maratoolJM Press
How to do the jm press
- This exercise is named after the inventor, J.M. Blakley. This is an advanced exercise used by bodybuilders and power lifters to build explosive power in the triceps muscle (back of the arms).
- Lay on a flat bench with your head just at the end of the bench.
- Grasp the bar with a medium overhand grip keeping your elbows close to your side, over your sternum (mid chest).
- Lower the bar towards your sternum at a regular pace, then pause for a moment.
- With a controlled but rapid pace, push the bar back to starting position.
- Note: The bar should move in straight line, up and down.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the triceps brachii, which straightens the elbow, and through its long head helps pull the arm back at the shoulder.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range; the chest adds pushing force at the shoulder.
How this movement works
The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
A barbell locks both hands to one bar, so neither side can drift and the load climbs in plate-sized steps. That makes it the simplest way to add weight and the least forgiving thing to bail out of.
Every exercise using:Barbell
These train the triceps too, using equipment this one does not:
- Kneeling Triceps Concentration Extension with Cablecable
- Lying Dumbbell Tricep Extensiondumbbell
- Lying Triceps Presse-z curl bar
- Machine Triceps Extensionmachine
- Overhead Tricepsbody only
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 99 triceps exercises in this database, 44 are listed at beginner level.
Illustration: Everkinetic — CC BY-SA 4.0 — license. Modified versions are shared under the same license. Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.