Lying Close-Grip Barbell Triceps Extension Behind The Head
A lying extension with the arms angled back past your head rather than stacked over your chest. Starting with the bar overhead and parallel to the floor keeps the long head under load at the top instead of letting the barbell rest on a straight, unloaded arm.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Lie on a flat bench with your head close to the end, not hanging off it — you need somewhere for the bar to travel behind.
- Take an EZ bar on the inner handles, or a straight bar at shoulder width, palms facing away.
- Press the bar up, then let the upper arms tip back until they are roughly parallel with the floor, bar overhead.
- Lock the elbows in at that angle and keep them there — the upper arms are scaffolding, not moving parts.
- Start with an empty EZ bar for a set of 10 to find the angle before adding any plates.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Inhale as you lower and hold the brace at the stretch, exhale as you extend. Three seconds down, a brief pause, one to two seconds up.
Before you load it
- The bar travels above your face for the whole set. Use collars, and have a spotter or a rack you can lower onto if you are going near failure.
- Stop if you feel a sharp pinch at the back of the elbow rather than muscular burn. The stretched position is the highest-strain part of this movement for the tendon.
Sets, reps & load
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Begin with an empty EZ bar — around 7-10 kg — for a full session before loading. Working sets typically land near two-thirds of your skull crusher weight for the same reps. Add 2.5 kg only when the upper arms hold their tipped-back angle from the first rep to the last; if they creep upright on rep 8, the weight goes back down.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Set a landmark: at lockout the bar should be roughly above your forehead, not above your chest. Halve the weight until you can hold that for a full set.
Start with the empty EZ bar and add 2.5 kg at a time. Expect to use roughly two-thirds of your skull crusher weight for the same reps.
Pause for a count with the forearms vertical, then extend. If you cannot start from a dead stop, the bar is too heavy for this angle.
Hold the upper arms about shoulder-width apart and imagine squeezing a ball between the elbows. Stop the set at the first rep where they splay.
Why bother
In a standard skull crusher the arms finish vertical, the bar sits over the joint, and the triceps get a rest at the top of every rep. Tipping the upper arms back so they end level with the bench moves that resting point out of the movement — at full extension the bar is still out in front of the shoulder and the triceps are still holding it.
The angle also puts the shoulder into flexion, which lengthens the long head across the shoulder joint before the elbow even bends. You get a genuine loaded stretch behind the arm, which is why the weight you can handle here is well below what you skull crush.
Where it fits
After your pressing on an upper-body day, 3-4 sets of 8-12. One elbow-flexed barbell triceps movement per week is enough; if you are already running JM presses or heavy skull crushers, use this as the lighter alternate rather than adding it on top.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
Start here instead
Asked and answered
How is this different from a normal skull crusher?
The upper arms. A skull crusher keeps them vertical, so at lockout the bar sits over the shoulder joint and the triceps briefly rest. Here the upper arms stay tipped back roughly parallel to the floor, so the bar is never over the joint and the muscle never gets a free moment. It is harder at the same weight and stretches the long head more.
EZ bar or straight bar?
EZ bar, in almost every case. The angled grip lets the forearm rotate slightly, which takes strain off the wrist and the inner elbow in a position that already loads both. Use a straight bar only if the EZ bar's inner handles are too wide for your shoulders.
Why is my weight so much lower than on skull crushers?
Because you removed the rest point and lengthened the muscle at the same time. The moment arm on your elbow is longer for the entire rep, and the long head is already stretched at the shoulder before the elbow bends. Lower numbers here are the movement working, not a sign you are weak.
Can I do this on a decline bench instead?
You can, and it changes the lift meaningfully: a decline shifts the hardest point and lets the bar clear your head more easily, but it also reduces the long-head stretch that is the point of this version. If you want the decline, treat it as its own movement rather than a swap.