Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Dumbbell Skull Crushers, also known as lying tricep extensions, are a highly effective exercise for isolating and strengthening the triceps.

This exercise involves lowering a set of dumbbells towards your forehead or just above your head while lying on a bench, and then extending your arms back to the starting position. Dumbbell Skull Crushers are a versatile and essential movement in any upper body or tricep-focused workout routine, suitable for individuals at all fitness levels.

They can also be performed with a barbell, or even standing with any type of weight.

Muscles Worked When Performing Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Triceps Brachii: The main muscle group responsible for elbow extension, consisting of three heads (long, lateral, and medial).

Anconeus: A small muscle located at the elbow joint that assists in elbow extension. This is worth noting on this exercise as it’s a nice way to build extra strength around your elbow joint.

Forearms: The muscles of the forearm are engaged as you grip and move the weight throughout the exercise.

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How to Perform Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Start with a weight that allows you to perform the exercise with proper form.

1. Set Up: Lie flat on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand.

2. Start Position: Hold the dumbbells with your arms extended above your chest, palms facing each other. Keep a slight bend in your elbows to maintain tension on your triceps.

3. Lower the Dumbbells: Slowly bend your elbows and lower the dumbbells towards your forehead or just above your head. Keep your upper arms stationary and perpendicular to your body.

4. Extend the Arms: Extend your elbows to lift the dumbbells back to the starting position, focusing on using your triceps to power the movement.

5. Repeat: Perform the desired number of reps with clean and controlled movements, ensuring proper form throughout.

Benefits of Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Tricep Isolation: This exercise specifically targets the triceps, leading to increased strength and muscle definition.

Elbow Stability: Dumbbell Skull Crushers will enhance your elbow joint stability, which is crucial for various pressing movements in the gym and in your everyday life.

Versatility: Can be performed with different types of equipment (dumbbells, barbells, EZ bars) and adjusted for various fitness levels.

Improved Upper Body Strength: Strengthens the triceps, contributing to better performance in compound exercises like bench presses and shoulder presses.

Symmetry and Balance: Using dumbbells allows for balanced development of both arms, helping you to overcome and prevent strength imbalances.

Dumbbell Skull Crushers Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using Excessive Weight: Start with a manageable weight to ensure proper form and avoid unnecessary strain on the elbows and shoulders.

Flared Elbows: Keep your elbows close to your body to maintain tension on the triceps and prevent shoulder strain.

Rushed Reps: Perform each rep with control to maximise muscle engagement and reduce the risk of injury.

Inconsistent Breathing: Maintain a steady breathing pattern, exhaling as you extend the dumbbells up and inhaling as you lower them.

Reps and Sets

It’s on you to determine how many reps and sets you should perform. It depends on your goals, but more generally speaking, it depends on how many reps you can actually do.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 4 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of Dumbbell Skull Crushers you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest inbetween.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgement.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make Dumbbell Skull Crushers More Challenging

You can make this exercise more challenging by slowing the exercise down to increase your time under tension. You can also slow down half the exercise, so bring the dumbbells down at normal speed and then slowly back to start position in a clean and controlled movement.

Another option for making Dumbbell Skull Crushers more challenging is of course to simply add more weight, or change the type of weight that you’re using.

How to Incorporate Dumbbell Skull Crushers into Your Workouts

Tricep Workout: Include Dumbbell Skull Crushers in a tricep-focused routine alongside exercises like Triceps Rope Pulldown, Triceps Dips or a Close Grip Bench Press.

Upper Body Workout: Use Dumbbell Skull Crushers as part of an upper body circuit to target multiple muscle groups. Pair with exercises such as Bench Presses, Shoulder Presses, and T-Bar Rows for a comprehensive workout.

Back, Shoulders & Triceps Workout: These three muscle groups make for a nice collective workout.

Warm-Up or Finisher: Incorporate Dumbbell Skull Crushers as a warm-up to activate your triceps or as a finisher to fully exhaust the muscles at the end of your workout.

Exercises That Work Similar Muscles to Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Some other exercises worth considering for tricep development are; Close Grip Bench Press, Triceps Dips, Overhead Tricep Extension or Cable Tricep Pushdowns.

That’s not the extent of it, you can check out some more Arm Exercises here for inspiration to add to your workouts.

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