Lying Barbell Triceps Extension

What the lying barbell triceps extension actually trains

A lying barbell triceps extension is an elbow extension exercise performed on a bench, lowering a bar behind the head by bending the elbows and then straightening the arms again.

All three heads of the triceps extend the elbow, and the anconeus assists at the end of the range. What distinguishes this exercise is what happens to the long head.

The long head is the only part of the triceps that crosses the shoulder as well as the elbow. That means its length depends on shoulder position: with the arm at your side it is relatively short, and with the arm moved overhead it is stretched. Kholinne and colleagues examined the roles of the individual heads in elbow extension and found they are not interchangeable, which is the anatomical basis for treating shoulder position as a training variable.

This is where the exercise earns its place. By tilting the upper arms back towards your head and lowering the bar behind you rather than to your forehead, you put the shoulder into partial flexion and load the long head in a lengthened position through the whole rep.

Maeo and colleagues found that elbow extension training performed with the arm overhead produced substantially greater triceps hypertrophy than the same training performed with the arm at the side. That is the single most useful piece of evidence in triceps training, and it argues directly for prioritising movements like this one over pushdowns.

The important detail is that the benefit depends on the bar path. Lowering to your forehead with vertical upper arms gives you a middling exercise. Lowering behind your head gives you the version worth doing.

The cost is joint comfort. The stretched position under load is where elbow irritation starts for many lifters, which is why the loads here should be sensible rather than heroic.

Setting up and executing

Lie on a flat bench holding an EZ bar or a straight bar with a shoulder width grip. An EZ bar is noticeably kinder to the wrists and there is no reason to be a purist about it.

Press the bar up so the arms are straight above the chest, then tilt the upper arms slightly back towards your head so the bar sits over your face rather than your chest.

Set the shoulders down onto the bench and brace the abs.

Bend the elbows to lower the bar towards a point behind your head, keeping the upper arms still. Only the forearms should move.

Lower until you feel a strong stretch in the back of the arm, without letting the elbows flare wide.

Reverse smoothly, extend the elbows fully, and pause for a beat before the next rep.

The mistakes that cost you the most

Lowering to the forehead is the fault that costs you the most and the one almost everyone makes. With the upper arms vertical, the shoulder is not flexed, the long head is not lengthened, and you have converted the best triceps exercise in the gym into an average one. The bar goes behind your head.

Letting the elbows flare turns the movement into a clumsy close grip press and puts more strain on the elbow joint. Keep them roughly shoulder width apart for the whole set.

Turning it into a pullover is subtler. If the upper arms swing back along with the bar, the latissimus dorsi is taking over the bottom of the movement and the triceps is doing less. Fix the upper arms in place and let only the elbows bend.

Going too heavy is the main cause of elbow discomfort here. The stretched position is where the joint is most exposed, and a load that forces you to bounce out of the bottom is a load that will eventually cost you a training block.

Cutting the range short removes the whole reason to do this exercise. Pallares and colleagues found full range training produced better strength and hypertrophy outcomes than partial range training, and here the deep position is the point rather than an optional extra.

Sets, reps and rest by goal

This is the closest thing to a primary triceps exercise, so treat it seriously without loading it recklessly.

For muscle gain, three sets of eight to twelve with ninety seconds of rest. For strength, four sets of six to ten with two minutes. In a fat loss phase, three sets of twelve to fifteen with a minute.

Avoid very low reps. Heavy triples in a deep stretched elbow position are a poor trade, and the triceps grows perfectly well in the eight to fifteen range.

Control the descent over about two to three seconds. Schoenfeld and colleagues found concentric and eccentric actions produce comparable hypertrophy when equated, so the reason to lower slowly is that it keeps the muscle loaded through the position that makes this exercise valuable.

Schoenfeld and colleagues found a dose response between weekly hard sets and hypertrophy, and the triceps is a large muscle group that responds well to volume. Eight to sixteen hard sets a week across all triceps work is a reasonable target, remembering that pressing already contributes.

