Vince Lombardi once said that football is a game of inches. When it comes to training, the difference between getting a proper pump or missing the muscle gains entirely can also boil down to an inch or two of adjustments.
A good example of this would dumbbell skull crushers, an intimidating sounding exercise guaranteed to blast your triceps—when done correctly. Unfortunately, according to Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S., many gymgoers fail to execute this isolation movement properly to fully unlock its triceps-targeting benefits, and instead turn skull crushers into an unwanted compound movement.
“There’s a better way to do skull crushers than the way you’re doing all of these moves in the gym,” Samuel says as he instructs GHOST gym founder Aqib Mamoon. “It’s not just about [going from] point A to point B. If you want to build muscle and build true strength, it’s all about the little things.”
One of the most common reasons for not properly executing skull crushers, Samuel says, is that as fatigue sets in, many of us begin to fall into the habit of “stacking” our wrists, elbows, and shoulders over one another, perpendicular to the floor. When we’re in this position, holding a set of dumbbells directly over us, the tension of the movement is taken off the triceps—and instead it’s the lat muscles that begin doing the work.
“This is not what you’re looking for in a triceps exercise,” Samuel says. “When this happens, your triceps are no longer in a position of work.”
The solution to this problem, Samuel suggests, and to the return of working your triceps comes down to an inch or two of body adjustment. Instead of stacking, Samuel advises you begin tipping your elbows slightly back in the direction of your head—an inch or two is all it may take—the return the focus skull crusher back your triceps. Or think of it like this: Before, when you were stacked at 90 degrees, position yourself now at about 92 to 93 degrees. With this small fix, you’ll be back to working your triceps for the entire set.
“What this is going to do is it’s going to keep constant tension on your triceps with you the entire time,” Samuel says. “That’s going to build the muscle and strength you want so make the jump.”
Want to wear the same training gear? Eb is wearing a shirt by Will-V, pants by Rhone, and sneakers by Under Armour. Aqib has a Rhone shirt and Nike shoes.
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