what to do instead of skullcrushers?

[speese]

i like doing skullcrushers (lying tricep extension or french curl) but lately my elbows are just killing me while i do them. winny doesn't help the matter much either with the joints already being tender. is there any way to modify the exercise so it doesn't hurt? if not, what are some other good mass building tricep exercises that i can use during arms day? any help would be appreciated.

[RON]

Wow thats tough being that those are my fav. mass builder for tri's. You could try seated dips. Those work good too. Now I'm glad I don't use winny

[abstrack]

Close grip bench press
Overhead D-B presses

Swolecat posted this over at his board so might want to try it to help with your joints
"do as I do now and throw a pack of unflavored KNOX gelatin in your postworkout shakes w/the dextrose and R-ala."

"U can also utilize some baking soda w/ the shake or by itself in water w/the gelatin and other vitamins to offer effervescent qualities and increase the uptake percentage. (it's said to help, so I currently am employing that method) "

"Do this twice per day until better, then continue w/once per day."

[speese]

thanks guys. some good suggestions

[saboudian]

I haven't done skull crushers in over a year and will never do them again. I had the same problems with my elbows as you are having, once i stopped doing em though the pain went away.

I spend the bulk of my tricep training doing variations of dips, close grip bench (on any angle), and pulldowns(palm up or palm down), every now and then i might throw in kickbacks, but i always feel like a pussy when i do those.

[Juggernaut]

How about the French curl? I was also going to suggest the close grip bench but Abstract beat me to it. CAn you do dips?

[wrstlr69sdnl]

well I did have some pain in my elbows when doing skull crushers but I ended up going lighter and working my way up and dont feel more pain at all try that bro an see how it works

[Heinzanova]

same problem here as wrstlr69sdnl had, I was using much to high of weight. Soon as I went to a lower weight, the pain went away. Also I started taking creatine and that seemed to help alot of the joint problems I was having.

[markas214]

Try using pullys. I've found that I can duplicate all dumbell barbell movements and hit my tris hard from every angle. Most only do pushdowns. I use the low pully and do overhead extensions. I use the high pully, face away from the machine with my upper arm parallell to the floor and do extensions which is similar to skullcrushers, lying tricep extensions. Be creative. Use good form and squeeze at the end of the movement.

[BLaXuede]

2 sets pushdowns with loose form and 3 sets skull crushers is the best attack for your triceps...you should reach failure and recruit maximum muscle fiber by following this routine....also group tris with something like chest or biceps...that way they are worked a little bit more...

[TheNewSteel]

I personally like dips, I've never had any luck with arm isolation

[MR.BICEPS]

Dips always hurt my elbows! Your probably using too much weight and doing an explosive rep on skull crushers rather than doing a slow controlled movement!

Change over to close grip benches and do some shoulder-tricep injections with deca next cycle and your elbow should have a good chance of healing.

When you go back to skull crushers never do over 6 to 7 reps or less than 5. Higher reps in this exercise kills my elbow!

[MR.BICEPS]

Dips always hurt my elbows! Your probably using too much weight and doing an explosive rep on skull crushers rather than doing a slow controlled movement!

Change over to close grip benches and do some shoulder-tricep injections with deca next cycle and your elbow should have a good chance of healing.

When you go back to skull crushers never do over 6 to 7 reps or less than 5. Higher reps in this exercise kills my elbow!

[BigGreen]

is there any way to modify the exercise so it doesn't hurt?

If you are currently performing the exercise solely with a barbell, simply switching to dumbbells for the exercise may work wonders for you. I had the very same problem and dropped the barbell in favor of the dumbbells - it allows me to perform the exercise with a little more "freedom" as to which angle i place my wrists at, which in turn has greatly alleviated virtually all elbow pain resulting from the exercise.

[Pump_30]

i like doing skullcrushers (lying tricep extension or french curl) but lately my elbows are just killing me while i do them. winny doesn't help the matter much either with the joints already being tender. is there any way to modify the exercise so it doesn't hurt? if not, what are some other good mass building tricep exercises that i can use during arms day? any help would be appreciated.

Where in NJ you at bro? I'm in central jersey

[Slyder]

Could be your form. Try and seriously give this a try- Instead of lying with your arms straight up, let your head hang off the end of the bench, just a bit, and don't keep your arms straight up from shoulder to elbow, instead, lean your back towards your head just a bit, basically just move them a bit so they're not striaght up over you. This will take stress of the joints and put more off the stress on the triceps. Try it and see.

[pumpseeker]

Are you taking a glucosamine supp with your winny? It helped me a lot. Also, creatine would help, as mentioned above. Deca will help a lot too with the joints when using winny. Keep that in mind for next time.

But I agree wth Ron, skull crushers are my favorite exercise for tris...they just seem to hit em the hardest and really tax the muscle. Try warming up 1st exercise with pushdowns, then move to skull crushers or close grip benches or dips. If you're hurting with skull crushers, I assume you'll be hurting with overhead DB presses too, but these are the best exercises for mass. Good luck bro.