Refalo and colleagues found stopping a rep or two short of failure produces comparable growth to training to failure, which is particularly relevant on a barbell movement where the failed rep involves a bar above your head. Leave a rep in reserve and use a lighter final set if you want the burn.

Where it fits in your split

After the pressing, on a push or arm day.

On push, pull and legs it goes on push day after the bench and overhead work. On an arms day it should be the main triceps exercise. On a bro split it is the first triceps movement of the session. On an upper and lower split it follows the presses. On a full body programme it is worth a slot when arm size is a priority.

Order matters more here than people assume. If the long head is the part of your triceps that determines how thick your arm looks from the side, and overhead style extensions are what train it best, then this should come before your pushdowns rather than after them.

A sensible triceps day is one lengthened movement like this, followed by one pushdown for the lateral head and for volume. Two exercises, five or six hard sets, done properly.

Twice a week is a good frequency, noting that heavy pressing already loads the triceps considerably.

Variations worth knowing

The dumbbell skull crusher swaps the bar for two dumbbells, which lets each wrist find a comfortable angle and allows a slightly deeper position.

The seated overhead extension takes the arms fully overhead, which increases the shoulder flexion angle and stretches the long head further still.

An EZ bar version is the same exercise with a cambered bar and is noticeably kinder to wrists and elbows.

An incline lying extension performs the movement on an incline bench, which increases the shoulder angle and adds range.

A cable lying extension from a low pulley keeps tension on at lockout, where a barbell version becomes easy.

And a cable overhead extension with a rope combines the lengthened position with constant tension, which is arguably the best of both worlds.

What the evidence says

Kholinne and colleagues studied the different roles of each head of the triceps brachii in elbow extension and found the heads contribute differently depending on position, which is the anatomical basis for treating shoulder angle as a real variable rather than bodybuilding folklore.

Maeo and colleagues found triceps hypertrophy was substantially greater after elbow extension training performed in the overhead position than in the neutral arm position, which is the strongest available argument for lowering the bar behind your head rather than to your forehead.

Pedrosa and colleagues found training at long muscle lengths produced favourable muscular adaptations, which is the general principle that Maeo's specific finding sits inside.

Pallares and colleagues found full range training produced better strength and hypertrophy outcomes than partial range work, supporting the deep bottom position rather than a shortened one.

Schoenfeld and colleagues found a dose response between weekly hard sets and hypertrophy, which frames how much triceps work to do once you have chosen the right exercise.

Schoenfeld and colleagues also found concentric and eccentric actions produce comparable hypertrophy when equated, so the controlled descent is about staying loaded through the stretch rather than eccentric superiority.

Refalo and colleagues found stopping short of failure produces comparable growth to training to failure, which matters on a movement where the failed rep ends with a bar near your face.

Common questions

Should the bar go to my forehead or behind my head?

Behind your head. Lowering to the forehead keeps the upper arms vertical and leaves the long head relatively short, which throws away the main advantage of the exercise. Tilt the upper arms back and aim for a point behind the bench.

Why do my elbows hurt on this?

Usually because the load is too heavy for the stretched position, or because you are bouncing out of the bottom. Drop the weight, use an EZ bar rather than a straight one, and control the descent. If it still hurts, a cable overhead extension gives you the same lengthened position with a gentler load profile.

Is this better than a pushdown?

For the long head, yes, and by a meaningful margin according to Maeo and colleagues' work on overhead versus neutral arm position. Pushdowns are still worth doing for the lateral head and for easy volume, but they should not be your only triceps exercise.

How does this differ from a dumbbell skull crusher?

Very little. The dumbbell version lets the wrists rotate and allows a slightly deeper bottom position; the barbell version is easier to load and progress. Pick one as your main lying extension rather than doing both.

Straight bar or EZ bar?

EZ bar, for almost everyone. The cambered grip reduces the strain on the wrists and elbows in a position where those joints are already under stress, and there is no benefit to the straight bar that compensates.