Jay Cutler explained the difference between the Lying French Press and Skull Crusher.
Jay Cutler is one of the top bodybuilders of all-time and continues to share his wisdom on different workouts. This time, he highlighted an exercise. The four-time Olympia champion recently showed off the Lying French Press and how it is used to grow triceps.
The French Press and skull crusher are two very similar exercises that pump triceps using extension and stretching. For his “tip of the day,” Cutler demonstrated the Lying French Press using a cambered bar.
“So tip of the day today. It is going to be skull crushers or this is called the French press. So this is for the triceps. I can do this with either a straight bar, cambered bars, dumbbells, cables.”
What Is The French Press?
The French Press is a similar motion to the Skull Crusher. It can be performed with many types of bars, with the hands being extended over the shoulders. When the bar is lowered, it goes behind the head and near the top of the back. This is be done with one or two hands when using a dumbbell.
“This is going to give us an extension of the tricep, okay. Anytime you train tricep, we do a lot of pushdowns or you do kickbacks or some kind of extension.”
The French Press can be performed in a standing or seated position. This exercise provides a greater stretch as the bar goes lower and puts more strain on the long head of the tricep.
In the video, Cutler opts to lie further up on the bench. This means his head and shoulders are lower than his back. The range of motion differs from a Skull Crusher and is more challenging. The bar does not go below the forehead as Cutler lowers it each rep.
“I am going to focus on 12 repetitions, 80 pounds and I am going to use a cambered bar,” Cutler explained.
The overall benefits of the French Press is the fact that it isolates the triceps and hits all areas. The exercise activates stabilizers in both the upper and lower body, which helps in many other areas. It can add size and strength during the exercise and should be added to arm days.
For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.