Floor Skull Crusher
The floor skull crusher is a triceps exercise done lying on the floor: you bend your elbows to bring a bar or dumbbells back past your head until they reach the floor, then straighten your arms. It works all three heads of the triceps, and the floor gives each rep a fixed end point.
Also called: Floor Skull Crushers, Floor Skullcrusher, Floor Press Skull Crusher, Lying Floor Tricep Extension · Equipment: strength · Pattern: isolation
Step by step
- Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent and feet flat, holding an EZ bar, barbell or pair of dumbbells at arm's length above your chest.
- Grip the bar about shoulder-width apart, or hold the dumbbells with palms facing each other.
- Let your upper arms tilt slightly back towards your head so they are not quite vertical.
- Bend your elbows to bring the weight back past the top of your head, keeping your elbows pointing up and roughly shoulder-width apart.
- Let the weight, or the backs of your upper arms, come to rest on the floor behind your head. Pause briefly there rather than bouncing.
- Straighten your elbows to bring the weight back up over your chest, moving only at the elbows.
- Repeat from a fresh start on the floor each rep.
- Elbows point to the ceiling
- Weight travels back past your head
- Touch the floor and pause
- Straighten from the elbows only
- Keep the elbows in, not flaring out
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Triceps brachii: long head | Prime mover | C |
| Triceps brachii: lateral head | Prime mover | C |
| Triceps brachii: medial head | Prime mover | C |
| Forearm flexors | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Bouncing the weight off the floor
Fix: Let the weight settle on the floor and pause before each rep.
Elbows flaring out
Fix: Keep your elbows about shoulder-width apart and pointing up.
Pressing instead of extending
Fix: Keep your upper arms still and move only at the elbows.
Upper arms vertical throughout
Fix: Tilt your upper arms slightly back so the weight travels past your head.
What the research says
Muscle growthGeneral fitness
- Arm position — A 12-week study found triceps extensions with the arms overhead grew the triceps more than with the arms by the sides, mainly through the long head; the floor version reaches part of that overhead position.
- Range of motion — A review found research on range of motion for upper-body muscles is limited and conflicting, and there is no direct research comparing floor and bench skull crushers.
- Effort — A meta-analysis found muscle growth rises as sets get closer to failure, but going all the way to failure adds only a small extra benefit.
- Volume — A meta-analysis found muscle growth rises with weekly sets, with most of the benefit from roughly 10 or more weekly sets per muscle.
Log the floor skull crusher in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.