The Supine Skull Tickle: Flat-Back EZ Bar Arm Crusher Classic

Pressure Cascade · Mechanism

Don't let the name fool you — there's nothing ticklish about this exercise. The Supine Skull Tickle — the lying triceps press with an EZ-curl bar — is an intermediate tricep exercise that will crush your arms into submission while lying flat on your back, which is how most people prefer to be when experiencing this level of discomfort.

You lie on a flat bench holding an EZ-curl bar with a close grip, arms extended straight up toward the ceiling. You bend your elbows and lower the bar toward your forehead — hence the traditional name "skull crusher," which is much more honest about the experience than "skull tickle." You press the bar back to full extension by straightening your elbows, keeping your upper arms perpendicular to the floor the entire time. If your upper arms drift backward, you're cheating, and the exercise becomes a press instead of an extension, which defeats the entire purpose and would make your triceps very disappointed in you.

The EZ-curl bar is easier on your wrists than a straight bar, which is a small mercy in an otherwise merciless exercise. This is the classic tricep builder, the one that has been adding mass to the back of arms since before you were born, and probably before your parents were born too. It works because it isolates the triceps under heavy load through a full range of motion, creating the kind of mechanical tension that makes muscles grow whether they want to or not. Lie back, lower the bar, and crush your way to tricep glory. Your arms will be so defined that people will ask if you flex when you reach for things. You do. We all do.