maratoolReverse Triceps Bench Press with Barbell
How to do the reverse triceps bench press with barbell
- Lie on a flat bench with your head at one end and your feet placed firmly on the floor.
- Grasp a barbell with palms facing your head about 16 inches apart.
- Move the bar over your chest (about 1 inch below your nipples).
- Extend your arms fully raising the bar fully and then lower the bar to the starting position.
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 chest adds pushing force at the shoulder.
How this movement works
Several joints move together, so effort spreads across a chain rather than concentrating in one place. Coordination is part of the difficulty: the movement is only as good as its weakest link, and improving it often means fixing a position somewhere other than the muscle you meant to train.
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:
- Seated One Arm Triceps Extension with Dumbbelldumbbell
- Smith Machine Close Grip Bench Presssmith machine + machine
- Speed Band Overhead Tricepsband
- Standing Low-Pulley One-Arm Triceps Extensioncable
- Standing Triceps Extension with Towelbody only
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.