Cranium crushers are a tricep-focused higher physique push train that works all three heads of the tricep, however the lengthy head is the first muscle labored. Cranium crushers may be completed utilizing dumbbells, barbells, and resistance bands.
I usually program them for my purchasers, so learn on as I share learn how to do them, who they’re greatest for, errors to keep away from, and learn how to add them to your exercise.
How To Do Cranium Crushers With Correct Type
There are 3 key steps to do a cranium crusher with correct method.
- Arrange a flat bench with a barbell. Lay on the bench along with your ft on the bottom. Maintain the barbell along with your knuckles dealing with you and palms shoulder-width aside. Prolong your arms straight up so the bar is above your chest.
- Slowly decrease the bar all the way down to your brow, solely bending by your elbows. Maintain your elbows as tight and near your physique as doable with out flaring out to the facet. It is best to solely be shifting by your elbows, not the shoulders.
- As soon as the bar reaches your brow, press it again to the highest beginning place. As you press up, comply with the identical bar path and drive the bar by bending by your elbows. Repeat for the specified reps and units.
Who Ought to Do Cranium Crushers?
Powerlifters
Robust triceps are essential for powerlifters. Your triceps should be robust to assist drive the burden up in a bench press and stabilize the highest lockout. Strengthening the triceps by doing cranium crushers is a big benefit to powerlifters.
CrossFit Athletes
CrossFit athletes do a ton of overhead urgent variations. Strengthening the trices will assist spike your numbers in workout routines just like the cut up jerk and snatch with an overhead lockout place.
On a regular basis Fitness center Go-ers
Stronger triceps can profit virtually everyone who works out. Not solely will they make you look larger or extra toned, however they will even serve a operate in every day life.
Cranium Crusher Widespread Errors
Though it’s a easy motion, you need to comply with the proper kind to keep away from making these frequent errors.
Utilizing Too A lot Weight
Utilizing too heavy weight is the commonest mistake I see throughout a cranium crusher. Cranium crushers put stress by the wrist and elbow joints, so going too heavy may result in harm. If the medial head of the triceps is simply too weak for the burden, that may result in failure or compensation. Compensating the motion through the use of your delts to make it extra of a press received’t accomplish rising your triceps.
Not Controlling Tempo
Tempo is all the pieces for cranium crushers. A gradual 3-4 second eccentric tempo will result in extra muscle development than shortly dropping the bar. Be certain the decreasing of the bar to your brow is gradual and managed. You don’t need to fly by doing this train.
Grip Too Large Or Too Slender
Your palms needs to be about shoulder-width aside. A too large grip will usually result in the elbows flaring out to the facet. When your elbows flare out, the stress is taken off the triceps, and there’s extra concentrate on the entrance delt. A really slender grip is fairly uncomfortable on the wrists for most individuals. A shoulder-width aside grip will assist preserve the correct kind whereas being straightforward in your wrists.
Small Vary Of Movement
You wish to make sure you hit the total vary of movement on each rep. A deeper vary of movement will recruit extra muscle fibers, resulting in muscle development. Each rep ought to have the identical beginning, transition, and ending place.
Cranium Crusher: Muscle mass Labored
The cranium crusher is an train for the triceps, however a number of extra muscle mass are in play throughout this train.
- Triceps: The cranium crusher isolates all heads of the triceps, however the lengthy head does a lot of the work for this train. The lengthy head is the one head of the triceps that attaches to the scapula, so it takes precedence in any motion along with your arms overhead.
- Deltoids: The deltoids assist stabilize the shoulder joint throughout a cranium crusher. Since your arms are overhead, the delts are activated. By solely hinging by your elbows throughout a cranium crusher, the delts will play a job in stabilization.
- Higher Again: The higher again muscle mass assist stabilize your physique on the bench. Consider your lats as what glues you to the bench.
- Forearms: The forearm muscle mass should stabilize the burden, whether or not a barbell, dumbbell, or resistance band.
