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Exercises

Barbell tricep exercises: close-grip presses, extensions and overhead lockouts

Published October 19, 2026

The best barbell tricep exercises are the close-grip bench press, the JM press and the floor press for heavy pressing, the EZ-bar skullcrusher and landmine lying extension for isolating the triceps, and the overhead press for lockout strength. Start a triceps day with one close-grip press for 5 to 10 reps, then add one extension for 8 to 15. A barbell lets your triceps work with more weight than any dumbbell or cable move, which is why these lifts build size and help your bench.

  1. Close-Grip Bench Press Triceps, Chest
  2. EZ-Bar Skullcrusher Triceps
  3. JM Press Triceps
  4. Floor Press Chest, Triceps
  5. Landmine Lying Triceps Extension Triceps
  6. Barbell Overhead Press Shoulders
  7. Barbell Z Press Shoulders

Close-grip barbell presses for triceps

These three presses let your triceps move the most weight. The close-grip bench is the full-range version, the floor press cuts out the bottom so only the triceps-heavy top half is left, and the JM press blends the press with an extension. Do one of them first in a session.

Triceps and chest, heavy press

Close-Grip Bench Press

Triceps, Chest

Narrowing your grip on the bench press keeps your elbows closer to your body and makes your triceps finish the lockout. It is the heaviest triceps exercise there is, so it builds both size and the pressing strength that carries over to your regular bench.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench under a racked bar and set your hands about shoulder width apart, a little narrower than your bench grip.
  2. Plant your feet, pull your shoulder blades together, and lift the bar out over your shoulders.
  3. Lower it to the bottom of your chest with your elbows angled in toward your sides.
  4. Press back up and slightly toward your face until your elbows lock.

Cues

  • Hands at shoulder width, no closer
  • Elbows tucked about 45 degrees
  • Finish with a hard lockout

Common mistakes

  • Gripping with hands touching: it strains the wrists without adding triceps work, so stay near shoulder width.
  • Flaring the elbows out wide: that hands the lift back to your chest.

Swap for: JM Press, Floor Press, EZ-Bar Skullcrusher

Build a session with Close-Grip Bench Press

Triceps, press and extension hybrid

JM Press

Triceps

The JM press starts like a close-grip bench and ends like a skullcrusher: the bar travels down toward your throat while your elbows bend forward. It loads the triceps heavier than any extension and is gentler on the elbows than many skullcrushers.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench and hold the bar over your shoulders with a grip just inside shoulder width.
  2. Let your elbows travel forward toward your feet as you bend them, so the bar moves down toward your upper chest and throat.
  3. Stop when the bar is a few inches above your neck and your forearms are angled toward your face.
  4. Press back along the same path by straightening your elbows, finishing with locked arms over your shoulders.

Cues

  • Elbows drift toward your feet
  • Bar toward your throat, not your chest
  • Start light

Common mistakes

  • Turning it into a bench press by flaring the elbows: keep them pointing toward your feet.
  • Going heavy before learning the path: start with the empty bar for a few sessions.

Swap for: Close-Grip Bench Press, EZ-Bar Skullcrusher, Floor Press

Build a session with JM Press

Triceps and chest, partial-range press

Floor Press

Chest, Triceps

Lying on the floor stops your elbows when your upper arms touch it, so the press starts halfway down, exactly where your triceps take over from your chest. It needs no bench, only a rack or a partner to get the bar into place.

How to do it

  1. Lie under a barbell set low in a power rack, knees bent and feet flat.
  2. Grip the bar a bit outside your shoulders and press it up off the safeties.
  3. Lower until the backs of your upper arms rest on the floor, and pause a moment.
  4. Press straight up to locked arms without bouncing your elbows.

Cues

  • Pause with the arms on the floor
  • Press from a dead stop
  • Shoulder blades pinched

Common mistakes

  • Slamming the elbows into the floor: lower under control and pause.
  • Lifting your hips to help: keep your glutes down.

Swap for: Close-Grip Bench Press, JM Press, Barbell Z Press

Build a session with Floor Press

Lying barbell tricep extensions

When only the elbows move, the triceps does all the work. The EZ-bar skullcrusher is the classic; the landmine version moves in a fixed arc and is the kinder of the two if your elbows are sensitive. Use 8 to 15 reps here.

Triceps, lying extension

EZ-Bar Skullcrusher

Triceps

Only your elbows move, so the whole lift falls on your triceps, and lowering the bar behind the top of your head stretches the long head. The angled EZ grip takes strain off the wrists compared with a straight bar.

