I have decided that I am tired of doing rope pushdowns for triceps, and that I want to have sore triceps the next day. I am seriously considering making a set of boards tonight and using them tomorrow as well as adding close grip.
My questions are:
What is the big difference between floor press and board pressing from say a two board?
If you could only have two boards to use for the rest of your life, what would they be? (I am pretty sure I am going to make a two and a three board.)
Will this help me get bigger arms AND a bigger bench than doing endless sets of mindless rope pushdowns?
I am also playing with adding closer grip benches as well.
I should mention that I press with an arch, sink and press style, and about a thumb’s length from the smooth portion of the bar at my widest.
My bench is currently moving well so I hesitate to change anything, but I am just tired of doing endless sets of rope pushdowns.
The big difference, for me, between floor and board presses is the ability to set my shoulders and use my back and legs to drive the bar up.
As far as what boards to choose, that all depends on your sticking point. If you struggle at the bottom, one or two boards is probably better. If lockout is your issue, you need more. I just cut down and duct-taped some 2x4’s together to make a single, 2 and 3-board (add the single to the 3, and I have a 4-board as well), and that has been sufficient for everything I’ve needed to fix on my bench to this point.
As far as building triceps strength, close grip bench and skullcrushers (elbows pointed to the ceiling gets the most triceps involvement) have done more for me than press-downs ever have, but, as with all things, YMMV.
Are you dead set on boards? I am having amazing success with foam pressing instead of floor pressing. I cut a black foam roller into a 1/3-thickness and 2/3-thickness piece. The 1/3 piece is about a 1.5 board but you can sink the bar into it a fair amount (maybe down to 1brd). The thicker piece is about a 3brd I would guess.
I trained with boards for about a year and never really felt like they were beneficial specifically for tricep training. I DID think they were a great maximal effort choice to train overload and getting used to a heavier load in the hands, but for repetition work, I didn’t see much benefit from it. I honestly have gotten a lot more out of using pushdowns for my direct tricep work.
In terms of difference between floor and board press, I don’t think the two compare. When I use a floor press, my chest does a lot of the work, because it’s holding the bar in place over my chest, whereas with the 2-board, I can hold the bar in place on the board. I actually use floor pressing far more for chest development than I do for tricep.
[quote]RozS wrote:
The big difference, for me, between floor and board presses is the ability to set my shoulders and use my back and legs to drive the bar up.
As far as what boards to choose, that all depends on your sticking point. If you struggle at the bottom, one or two boards is probably better. If lockout is your issue, you need more. I just cut down and duct-taped some 2x4’s together to make a single, 2 and 3-board (add the single to the 3, and I have a 4-board as well), and that has been sufficient for everything I’ve needed to fix on my bench to this point.
As far as building triceps strength, close grip bench and skullcrushers (elbows pointed to the ceiling gets the most triceps involvement) have done more for me than press-downs ever have, but, as with all things, YMMV. [/quote]
So +1 for boards then?
I am not worried about sticking points per se. I just want to have the largest and most powerful triceps that I possibly can.
[quote]grettiron wrote:
Are you dead set on boards? I am having amazing success with foam pressing instead of floor pressing. I cut a black foam roller into a 1/3-thickness and 2/3-thickness piece. The 1/3 piece is about a 1.5 board but you can sink the bar into it a fair amount (maybe down to 1brd). The thicker piece is about a 3brd I would guess.[/quote]
I am pretty set on boards. They are cheap and I hear that they work very well for some people.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I trained with boards for about a year and never really felt like they were beneficial specifically for tricep training. I DID think they were a great maximal effort choice to train overload and getting used to a heavier load in the hands, but for repetition work, I didn’t see much benefit from it. I honestly have gotten a lot more out of using pushdowns for my direct tricep work.
In terms of difference between floor and board press, I don’t think the two compare. When I use a floor press, my chest does a lot of the work, because it’s holding the bar in place over my chest, whereas with the 2-board, I can hold the bar in place on the board. I actually use floor pressing far more for chest development than I do for tricep.[/quote]
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I trained with boards for about a year and never really felt like they were beneficial specifically for tricep training. I DID think they were a great maximal effort choice to train overload and getting used to a heavier load in the hands, but for repetition work, I didn’t see much benefit from it. I honestly have gotten a lot more out of using pushdowns for my direct tricep work.