Cranium Crusher Advantages
Stronger Triceps
The triceps are accountable for elbow extension, so the triceps are a large issue throughout the lockout section of a carry. Lifts just like the bench press, overhead press, snatch, and cut up jerk all have a lockout section the place the triceps should be robust. Strengthening the triceps will strengthen the lockout, strengthening your main lifts.
Interested in what different tricep workout routines assist with the bench press? Try our article 16 Greatest Tricep Workout routines To Enhance Bench Press Energy.
Elbow Well being
Robust triceps have a direct impression on elbow well being. The elbow is a standard joint for overuse accidents. Cranium crushers strengthen the muscle mass and tendons within the elbow, that are vulnerable to harm.
Aesthetics
For the on a regular basis health club go-er, having larger or extra outlined arms is often the purpose. The triceps make up most of your arm, so rising your triceps will make your arms extra aesthetic.
Excited about the very best methods to get larger arms with a curl bar? Learn extra concerning the 14 Greatest Curl Bar Workout routines (Plus, Pattern Exercise).
Suggestions For Cranium Crushers
On this part, I’ll add a number of professional ideas from a energy and conditioning coach to make your cranium crushers much more efficient.
Set Your Shoulders
Set your shoulder blades earlier than you begin the motion whereas your arms are reached overhead. To do this, pinch your shoulder blades down and again. “Bend” the bar along with your palms. You’ll really feel your shoulders set earlier than you’ve got began doing a rep.
The good thing about doing that is that you would be able to assure the entire focus will now be in your triceps. Along with your shoulders down and again, they won’t roll ahead as you press up. This will even assist preserve your elbows tight to your physique.
Wrists Locked
As you decrease the bar, be sure to preserve your wrists locked. The load mustn’t pull your wrists down. That shall be very uncomfortable and put lots of stress by the wrist joint. It is best to at all times have the ability to draw a straight line out of your knuckles down your forearm to the elbow joint.
Protecting your wrists locked will even preserve fixed stress in your triceps throughout your entire motion.
Add A Pause
Including a 2-second pause on the backside is a little more superior however will finally result in extra muscle achieve. The pause would require you to generate extra power to push the burden again to the highest. Producing extra power means activating extra muscle fibers, and coaching extra muscle fibers will result in extra energy features in your triceps.
Do not forget that the pause on the backside would require you to take care of correct kind much more. Many individuals flare their elbows on the preliminary drive up from the brow. Maintain these elbows tight to your physique and wrists locked as you add a pause to a cranium crusher.
How To Add Cranium Crushers To Your Exercise
Frequency
Add cranium crushers into your weekly exercise routine 2-4 occasions weekly.
If triceps are your focus for the day, I like to recommend doing cranium crushers in the beginning of your exercise. This may let you obtain maximal development earlier than you change into fatigued all through the exercise. In case you are doing a push day and the triceps are extra of an adjunct muscle, you are able to do cranium crushers wherever within the exercise.
Units and Reps
Units and reps will rely in your targets of doing cranium crushers.
- Muscle Energy: 2-4 units of 6-8 reps at a heavier weight
- Muscle Progress: 3-4 units of 8-12 reps at a medium-heavy weight
- Muscle Endurance: 3-4 units of 12-20 reps at a light-medium weight
Tempo
Tempo refers back to the tempo of the train. I at all times advocate doing a 3-second tempo on the eccentric or decreasing the burden to your brow. Gradual eccentric actions permit for increased ranges of muscle development.
Development
Just a few methods to progress cranium crushers are growing weight and tempo with the identical weight.
In case you can comfortably do all of your units and reps correctly, I’ll at all times stress to extend weight. Whenever you enhance the burden, guarantee the proper kind remains to be getting used.
Return to your unique weight whether it is troublesome to get the proper kind when growing weight. Now, do a 4-5 second eccentric motion. This longer tempo will make you’re employed more durable on the identical weight. Over time, you’ll change into stronger and can then have the ability to progress to a better weight.