[RShaw]

i like doing skullcrushers (lying tricep extension or french curl) but lately my elbows are just killing me while i do them. winny doesn't help the matter much either with the joints already being tender. is there any way to modify the exercise so it doesn't hurt? if not, what are some other good mass building tricep exercises that i can use during arms day? any help would be appreciated.

I know you published this some time ago but, late news is better than no news.

I have progressed over the years to get strong and in fact seemed to get a lot stronger than I ever had been when I reached 50 years! But, one of the problems just starting as I reach 52 is that with a good practice of 4 day body part splits and good slow progress; I have the same elbow pain as you. I have had professionals look over the problem and it seems to be that most of us, no matter what the age, get bone spurs on the ulna that is the direct effect of your discomfort. It pinches nerves and makes tendon's go back and forth(right and left) over a bone spur.....etc.

I do not have arthritis or other torn tissue.

I do 115x10, 135x10, 155x10 with 8 presses/super-set on last set. That went all right for a months but keeping weight the same and not changing - > forearm and tricep felt some stress before just before the elbow got very painful. With no problem on heavy flat bench, decline bench or tricep extentions....."the skulls with the position of the ulna" is what is killing things in conjunction with the coronoid process.

Easy answer which is painless: reverse grip for skull crushers and use wraps on your hands. It become painless and is a great break for the spurs you have possibly developed on your ulna and the anterior band of nerve and tendon pinches.

If this doesn't solve it, you may need to get an MRI to find out what soft tissue has been trapped and maybe a complication of the radial tuberosity. That requires more interior bone shaving than just spurs being removed on the end of the ulna.

Nevertheless; try the other exercise to make sure the tricep and all tendons are intact before letting any orthopedic surgeon scrape your insides!

[Ashop]

Cable pressdowns with a rope. Don't go crazy on the weight,,shoot for the squeeze at the end and the pump.

[AlphaMindz]

Love rope pulls downs with full squeeze and hold at the bottom of movement. But I still think close grip bench is the overall best mass builder for tri's cause one can go really heavy and stimulate growth.

Not a bad post to dig out of the recycling bin lol..

[MuscleScience]

Try French presses.

[cousinmuscles]

Love rope pulls downs with full squeeze and hold at the bottom of movement. But I still think close grip bench is the overall best mass builder for tri's cause one can go really heavy and stimulate growth.

Not a bad post to dig out of the recycling bin lol..

I like JM presses even better, easier on the wrists too -

[GearHeaded]

I like JM presses even better, easier on the wrists too -

hey what do you know we agree on something JM presses are one of the best for overall tricep mass as well as strength
it will definitely carry over to your bench press strength as well

[AlphaMindz]

So basically a hybrid of skull crusher and close grip bench..?

[cousinmuscles]

hey what do you know we agree on something JM presses are one of the best for overall tricep mass as well as strength
it will definitely carry over to your bench press strength as well

seems we do

So basically a hybrid of skull crusher and close grip bench..?

yep minimize the work done with shoulders and chest. at the end of a set when I come to a grind I can make it a little dirty and add the compound exercise effect, I get more out of this than with isolation exercises though ofc this is related to my training preferences, less volume.

[marcus300]

I've had tremendous gains from the below exercises and for me these have without doubt superseded any other movement for growth, isolation and pain free. These two movements target the long head of the tricep which if isolated right will see amazing gains and make your arms look huge. The kind of arms what have a tricep hanging off the back of your arms which can been seen no matter what you wear.

The first one is the db French press, there are many variations and for me I prefer seating on a short back vertical bench and attack this movement with both arms at once holding the db. Once your arms are above the head and locked in the only involvement is the long head of the tricep, just let the elbows flow in there natural position and conduct this with slow powerful reps. It doesn't over extend the elbow joint and stimulates growth directly on the long head if done correctly. You can really build up some serious strength doing these which translates in growth and bigger triceps. You can do them one arm at a time but what happens is you start taking the arm away from the head and your shoulder will take over, its a natural response the body will go through so with both hands locked around the bells this helps to keep it guided and really makes the tricep work hard.

I also like lying db extensions - just the same as skull crushers but with db's and a slight variation on how you attack the exercise. This will result in zero pain not like what many complain with skull crushers and also if you position yourself right will directly hit the long head again for that big tricep look. Lay on a flat bench or slight incline which ever you prefer, I like the flat but I do swap angles from time to time and get the bells straight up inline with your eyes, now with the starting position just move the whole arm from your shoulder joint and take the bells back so they are inline with the top of your head, this will direct all the stress on the long head instead of any chest or shoulder involvement. Then just complete a rep, let the wrists and elbows flow naturally this will take away any stress on the elbow and direct it more on the triceps. If you move the bells to eye level and do a rep you will see and feel a big difference on the tricep being worked and the secondary muscles getting involved.

[Realgear1226]

I used to lead with skull crushers on arm day but ended up with the same issue. Elbows felt like they had railroad spikes in them. I moved them to my second exercise after warm up and 3 sets of cable extensions. This somewhat exhausted them so I couldn't use as much weight and it cleared up. Also I don't know if anyone mentioned it or not, but I like to do them on a decline. I get better range of motion and more stable platform with my arms tucked in tight.