Skull crusher/Close grip bench? or bothhh??

**dlynch1992** · 10-17-2012, 06:10 PM

Which will get me some more girth on my triceps overall or do I need to be doing both ? Thanks

**red_hulk** · 10-17-2012, 06:21 PM

You could do them both. What I usually do is one heavy workout and one light workout if they have the same compound movement. You can switch that up as you go

**Awesome_Archy** · 10-17-2012, 06:25 PM

I like to super set em using the short pre-weighted bars.

**marcus300** · 10-17-2012, 06:25 PM

Yeh hit them both with everything you got,

**ds53** · 10-20-2012, 08:28 AM

Use heavy on skull crushers and light high reps on close grips one time and reverse it the next time. It's very important to flush the tricep out and bring in more nutrients and oxygen if you want the "I cant wash my arm pits" type of work out that will make them grow like weeds. I did this when I was young and still fill out the cuffs of xxl tee shirts with em.

**MickeyKnox** · 10-20-2012, 10:27 AM

Originally Posted by marcus300

Yeh hit them both with everything you got,

Agree. I use both. But i use should width apart for skull crushers using EZ curl bar.

**SMACKADUCK** · 10-22-2012, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by dlynch1992

Which will get me some more girth on my triceps overall or do I need to be doing both ? Thanks

Heavy JM press, and weighted dips to failure!

**600@50** · 10-22-2012, 02:03 PM

Tricep rollbacks hit them hard too.

**JohnnyVegas** · 10-22-2012, 03:45 PM

I oftentimes do skull crushers to failure and then push out some close grips to get that last bit out of my triceps.

**mockery** · 10-23-2012, 04:26 PM

learn to get the second stretch when doing skull crushers the proper way and your arms will be massive

**songdog** · 10-24-2012, 04:02 AM

I do both.

**Placebro** · 10-24-2012, 12:07 PM

Originally Posted by mockery

learn to get the second stretch when doing skull crushers the proper way and your arms will be massive

What do you mean by that? I've been tweaking my form on skull-crushers lately and could use a few pointers.

**kalspic** · 10-24-2012, 04:26 PM

try lowering the weight and slow your reps down. i find i dont get a good ROM when to heavy and im shakey. i also look to feel the stretch in my triceps

**Placebro** · 10-24-2012, 05:13 PM

Lately, I've gone pretty light, I'm working on ROM, elbow flare and grip....I haven't found a sweet spot yet.

**OdinsOtherSon** · 10-24-2012, 05:34 PM

Originally Posted by Placebro

Lately, I've gone pretty light, I'm working on ROM, elbow flare and grip....I haven't found a sweet spot yet.

Personally, if I go too light with a given movement its more difficult for me to find that "sweet spot" than it would have been if I had over shot the weight just a tad. Too light, and your all over the place...not to mention wasting your time.

**Placebro** · 10-24-2012, 06:00 PM

I kinda subscribe to the light weight and contraction approach vs. heavy...just have seen a lot better results that way. Like if I go heavy on skullcrushers, I'll end up bringing my shoulders/latts into it and not really feeling too much activation in the tri's =(.

What type of grip/elbow flare do you use?

**OdinsOtherSon** · 10-24-2012, 07:04 PM

I understand. Go with what works for you. That is what's important. I use an ez-curl bar for skull crushers and will vary my grip from very narrow (hands almost touching) to about shoulder width. Usually I try to keep elbows tucked. (When performing narrow grip presses, I tend to flare). Your ability to adapt, cause trust me your body IS going to change over time, is paramount and if you continue to lift you will find that you will have to make adjustments to your technique as you begin to age. Our body mechanics are all very similar, yet very dissimilar at the same time. You just gotta find your groove, yet not be so locked into it that you can't make changes when necessary; hence my original statement about if the weight is too light, it may be difficult to really find how best to make a movement best work for you. That is my personal thing, you have to find yours!

**Placebro** · 10-24-2012, 07:55 PM

Great info!
I've been lifting for about 6 years now and lately have been trying to pick apart all of my lifts to try to analyze them to make sure my "groove" as you said is the best that it can possibly be. Its frustrating because on some lifts-mainly triceps I'll do a set and I'll know I've done better before but I just cant seem to hit the muscle in the exact right spot to get that same feeling. I used to have the same type of issue with biceps, but I got specifically familiar with how different grips, bars, and movement of arms relative to the shoulders influenced the specific heads of the bicep and brachialis. It's just how I process things in order to link my mind to muscle to get a groove-but it is hard for me to get that knowledge from just watching someone do it...if that makes any sense.