Variations of Cranium Crushers
A straightforward approach so as to add variation to a cranium crusher is to alter the piece of apparatus, however you too can change the angle at which it’s positioned.
- Dumbbells: Doing a cranium crusher with dumbbells would require extra stabilization along with your shoulders as a result of every arm will work independently. It’s also possible to alter your grip with dumbbells, which might change how the tricep muscle mass are recruited.
- Resistance Bands: Resistance bands make the motion harder on the prime as a result of the band would be the most stretched out. That is good to work on the highest lockout place of a cranium crusher.
- Cable Machine: A cable machine supplies fixed stress all through your entire vary of movement, so your triceps shall be labored all through the motion.
- Decline Bench: Lay on a decline bench so your ft are increased than your head. You’ll get extra of a stretch on the lateral head of the triceps.
- Incline Bench: A 30 ° incline bench will goal the triceps’ lengthy head due to the pull line.
Try our article, 11 Greatest Lengthy Head of the Triceps Workout routines, to study different alternate options to focus on the lengthy head.
Alternate options to Cranium Crushers
As I mentioned earlier than, all 3 heads of the triceps are activated throughout a cranium crusher, however the lengthy head is the primary driver. The three alternate options to the cranium crusher that I listed all concentrate on the lengthy head of the triceps.
Shut Grip Bench Press
The close-grip bench press targets the pecs, entrance delts, and triceps. In contrast to a standard barbell bench press, shut grip focuses extra on the delts and triceps. Along with your palms nearer on the bar, you have to maintain your elbows tight to the physique. Protecting your elbows tight will put a giant stretch on the triceps and promote tricep development.
One benefit of the close-grip barbell bench press is that you would be able to overload the train with weight to develop your triceps.
Need extra workout routines to focus on the lateral head of the triceps? Learn extra concerning the 10 Greatest Lateral Head Tricep Workout routines (That Truly Work).
Overhead Cable Extensions
The overhead cable extension is one other tricep train for constructing measurement and energy. It utterly isolates the triceps.
A bonus to utilizing a cable for a standing overhead tricep extension is the pull from the cable stack. The course of resistance will give fixed stress on the triceps by your entire vary of movement.
Tate Press
The Tate press is a tricep train that’s not as frequent as others however actually has its place. It’s one other tricep isolation train that places a stretch on the lengthy head. The Tate press presents a novel line of pull with the elbows pushed out large.
The Tate press is completed with dumbbells, so working by bilateral tricep energy variations is an effective choice.
pushing your self out of a chair and vacuuming will change into even simpler with stronger triceps
FAQ
Are Cranium Crushers a Push Train?
Sure, cranium crushers are a push train. To be a push train, the concentric motion must be “pushing” the burden. The concentric section of a cranium crusher is to push the bar from the underside to the highest.
Are Cranium Crushers Good for Abs?
Cranium crushers are a strength-based train that isolates the triceps muscle mass in your arms. You’ll have to interact your core throughout a cranium crusher.
What Is the Distinction Between Cranium Crushers and Mendacity Tricep Extension?
The principle distinction between cranium crushers and mendacity tricep extensions is the place you convey your palms. Your palms on the backside place of a cranium crusher shall be proper above your brow. Nonetheless, with a mendacity tricep extension, your palms shall be behind your head, and your elbows will align along with your brow.
Are Cranium Crushers Extra Efficient When Finished With a Barbell?
Barbells have each benefits and drawbacks when used for cranium crushers, however barbells are more practical for creating energy. A barbell permits for extra weight to be lifted in comparison with dumbbells. Utilizing heavier weights will result in elevated energy.
In regards to the Creator
Jake Woodruff has an MS in Sports activities Medication from the College of Pittsburgh. He’s presently a energy and conditioning sports activities efficiency coach at a non-public Pittsburgh facility. He’s a former faculty athlete and presently performs semi-pro soccer. You’ll be able to join with him on Instagram.