Are Skullcrushers necessary to get big arms?

You need to do a overhead tricep extension to hit the long head. If you want that horse shoe definition, then hit all heads with exercises that place great emphasis on them separately.

You wouldn't only do rows for your back and forget about pull ups etc. Why? Because different exercises places emphasis on different areas within a given muscle group.

I've been doing skull crushers/ slow concentrated rope push downs. Which has resulted in a more defined/prominent 'horseshoe'. Dips and close grip bench press will help with overall mass, but they did not help me with the 'horseshoe' as much as skull crushers and rope push downs.


Horseshoe tricep action [Note, the guy is in this picture is not natural. But the picture itself gives you an idea of the tricep 'horseshoe'.



Tricep anatomy. Designate an exercise for each head.

All you need is dips and bench press. No dumbells, no cables, no curled bars. Just stick with the big compound movements and keep it nice and basic.

I strongly disagree. The idea that nobody ever needs isolation movements is mostly pedaled by people who just discovered working out and want to feel superior to the curl-boys.

I never said they're useless. They're just inefficient and time consuming. Why would you want to isolate a single muscle group when you could be spending your time on doing compound movements like the bench press and weighted dips? To me, it makes no sense.

I never said they're useless. They're just inefficient and time consuming. Why would you want to isolate a single muscle group when you could be spending your time on doing compound movements like the bench press and weighted dips? To me, it makes no sense.

skullcrushers is a isolation exercise. To build muscle do compound exercises like close grip bench.

All you need is dips and bench press. No dumbells, no cables, no curled bars. Just stick with the big compound movements and keep it nice and basic.

What about this for a tricep routine (do triceps after chest)

1. Seated overhead DB extension/Skullcrushers with slightly smaller ROM
2. CGBP with tricep bar
3. Pushdowns with V bar (3 second negatives)


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No exercise is necessary to get a big anything. Pick exercises you can do for triceps and constantly cause adaptation through a. increasing reps or b. increasing weight. When you have 18 inch arms start bothering with which head your hitting but for now, pick stuff that doesn't hurt and progress it

Also am I better doing CGBP with tricep bar or a regular bar? Does a certain grip for CGBP's determine which head is hit?


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Because theres only so much bench and dips you can do before your shoulders blow out. they're inefficient to the point if you can only do one or the other then a compound is the best choice, but you don't have to choose, so don't...

Shoulders blow out? Your form must be shocking.
You need to understand that your muscles are comprised of several heads/sections.
For example, for shoulders you would hit your lateral deltoids with cables/db side raises after hitting your anterior deltoids with military press.

No. The plane that changes how much your tricep is stretched determines which head is hit. Grip width is not that one - the one perpendicular to it is but move somewhere useful along that plane and you end up with something resembling skullcrushers anyway.

Considered seeing a physio?