EZ-Bar Skullcrusher

Execution

1. Brace your belly lightly, point your elbows at the ceiling and keep that angle for the whole set.
2. Inhale and lower the bar by bending the elbows, letting it travel toward your forehead rather than your chest.
3. Stop when the bar is about a fist above your forehead, elbows still pointing straight at the ceiling.
4. Exhale and straighten your arms to bring the bar back to the start, squeezing the triceps at the top.
5. Keep the upper arms still for the whole set, with only the forearms bending and straightening.
6. If a rep stalls, do not fight to hold the bar hovering over your face: lower it toward your chest, roll it down to your belly and sit up with it.
7. At the end of the set, bring the bar down to your chest, sit up with it, rest it on your thighs and only then set it down.

Quick cues

• Elbows point straight at the ceiling.
• Bar travels to the forehead, not the chest.
• Upper arms stay still all set.
• Stop a fist above your forehead.
• Shoulder pinches, stop right there.

Common faults

• Fault: The elbows flaring out to the sides on the way down

  Fix: Drop one weight increment and rehearse the path empty-handed to lock the elbows facing the ceiling.

• Fault: Lowering the bar toward the chest so it turns into a close press

  Fix: Aim the stopping point right above the forehead and have a training partner check the line.

• Fault: The upper arms swinging with every bend and straighten

  Fix: Pin the upper arms close to your head and let only the forearms move from the elbow.

• Fault: Snapping the elbows into a hard lock at the top

  Fix: Stop just short of full lockout and squeeze the triceps actively instead of snapping the joint.