French Press
Sitting on a bench with back support, you hold an EZ bar overhead, lower it behind your head by bending your elbows, and press it back up, isolating the triceps from a stretch.
- Primary muscles
- Triceps
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weight × reps
Loads from YouTube only when you press play. The video is by an independent creator.
Why do it
Seated with your back supported, you can focus on the triceps without your legs or torso helping, and the overhead arm position puts them under a long stretch. The EZ bar's angled grip is more comfortable on the wrists than a straight bar for most people, and one bar in both hands is easier to load than a single dumbbell. It works as a main triceps exercise for intermediates, usually for moderate reps. The name gets used loosely, and some gyms call a lying extension a French press; here it means the seated overhead version.
How to do it
Sit on a bench with back support, feet flat, and hold the EZ bar overhand on the angled sections at about shoulder width.
Press the bar overhead until your arms are straight, elbows pointing forward.
Bend your elbows to lower the bar behind your head until you feel a stretch in your triceps.
Press it back up, keeping your upper arms still and close to your head. Keep the weight moderate; the overhead position puts the triceps on a long stretch and is easy to overload.
Common mistakes
Letting your elbows splay out
Wide elbows shift the load off the triceps and toward the shoulders. Keep your upper arms close to your head with your elbows pointing forward.
Moving your upper arms
Letting your upper arms drop back as you lower turns it into a pullover. Keep them still; only your forearms should travel.
Going too heavy for the stretch
The bottom is where the triceps are most stretched, and too much weight there is hard to control. Choose a moderate load you can lower slowly and press without a rebound.
Lowering only partway
Stopping with the bar above your head skips the stretch that sets this exercise apart. Lower until you feel a clear stretch in the triceps.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
