How To Do Dumbbell Skull Crushers and Its Variations

Dumbbell Skull crushers aka supine or lying triceps extensions work your triceps as your elbow bends and straightens, while your shoulder muscles stabilize your shoulder joint.

The name “skull crusher” derives from the exercise mechanics of bringing the weight down to your skull from an overhead position.

The dumbbell skull crushers exercises are an excellent way to add definition and mass to the back of your tricep.

Skull crusher is one of the most common tricep isolation exercises out there and are typically performed on a flat bench using either an Ez-bar, straight bar or dumbbells.

In this article, we will look only what dumbbell skull crushers are, which muscles worked during the workout, how to perform them correctly, their benefits, and its variations.

Benefits of Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Dumbbell skull crushers work the triceps, which will help protect your elbow joints in other settings.
Strengthening your triceps is a great way to work on your functional fitness, and make sure that the work you do in the gym also benefits you in your everyday life.
This exercise can be used to fix triceps imbalances, for injury rehabilitation, or as part of a bodybuilding routine.
One advantage of the dumbbell skull crushers is that it doesn’t place pressure on the wrists.

Muscle Worked During Dumbbell Skull Crushers

Primary Muscle Worked: Triceps brachii

Secondary Muscle Worked: Pectoralis Major, Anterior Deltoid, and Biceps Brachii

3 Best Variation of Dumbbell Skull Crushers

There are many ways to do this exercise, so you can choose the best dumbbell skull crushers for you.

1. Dumbbell Skull Crusher

The Dumbbell Skull Crusher (Aka dumbbell lying triceps extension) is an excellent move to begin your dumbbell triceps workout routine. Triceps extensions are isolation exercises, which means they use just one joint.

Triceps extensions can be beneficial for fixing imbalances in the triceps or rehabilitating from injury. It put no pressure on the wrists, so they are an alternative for people with wrist strain or injury.

Execution Technique

Lie on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor.
Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and hold them directly above you with your palms facing inward (neutral grip) and your arms extended.
Making sure that your upper arms and elbows are still, lower the dumbbell behind your head, feeling a stretch in your tricep muscles.
Pause and squeeze the triceps and then raise the dumbbells back to the starting position.

Tips

Concentrate on keeping your elbows stable.
Do not allow your elbows to flare out to the sides.
Slowly lower the weights and do not use momentum.

2. Incline Dumbbell Skull Crusher

The incline dumbbell Skull Crusher aka Incline tricep extension help to build muscle and strength in all three tricep heads.

It can be used by both those looking to build bigger triceps and those looking to increase their tricep strength.

The benefit of doing extension movements is that you can get a deeper stretch in the muscle to hopefully activate more muscle fibers.

Execution Technique

Grab a dumbbell in each hand and lie against an incline bench, face up with your feet firmly planted on the floor.
Extend your arms over your shoulders with your palms facing each other and then slowly lower the dumbbells behind your head by bending your elbows.
Hold this position for a count and then with a controlled motion raise your arms back up to the starting position.
Repeat for as many reps and sets as desired.

Tips

Keep your upper arms fixed, with your elbows close to your head.
Do not use excessively heavyweight as this is dangerous for your elbows.

3. Decline Dumbbell Skull Crushers

The decline dumbbell skull crushers are a variation of the lying dumbbell tricep extension that adds a slight decline to the movement.

Decline Dumbbell skull crusher is more effective for two reasons: the use of a neutral grip and the location of the shoulders.

This triceps workout increases the range of motion, allowing you to get a greater stretch on the tricep at the bottom of the movement.

Execution Technique

Grab a dumbbell in each hand and lie against a decline bench with your feet firmly on pads.
Extend your arms over your shoulders with your palms facing each other and then slowly lower the dumbbells behind your head by bending your elbows.
Hold this position for a count. Then in a controlled motion raise your arms back up to the starting position.
Repeat for as many reps and sets as desired.

Tips

Keep your upper arms fixed, with your elbows close to your head.
At the top of the movement, do not lock out your elbows.

Training Tips

Start with just a few reps of this exercise. As you begin to build strength, work your way up to 3 to 5 sets of dumbbell skull crushers. Each with between 6 and 12 repetitions.

Takeaways

Dumbbell skull crushers are an excellent exercise to build mass and strength in your triceps. They’re also an excellent way to work on stability in your shoulders.