PURPOSE OF EXERCISE: To work the
triceps all the way from the elbow down
to the lats.
EXECUTION: (1) Lie along a bench, your
head just off the end with knees bent and
feet flat on the bench. Take hold of a
barbell (preferably an E-Z curl bar) with
an overhand grip, hands about 10 inches
apart. (2) Press the weight up until your
arms are locked out, but not straight up
over your face. Instead, the weight
should be back behind the top of your
head, with your triceps doing the work
of holding it there. Keeping your elbows
stationary, lower the weight down past
your forehead, then press it back up to
the starting position, stopping short of
the vertical to keep the triceps under
constant tension. Keep control of the
weight at all times in this movement to
avoid banging yourself on the head with
the bar. When you can’t do another rep,
you can still force the triceps to keep
working by repping out with some
Close-Grip Presses
