If you’ve ever walked into a commercial gym and seen someone lying on a flat bench, clutching a wiggly-looking metal rod and lowering it toward their forehead with a grimace, you’ve witnessed the french press ez bar in its natural habitat. It looks painful. Honestly, if you do it wrong, it is painful. People call them "skull crushers" for a reason, and it's not just because it sounds cool in a metal song.
But here’s the thing. Your triceps make up about two-thirds of your upper arm mass. If you want big arms, you don't do more curls. You do more extensions. The EZ bar variant of the French press is arguably the most effective way to load the long head of the tricep, which is the part that actually gives your arm that "horseshoe" look from the side. Straight bars are fine, I guess, but they tend to wreck people's wrists. The EZ bar exists because our bodies weren't really designed to hold heavy loads in a perfectly flat, supinated, or pronated position for long periods.
It's about mechanics.
The Anatomy of the French Press EZ Bar
To understand why this move works, you have to look at the triceps brachii. It has three heads: the lateral, the medial, and the long head. Most tricep exercises, like press-downs, hit the lateral and medial heads pretty well. But the long head is different. It’s the only one that crosses the shoulder joint. This means to fully stretch it—and therefore fully grow it—your arm needs to be overhead or at least extended behind your body.
When you use an french press ez bar, the angled grips allow your hands to sit in a semi-supinated position. This takes the sheer force off the ulnar nerve and the small bones in your wrist. If you use a straight bar, your wrists are forced into a flat position that puts massive pressure on the joint. It’s a recipe for tendonitis. With the EZ bar, you can focus on the muscle, not the stabbing pain in your forearm.
I’ve seen guys at the gym load up three plates on each side and move the bar about two inches. That’s not a French press. That’s a seizure. The magic happens in the stretch. When the bar goes down past your forehead—maybe even slightly behind your head—the long head of the tricep is screaming. That eccentric phase is where the hypertrophy lives.
Why the "Skull Crusher" Name is Kinda Wrong
Technically, a skull crusher and a French press are slightly different, though people use the terms interchangeably. A true skull crusher brings the bar to the forehead. A French press usually involves a deeper range of motion, often taking the bar behind the head while either lying down, sitting, or standing.
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Sitting up makes it harder. Why? Because gravity is pulling the weight directly down through your spine, and your core has to stabilize like crazy to keep you from toppling over. Most people should stick to the lying version first. It's safer for the lower back and lets you isolate the arms without turning it into a full-body balancing act.
Avoiding the "Elbow Flare" Trap
This is the biggest mistake. You’ll see it everywhere. Someone starts the set with their elbows tucked in, looking like a pro. By rep six, their elbows are flared out to the sides like they’re trying to fly away.
When your elbows flare, the load shifts from your triceps to your shoulders and chest. It becomes a weird, messy close-grip bench press hybrid. To fix this, think about "pinning" your elbows toward each other. They don't have to be perfectly parallel—everyone's bone structure is different—but they shouldn't be pointing at the walls.
Another tip: keep your upper arms angled slightly back toward your head, rather than perfectly vertical. If your arms are straight up at a 90-degree angle to the floor, there’s zero tension on the triceps at the top of the movement. The weight is just resting on your bone structure. By angling your arms back about 15 degrees, the triceps stay engaged even when the arms are locked out. Constant tension is the goal.
Science and Real Results
Dr. Brad Schoenfeld, a renowned expert in muscle hypertrophy, has often pointed out that variety in shoulder angles is crucial for total tricep development. Research suggests that the long head is most active when the shoulder is in a flexed position (overhead). The french press ez bar provides exactly that.
There was a study—I think it was published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research—that looked at EMG activity in the triceps during various movements. While the triangle-bar cable press-down showed high activation, the lying extension (the French press) was superior for that deep tissue growth in the long head.
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I remember talking to a powerlifter friend who swore off these because of "elbow pain." It turns out he was doing them first in his workout. Bad move. Your elbows are delicate hinges. They need blood flow before you start throwing heavy EZ bars around. Do your French presses after some light pushdowns or even after your main chest work. Warm joints are happy joints.
The Setup Matters More Than You Think
Don't just flop onto the bench.
- Plant your feet.
- Retract your scapula (squeeze your shoulder blades).
- Have a spotter hand you the bar if you're going heavy.
Picking the bar up from the floor while lying on a bench is a great way to tear a rotator cuff. Don't be that guy. Use the rack or a friend.
Variations That Actually Work
If the standard lying version feels stale, try the decline bench. By lying on a decline, you increase the range of motion even further. The bar travels deeper, stretching the triceps even more intensely. It feels weird at first, but the pump is unreal.
There's also the "JM Press," named after JM Blakley. It’s a cross between a bench press and a French press. You lower the bar toward your neck/chin area, keeping the elbows tucked. It’s a powerlifting staple for building lockout strength. But for pure aesthetics? Stick to the classic french press ez bar with a focus on the stretch.
Some people prefer the standing version. It's great for core stability, but be careful. It’s very easy to start arching your back to cheat the weight up. If you find yourself leaning back like a Neo in The Matrix, the weight is too heavy. Drop the ego, take a plate off, and feel the burn.
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Equipment Check: Not All Bars are Equal
You’ve got the standard EZ bar and the "Super" EZ bar with the more aggressive zig-zags. Honestly, it's personal preference. If your wrists are really sensitive, the Super EZ bar allows for a more neutral grip (palms facing each other), which is even easier on the joints.
Also, check the knurling. If the bar is slippery, you're going to spend more time worrying about dropping it on your face than actually working your muscles. Use chalk if you have to.
The Roadmap to Better Arms
If you're serious about incorporating the french press ez bar into your routine, don't just do 3 sets of 10 and call it a day. You need a plan.
- Frequency: Hit them twice a week. Triceps recover relatively fast compared to legs or back.
- Volume: Aim for 8-12 reps. This isn't a 1-rep max movement. It’s about metabolic stress and micro-tears in the muscle fibers.
- Tempo: Take 3 seconds on the way down. Feel the stretch. Explode up, but don't "snap" your elbows at the top. Control is king.
Misconceptions abound in the fitness world. You don't need fancy machines or "one weird trick" to grow your arms. You need basic, heavy, compound-adjacent movements that allow for progressive overload. The EZ bar French press has been a staple since the Golden Era of bodybuilding for a reason. Arnold did them. Zane did them. They worked then, and they work now.
Actionable Next Steps
To get started with the french press ez bar effectively, follow this progression over your next few gym sessions:
- Session 1: Start with a weight you can comfortably handle for 15 reps. Focus entirely on keeping your elbows tucked and your upper arms angled back toward your head. Don't worry about "heavy" yet.
- Session 2: Move to a 10-12 rep range. Introduce a "pause" at the bottom of the movement (near your ears) to eliminate momentum and force the triceps to work from a dead stop.
- Session 3: Try the exercise on a slight decline (15-30 degrees). Notice the difference in the stretch and how it affects your "horseshoe" muscle the next day.
- Long-term: Track your weights. If you can do 65 lbs for 12 reps this week, aim for 70 lbs in two weeks. Progressive overload is the only way to ensure the muscle actually grows.
Stop treating your triceps like an afterthought at the end of a chest day. Give them their own dedicated volume, use the right tools, and keep your elbows in check. The results will show up in your sleeves soon enough.