How to do it

  1. Lie back on a flat bench holding an EZ bar on the inner bends, arms straight up over your shoulders.
  2. Let your upper arms tilt slightly back toward your head and keep them there.
  3. Bend only at the elbows to lower the bar toward the top of your head or just behind it.
  4. Straighten your arms to bring the bar back over your face.

Cues

  • Upper arms fixed, slightly back
  • Lower to the crown, not the nose
  • Slow down, firm up

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbows flare out: keep them about shoulder width.
  • Moving the upper arms with every rep: that makes it a pullover, so only bend the elbows.

Swap for: JM Press, Landmine Lying Triceps Extension, Close-Grip Bench Press

Build a session with EZ-Bar Skullcrusher

Triceps, lying extension on a landmine

Landmine Lying Triceps Extension

Triceps

With one end of the bar anchored, the bar moves in an arc you do not have to balance, and it lowers behind your head instead of toward your face. It suits anyone whose elbows dislike free-bar extensions, and it works lying on the floor.

How to do it

  1. Set one end of a barbell in a landmine or a corner and lie on your back with your head toward the loaded end.
  2. Hold the end of the bar with both hands, arms straight over your forehead.
  3. Bend your elbows to lower the bar behind your head while your upper arms stay still.
  4. Straighten your arms to bring it back over your head.

Cues

  • Both hands wrapped around the sleeve
  • Elbows point up
  • Full stretch behind your head

Common mistakes

  • Letting the elbows travel back with the bar: keep the upper arms pointing up.
  • Lying too far from the anchor: shuffle until the bar ends over your forehead with straight arms.

Swap for: EZ-Bar Skullcrusher, JM Press, Barbell Z Press

Build a session with Landmine Lying Triceps Extension

Barbell overhead presses that work the triceps

Every overhead press finishes with your triceps locking the bar out. These are shoulder lifts first, so count them as part of your triceps volume rather than as a substitute for the presses and extensions above.

Shoulders and triceps, standing press

Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders

Locking a barbell out overhead takes hard triceps work on top of your shoulders, so it is a fine choice when you want one lift to cover both. It belongs here as the overhead press where the triceps finish every rep.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar in a rack at upper-chest height, take a grip just outside your shoulders, and step back with it resting on your front delts.
  2. Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes so your lower back stays neutral.
  3. Press the bar up past your face, moving your head back slightly, then bring your head through once the bar clears it.
  4. Lock your elbows with the bar over your mid-foot, then lower it to your collarbones.

Cues

  • Glutes tight, ribs down
  • Head through at the top
  • Lock out over the mid-foot

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to finish reps: drop the weight and keep a straight line.
  • Stopping short of lockout: the last few inches are triceps work, so finish every rep.

Swap for: Seated Barbell Overhead Press, Barbell Z Press, Close-Grip Bench Press

Build a session with Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders and triceps, seated press

Seated Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders

Sitting on an upright bench removes your legs and lower back from the press, so the shoulders and triceps do all the work and the lift is easier to control late in a session.

How to do it

  1. Set a bench to upright inside a rack and sit with your back against it, feet planted.
  2. Take the bar from the rack at shoulder height with a grip just outside your shoulders.
  3. Press it overhead to locked elbows.
  4. Lower it to your chin or upper chest, then press again.

Cues

  • Back on the pad
  • Elbows slightly forward
  • Lockout every rep

Common mistakes

  • Arching hard off the pad: keep your back against it.
  • Lowering only to the forehead: bring it down to your chin for the full range.

Swap for: Barbell Overhead Press, Barbell Z Press, JM Press

Build a session with Seated Barbell Overhead Press

Shoulders and triceps, floor-seated press

Barbell Z Press

Shoulders

Sitting flat on the ground, legs straight in front of you means nothing but your arms and trunk can move the bar. It is a strict press that rewards solid lockouts and needs no bench, which makes it useful in a rack-only space.

How to do it

  1. Sit inside a rack, legs straight out on the floor, and set the safeties so the bar sits at about shoulder height.
  2. Take a grip slightly wider than your shoulders and lift the bar off the safeties.
  3. Press straight up until your elbows lock, keeping your torso tall.
  4. Lower under control back to shoulder height.

Cues

  • Sit tall, no leaning
  • Lock out hard
  • Lighter than your standing press

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to get under the bar: sit taller and lower the weight.
  • Rounding your back because your hamstrings are tight: bend your knees slightly.

Swap for: Seated Barbell Overhead Press, Barbell Overhead Press, Floor Press

Build a session with Barbell Z Press

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Strength focus: a stronger bench lockout

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets10 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench

You train for a bigger bench press, miss reps near the top, and want triceps work that carries over directly.

