JM Press
Trains the Triceps.
- Equipment
- A rack, either a barbell or an EZ bar, and either a flat bench or an adjustable bench
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
- Lie on a flat bench with a barbell or EZ bar, hands a little inside shoulder-width, pins set below chest height.
- Unrack the bar and hold it over your upper chest with straight arms.
- Lower it toward your chin by bending the elbows and letting the upper arms travel back slightly.
- Stop with the bar near your chin and the forearms close to your upper arms.
- Press back up along the same path — part press, part extension.
- Keep the elbows pointing forward rather than flaring out.
Common mistakes
- Doing it as a straight skull crusher. The upper arms travel back a little, which is what makes it a press as well as an extension and what lets it carry more weight than a skull crusher.
- Doing it as a straight close-grip press. If the elbows stay under the bar the whole way, the extension half has gone and this is just a narrow press.
- Flaring the elbows. Elbows forward keeps the load on the triceps; out brings the chest in and loses the point.
- Learning it heavy. The path is unusual and finding it takes a light bar — it is a lift with a technique rather than a variation of one you already do.