Over the summer I won’t have access to a gym at all. Just a barbell, a pair of dumbbells, a bench and (not many tbh) weight plates at home. So I’ve been planning out my summer training, and I just can’t think of anything to do for triceps. Pretty much every extension movement like skullcrushers kill my elbows beyond anything. I can’t do pressdowns. Or dips. I have no spotter so close grip bench presses can’t be hit with much intensity.
About the only tricep movement I can think of that I can do with any intensity is PJR pullovers, and one movement probably isn’t enough to be honest. Can anyone suggest any other tricep movements that can basically be done with minimal equipment which won’t aggrevate my elbows?
So let me get this straight… you think doing only PJR pullovers is better then doing CGBPs one rep short of failure plus PJRs? Come on… you know the answer to that one. You said yourself you have limited choices… Go heavy and avoid failure on close grip benches and get “intense” on your PJRs…
Try rolling DB Extensions (lie on the floor, bring DB’s down over your shoulders or better yet for elbow health → behind your head. Rest them on the floor for a sec, explode back up).
If you have an EZ Bar, use a curl-width grip, not a narrow one, and do the above on a bench with the EZ… Bring it down behind the head, rest on bench, explode back up (stop at an incline though, not with arms perpendicular to the floor).
Get into PL bench position, scapulae/shoulder wise when doing this stuff.
(bringing the bar down behind the head doesn’t bother my elbows much… Though I’d still suggest using elbow sleeves, of course… Gripping the bar hard with all fingers and just getting tight overall also seems to help with elbow discomfort, for some reason)
Then there are neutral-grip DB presses with elbows tucked… Also decent for tris.
As for CGP… Just do some fatty-style cluster training (or do that in general). Check Fattyfat’s thread in the t-cell. No spotter required as you never go to failure, though I guess you have to be a bit more careful the closer you get to your old max.
Finally… What about overhead lockouts? At failure you just bring the bar back down in front of you like on a hang-clean and press /mil press.
[quote]hardcoreraymond wrote:
are you serious man?
What do you mean kill your elbows? do you have a joint problem or do you just not accept the fact that there will be pain if you work out intensely?
skullcrushers and dips i LOVE for triceps. hell, i strap over 100 lbs on me while im dippin’.
if your joints hurt, get more fats. [/quote] That doesn’t necessarily fix the issue. [quote]
but if you still end up not doing those (WHICH YOU SHOULD)[/quote] Why? Honestly, you may like them, but they suck for many. CGP allow for better progression/more weight with no elbow trouble when done right… PJR’s allow for decent weight, better stretch, no elbow issues. Rolling DB/EZ Extensions = more weight, elbow friendly by comparison… [quote], you can do pyramid pushups, elbows in pushups(both with weight on back), [/quote]
Many can’t do skullcrushers at all without severe elbow pain, I fall into that group, pX too… And we have no elbow tendonitis or anything. I think it has something to do with the tricep belly length maybe…
In any event, you can simply bring the bar down behind the head with a curl-width grip and the problem is solved.
If you like skullcrushers, cool. Even better if they don’t give you any issues.
But I don’t think that they are a great exercise for most. If you don’t have elbow issues now… Many end up with tendonitis/osis after years of heavy skull-crushers.
Many elbow-friendly alternatives out there, just saying.
I don’t see any reason to do an exercise that flat out hurts me in the wrong way.
Thanks for the responses, particularly Cephalic Carnage, I’ve never heard of rolling DB extensions before, will definately give those a try.
The problem with close grip bench presses though, which I think I neglected to mention in my OP, is that my stupid bench doesn’t have a rack; getting the bar into position would be awkward, to say the least. Would tucked DB floor presses be a good movement/alternative as well? Just remembered that one just now.
And to clarify to an earlier poster, yes it is a joint/tendon problem when I do extension based movements.
[quote]browndisaster wrote:
If I fail alone on CGBP I can usually bring my hands out wider and press it up. And it seems absurd that you can’t do something like db skullcrushers.[/quote]
Why should it be absurd? See my posts above.
Btw, I’m stronger on the elbows-tucked CGP than with a wider grip… But I’m an alien when it comes to tricep strength anyway
[quote]Impega wrote:
Thanks for the responses, particularly Cephalic Carnage, I’ve never heard of rolling DB extensions before, will definately give those a try. [/quote] Check maraudermeat’s/christopher drummond’s youtube channel (“rawelite”). He does them, but not the EZ version on the bench.
I’d really suggest the EZ if you have one… You can put it on the middle of the bench and then sort of semi-turn around and get down so that your butt is not on the bench, but low-back and upper-back/delts are.
Then you just reach behind your head (once you’ve gotten your scapulae retracted and shoulders etc into the right position) and grip the bar where you’d grip it for curls.
[quote]
The problem with close grip bench presses though, which I think I neglected to mention in my OP, is that my stupid bench doesn’t have a rack; getting the bar into position would be awkward, to say the least. Would tucked DB floor presses be a good movement/alternative as well? Just remembered that one just now.
[/quote] Yeah, those work too. True, CGP without uprights/rack doesn’t work so well lol
I remember when I started out and, due to the lack of a rack in the gym, had to clean the bar up for squats etc. Didn’t work for very long lol[quote]
And to clarify to an earlier poster, yes it is a joint/tendon problem when I do extension based movements. [/quote]
