maratoolOld School Reverse Extensions
How to do the old school reverse extensions
- Lie down on a bench, on your back, with your head at one end.
- Grasp a barbell with an underhand grip.
- Move your arms beyond your head, keeping them in a straight line.
- Bending only your elbows, slowly lower and raise the barbell.
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.
Every exercise for:Triceps
How this movement works
Everything happens at one joint. That gives you direct control over where the tension sits; the trade-off is that the muscle gets no help, so the load that feels hard here is a fraction of what a multi-joint version of the pattern would take. Slow, complete repetitions beat heavy ones.
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:
- One Arm Low-Pulley Triceps Extension with Cablecable
- One Arm Pronated Dumbbell Triceps Extensiondumbbell
- Overhead Tricepsbody only
- Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Presssmith machine + machine
- Speed Band Overhead Tricepsband
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.