Author Topic: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps  (Read 2132 times)

NY MUSCLE

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reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« on: January 26, 2012, 06:28:21 PM »
Looking for some input here from some of you guys with big arms not fat arms or inexperience. I am a seasoned bodybuilder and arms have been a lagging body part for me. I am currently about 220# 5'9 with roughly 10% bf and my arms are measuring just under 18" looking to get some ideas from those who have struggled

wild willie

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2012, 06:55:37 PM »
close grip smith machine!

Yev33

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2012, 07:15:13 PM »
Have you ever done reverse grip presses?
I am assuming that you have done close grip presses in the past. So since you aren't happy with your triceps you might as well give the reverse grip presses a try.
If you have never done reverse grip presses expect a learning curve to get the movement to feel comfortable and develop a power groove. Reverse grip presses do hit the triceps hard and IMO are just as effective as the close grip presses. I can't really say which one is better, but going on the assumption that you are already pretty good on the close grip press, switching to the reverse grip should spark some new growth.

chaos

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2012, 07:48:43 PM »
close grip smith machine!
This. The only exercise I use the smith machine for, helps if it is angled also, push into the angle so the bar goes away from your face.
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SamsonD

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2012, 07:52:21 PM »
CGBP FTW.  But also, don't expect to have 22" guns at a bodyweight of 220 either.  At five nine you are going to have to weight, well shit I don't know exactly but I would think close to 250 to have 20+ inch arms.  You can do all the arm training you want but if your over all musculature doesn't put on a lot of size you most likely wont have huge arms

chess315

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2012, 11:52:02 PM »
reverse grips benches you can use very heavy poundage on when you get good at it a lot of time more then regular benching its just hard to do unless you have a good spotter. It also hits the upper chest very well prolly and underrated movement but close grip benches are great to. Decline close grips are awesome also allows you to use very heavy weight and cuts a lot of the bottom range of the motion out

local hero

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2012, 02:34:07 AM »
as has been said already, sounds like there as big as there going to get at that weight!

you could probly stop training them all together and theyl  more or less be the same size, or you could train them twice a week and they would still be the same

only way to actualy gain from here would be to up the dose/food

funk51

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #7 on: January 27, 2012, 08:42:32 AM »
 ;D larry s presses the best and then these for tri's
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jpm101

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2012, 08:49:04 AM »
As another option, for tricep mass, might consider Dips. Having the elbows  torching the  sides (as much as possible) , and the body kept at an 180 degree angle throughout the exercise, is putting a greater direct focus on the triceps. Have someone hold the body in that 180 degrees, or brace the feet against any object, to stay in that inline position. Even leaning a bit forward will throw the affect more to the anterior delts & pecs.  Flaring out the elbows also transfers  the work to the pecs more.

A "V" dipping bar is an excellent piece of equipment, not only for the triceps but the pec/delts tie in.  Preforming dipping exercises from extra wide to narrow.

Check out the triceps of most gymnast and the many forms of dips they do in training. While your at it, check the biceps from all the ring and bar work they get. And these guy's train 5, or more, days a week. Good Luck.
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NY MUSCLE

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2012, 05:58:27 PM »
thanks for the input

chess315

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2012, 07:18:43 PM »
;D larry s presses the best and then these for tri's
thats all well and great but if you dont have anyone to hand you a 250lb curl bar your kinda screwed

QuakerOats

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2012, 09:10:33 PM »
18 inch arms at five feet nine and 10 percent bodyfat is pretty impressive and should LOOK very impressive, im wondering if maybe the original poster is measuring them wrong.

Montague

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2012, 04:23:07 AM »
Scott had his own variation of the “skull-crusher.” I’ve never tried them, but just reading the description hurts my elbows.
Larry was well-known for - and wrote extensively in his articles about - favoring kneeling cable extensions done on that twin pedestal bench, but I always bear in mind that he SELLS that same bench.
It’s also worth mentioning that lots of guys who got to see Larry train in his early days witnessed him spend ample time doing multiple movements on dipping and parallel bars.

I always include some type of long(er) range extension in my triceps workout. Usually, this is either seated overhead bb or db extensions or body weight extensions. I particularly like the stretch you can get at the bottom with these, and by tweaking your angles and stop point, you can keep heavy tension on the tri’s for the entire set.
These exercises, done this way, are what finally started giving me some gains on my posterior arms, which have historically sucked.

For what it’s worth, improved TUT also has helped my delts to a noticeable degree; that, and adopting a wider grip on presses and rows. Shoulders were another very weak point for me development-wise.

funk51

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #13 on: January 29, 2012, 07:44:56 AM »
thats all well and great but if you dont have anyone to hand you a 250lb curl bar your kinda screwed
just get a bench custom made with the uprights at the appropriate distances to accomafate the ez curl bar failing that just use a pair of safety spotters.
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funk51

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #14 on: January 29, 2012, 07:50:32 AM »
 :o or a bench like this that comes with a bar to do close grip tri work. safety spotters also pic'd
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QuakerOats

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #15 on: January 29, 2012, 02:33:49 PM »
you know the thing i love about that Powertec bench is the width of the bench, most benches in gyms are so fucking narrow that if youre halfway decent sized half your body is hanging off of it and you have no stability on presses.

chaos

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #16 on: January 29, 2012, 02:50:17 PM »
The wider benches give me huge red lines down my shoulder blades/back, the narrow ones feel unstable.... :(
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NY MUSCLE

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #17 on: January 29, 2012, 04:30:56 PM »
defiantly not measuring wrong tape is straight and not manipulated to get a bigger measurement. i have been training for roughly 10 years and i have struggled to get my arms this size everything else grows well but the arms are stubborn. I appreciate all input guys thanks a lot.

WOOO

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2012, 05:04:05 PM »
The wider benches give me huge red lines down my shoulder blades/back, the narrow ones feel unstable.... :(

isn't that like squats giving you burns on your neck?  you get used to it... as for narrow presses, i never have my hands closer than 12" and ensure my feet are flat on the floor and nice and wide


defiantly not measuring wrong tape is straight and not manipulated to get a bigger measurement. i have been training for roughly 10 years and i have struggled to get my arms this size everything else grows well but the arms are stubborn. I appreciate all input guys thanks a lot.

in my opinion (and i am not suggesting that you are doing anything wrong), arm training is all about form and not overtraining... i am not uber lean or anything but my arms have been 20" or so for the past 4 years... before that they never topped 19"... what made the difference?  i now never go under 12 reps, all reps are slow and strict and i train arms once a week on their own for about 30 minutes...

chaos

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Re: reverse barbell presses or close grip presses for triceps
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2012, 05:05:53 PM »
isn't that like squats giving you burns on your neck? 

Yeah, every Tues I come home with big red lines on my shoulder blades. :D
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