Best Barbell Exercises for Triceps — Top 10
Barbell training is heavy compound lifts (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press). Here are the best barbell exercises for targeting your triceps, ranked by effectiveness. The barbell is the gold standard for heavy compound lifting.
Ranked by triceps muscle activation percentage, range of motion quality with barbell, and progressive overload potential.
Skull crushers (lying tricep extensions) are the gold standard for tricep isolation. Lie on a bench, hold the bar above your face, and lower it toward your forehead by bending your elbows.
Key Form Cue
Lie on a flat bench holding the bar (straight or EZ-bar) above your chest with arms extended.
The skull crusher to press combines a lying tricep extension with a close-grip press in one fluid motion. This hybrid exercise overloads the triceps by using the chest to assist at the bottom of each rep.
Key Form Cue
Lie on a flat bench with a barbell held at arms length, hands shoulder width apart.
The California press combines a close-grip bench press with a skull crusher in one movement, creating a powerful hybrid tricep builder. You lower the bar to your upper chest/neck area with a close grip, blending elbow extension and pressing.
Key Form Cue
Lie on a flat bench and grip the barbell with hands about 12 inches apart.
The close-grip bench press is the heaviest compound tricep exercise. Narrowing your grip shifts the load from the chest to the triceps while still allowing heavy loading for maximum strength gains.
Key Form Cue
Grip the bar at shoulder-width or slightly narrower — not so close that your wrists hurt.
The floor press limits the range of motion to the top portion of the bench press, building lockout strength and tricep power. The floor also eliminates leg drive, making it a strict upper-body press.
Key Form Cue
Lie on the floor with the barbell in a rack or dumbbells in hand.
The barbell bench press is the most popular chest exercise and a cornerstone of upper-body strength. Lie on a flat bench, unrack the bar, lower it to your mid-chest, and press it back up to lockout.
Key Form Cue
Retract and depress your shoulder blades — squeeze them together like you are holding a pencil between them.
The decline bench press emphasizes the lower chest fibers. Set the bench to a slight decline (15-30 degrees), hook your feet, and press the bar from your lower chest to lockout.
Key Form Cue
Set the decline to 15-30 degrees — too steep shifts work to triceps.
The standing barbell overhead press is the best overall shoulder builder and a true test of upper-body pressing strength. Press the bar from your shoulders to full lockout overhead.
Key Form Cue
Grip the bar just outside shoulder-width with elbows slightly in front of the bar.
The standing barbell overhead press is one of the best compound movements for building overall shoulder mass and pressing strength. It trains all three deltoid heads with emphasis on the front delts while demanding core stability.
Key Form Cue
Unrack the bar at collar bone height with hands just outside shoulder width.
The push press uses a slight leg drive to help press the barbell overhead, allowing you to handle more weight than a strict press. It builds explosive overhead strength.
Key Form Cue
Start with the bar in the front rack position on your shoulders.
Put these exercises into a real program
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