The close-grip bench is the main lift, heavy at 4 to 6 reps and 2 reps in reserve so bar speed stays high. The floor press trains the top half where lockouts fail, and the JM press adds triceps volume with less load on the shoulder. Heavy presses need longer rest, up to 3 minutes. This runs as one 10-set session on your second bench day.

Close-Grip Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Close-Grip Bench Press3 warm-up sets firstHands at shoulder width. 4 × 4–6 2 3 min
Floor PressPause on the floor each rep. 3 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
JM PressElbows toward your feet. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s
How to run it
Do this in place of your lighter bench day, once a week, and at least two days after your main bench session.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds to the close-grip bench whenever every set hits 6 reps at 2 in reserve. Add weight to the floor press and JM press when every set reaches the top of its range.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Bigger triceps, barbell and bench, twice a week

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets15 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Flat Bench, EZ Bar, Landmine

You train in a gym or a home gym with a barbell, an EZ bar, a rack and a bench, and you want bigger arms.

Session A pairs a heavy press with the skullcrusher; session B swaps in the JM press, the seated overhead press for the lockout, and the landmine extension for a stretch with less elbow stress. Isolation sets go to 0 to 1 reps in reserve, heavy presses stay at 1 to 2. Together they come to 15 sets of triceps work a week, counting the overhead press.

Triceps A
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Close-Grip Bench Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–10 1 2:30 min
EZ-Bar SkullcrusherLower to the crown of your head. 3 × 8–12 1 90 s

Open Triceps A in the session builder

Triceps B
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
JM Press 3 × 8–12 1 2 min
Seated Barbell Overhead PressLock out every rep. 3 × 6–10 2 2 min
Landmine Lying Triceps ExtensionOn the floor or a bench. 3 × 10–15 0 75 s

Open Triceps B in the session builder

How to run it
Do Triceps A and Triceps B on separate days, ideally after your chest and shoulder sessions, with at least two days between them.
How to progress
Use double progression: add reps until every set reaches the top of the range at the target reps in reserve, then add 5 pounds and work back up.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Garage gym: rack and bar, no bench

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~35 min
  • EquipmentBarbells, Landmine

You train in a garage or basement with a power rack, a barbell and a landmine attachment, but no bench.

Without a bench, the floor press replaces the close-grip bench, the Z press replaces the seated press, and the landmine extension is done lying on the floor. Every lift uses the rack safeties, so you can push the floor press and Z press to 1 rep in reserve alone. The standing press ends the session for lockout volume. It totals 12 working sets.

Rack Triceps
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Floor Press2 warm-up sets firstClose grip, pause on the floor. 4 × 6–10 1 2:30 min
Barbell Z PressLegs straight, sit tall. 3 × 6–10 1 2 min
Landmine Lying Triceps ExtensionLying on the floor. 3 × 10–15 0 75 s
Barbell Overhead PressFinish with crisp lockouts. 2 × 8–12 2 2 min
How to run it
Do this once or twice a week, with at least two days between sessions. Set the safeties at the right height before each lift.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds to each lift when every set reaches the top of its range at the target reps in reserve. On the landmine extension, add 2.5-pound plates.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are the best barbell tricep exercises for mass?

The close-grip bench press and the EZ-bar skullcrusher. The close-grip bench lets your triceps move the most weight, and the skullcrusher stretches the long head, the biggest part of the muscle. Doing one of each twice a week covers it.

Is the close-grip bench press better for triceps than skullcrushers?

They do different jobs. The close-grip bench loads the triceps heavier but shares the work with your chest. The skullcrusher isolates the triceps and stretches the long head. A good program uses both.

Is an EZ bar worth it for triceps?

For most people, yes. The angled grip puts your wrists in a more natural position on skullcrushers and makes them easier on the elbows. If you only have a straight bar, it still works with a slightly narrower grip.

Can flabby triceps be toned with barbell exercises?

Building the triceps makes the back of the arm firmer, and these lifts do that well. Fat on the arm comes off only with overall fat loss, and the two together give the look most people mean by toned.

Does the overhead press work triceps?

Yes. Your triceps lock the bar out on every rep. It is still mainly a shoulder lift, so use it to add triceps volume, not to replace a close-grip press or an extension.

How do I do a straight bar tricep pushdown?

That one is a cable exercise, not a barbell one: you push a straight bar attachment down from a high pulley with your elbows at your sides. The cable tricep page covers it step by step. On a barbell, the closest match is the skullcrusher.