Dumbbell Skull Crusher
The dumbbell skull crusher is a lying tricep extension where you lower two dumbbells beside your head and press them back up. It isolates the triceps, and despite the name your skull stays safe with a controlled tempo. Dumbbells let each wrist find its own angle, which many lifters find easier on the elbows than a bar.
Muscles worked
The dumbbell skull crusher 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 dumbbell skull crusher
- 01Lie on a flat bench and press two dumbbells straight up over your chest, palms facing each other.
- 02Tilt your upper arms slightly back toward your head so the triceps stay loaded at the top.
- 03Bend your elbows and lower the dumbbells toward the sides of your head.
- 04Stop when the dumbbells reach about ear level, then extend your elbows to press them back up.
- 05Keep your upper arms still and your elbows pointing toward the ceiling.
Coaching cues
- Elbows stay pointed up
- Lower beside your ears
- Upper arms tilted slightly back
Common mistakes
- Moving the upper arms with each rep turns it into a press, so keep them fixed and only bend the elbows.
- Letting the elbows flare out wide shifts load away from the triceps, so keep them about shoulder width.
- Dropping the dumbbells fast near your head is risky, so lower slowly and keep a firm grip.
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.
Dumbbell Skull Crusher 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 dumbbell skull crusher free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.