Nose-Dive Skull Smasher (Decline Narrow-Grip Tricep Twin)

Reaction Sequence · Mechanism

This exercise is what happens when a bench press and a skull crusher walk into a bar and decide to share a decline bench. It is a two-for-one special for your triceps that begins with a close-grip decline press and finishes with a forehead-bound extension that makes you question your life choices.

Lie on the decline bench, lock your legs in, and grip the bar with your hands just inside shoulder width. Unrack the bar with a spotter's help — trust me, your rotator cuff is not worth gambling with. From the top position with arms locked and perpendicular to the floor, lower the bar to your lower chest while keeping those elbows pinned to your sides like you are trying to hide them from a nosy relative. Press it back up using your triceps as the primary engine.

But wait, there is more. Instead of going back to the chest, now keep your upper arms completely still and let your forearms drift in a semicircular arc toward your forehead. Yes, your forehead. The bar should come down until it barely grazes your skull, which is why this move has the most terrifying name in all of lifting. Extend back to the top by flexing your triceps hard.

This double-duty movement hammers your triceps from two different angles in a single set, which is both incredibly efficient and moderately terrifying. The press hits the lateral head, the extension torches the long head, and your arms get the kind of pump that makes you accidentally bump into doorframes for the rest of the day. Keep your elbows disciplined throughout both phases, and this exercise will build arms that look like they were borrowed from a cartoon character.