In terms of difference between floor and board press, I don’t think the two compare. When I use a floor press, my chest does a lot of the work, because it’s holding the bar in place over my chest, whereas with the 2-board, I can hold the bar in place on the board. I actually use floor pressing far more for chest development than I do for tricep.[/quote]
So I am stuck doing the rope pushdowns?[/quote]
You are not me, so I do not know what will work for you. That said, in my condition, I do not see it as being “stuck” doing the movement. I do it because it works, so in that sense I am “stuck” doing what works versus doing what doesn’t, which I am ok with. Some folks get a lot out of board pressing.
If you aren’t worried about blasting through a sticking point, then you probably won’t get much out of boards, tbh. Like others have said, I don’t think my triceps have every really benefitted from them.
Close-grip presses and skullcrushers are going to do a lot more for triceps development.
[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
I trained with boards for about a year and never really felt like they were beneficial specifically for tricep training. I DID think they were a great maximal effort choice to train overload and getting used to a heavier load in the hands, but for repetition work, I didn’t see much benefit from it. I honestly have gotten a lot more out of using pushdowns for my direct tricep work.
In terms of difference between floor and board press, I don’t think the two compare. When I use a floor press, my chest does a lot of the work, because it’s holding the bar in place over my chest, whereas with the 2-board, I can hold the bar in place on the board. I actually use floor pressing far more for chest development than I do for tricep.[/quote]
So I am stuck doing the rope pushdowns?[/quote]
You are not me, so I do not know what will work for you. That said, in my condition, I do not see it as being “stuck” doing the movement. I do it because it works, so in that sense I am “stuck” doing what works versus doing what doesn’t, which I am ok with. Some folks get a lot out of board pressing.[/quote]
Fair points.
Thanks for the response. I am having this issue where I can do a 10x10 with the same weight I can do a 4x10. I just feel like I am spinning my wheels with the pushdowns.
[quote]RozS wrote:
If you aren’t worried about blasting through a sticking point, then you probably won’t get much out of boards, tbh. Like others have said, I don’t think my triceps have every really benefitted from them.
Close-grip presses and skullcrushers are going to do a lot more for triceps development. [/quote]
I can’t do skull crushers with heavy weight. They hurt my elbows mid rep, and I have a rule that if it hurts, I won’t do it.
My understanding of close grip is that it is actually more of a shoulder movement because of the exaggerated ROM at the bottom. It is only after you get to mid way that it becomes a triceps movement. Do you think this is accurate info I have been fed?
Thanks for the response. I am having this issue where I can do a 10x10 with the same weight I can do a 4x10. I just feel like I am spinning my wheels with the pushdowns.[/quote]
I only do 1 set of 100 at the end of my workout. I find it really helps to push down and then out with the band. Really focusing on the contraction of the triceps. Makes mine ache for a few days.
[quote]RozS wrote:
If you aren’t worried about blasting through a sticking point, then you probably won’t get much out of boards, tbh. Like others have said, I don’t think my triceps have every really benefitted from them.
Close-grip presses and skullcrushers are going to do a lot more for triceps development. [/quote]
I can’t do skull crushers with heavy weight. They hurt my elbows mid rep, and I have a rule that if it hurts, I won’t do it.
My understanding of close grip is that it is actually more of a shoulder movement because of the exaggerated ROM at the bottom. It is only after you get to mid way that it becomes a triceps movement. Do you think this is accurate info I have been fed?[/quote]
In my experience, nothing about weightlifting is supposed to be comfortable. Also, there’s nothing wrong with doing an exercise with lighter weight to avoid injury. The muscles are still being worked. Also, I wonder if you’re form needs adjusted since you’re experiencing enough pain to make you stop.
Close-grip presses are definitely more of a triceps developer, so yeah, I’d say you’ve been mislead a bit.
[quote]RozS wrote:
If you aren’t worried about blasting through a sticking point, then you probably won’t get much out of boards, tbh. Like others have said, I don’t think my triceps have every really benefitted from them.
Close-grip presses and skullcrushers are going to do a lot more for triceps development. [/quote]
I can’t do skull crushers with heavy weight. They hurt my elbows mid rep, and I have a rule that if it hurts, I won’t do it.
My understanding of close grip is that it is actually more of a shoulder movement because of the exaggerated ROM at the bottom. It is only after you get to mid way that it becomes a triceps movement. Do you think this is accurate info I have been fed?[/quote]
I can’t do heavy skull crushers either so I opt for JM presses.