropping the bar fast toward your face is asking for trouble, so control every rep and stop if your elbows hurt sharply.
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.
Barbell Lying Tricep Extension 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 barbell lying tricep extension free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.