The standing EZ-bar French press exercise pumps up the long (back) head of the triceps, especially its bottom, giving it detail. Formative exercise.
Seated French press EZ-bar Maximum isolates the load on the long head of the triceps, located on the back of the arm. As a result, this muscle bundle increases in thickness and takes on clear, expressive shapes, which visually expands the upper part of the arm when viewed from the side.
The strength of the triceps brachii muscle, which straightens the arm at the elbow joint, largely determines success in badminton (hitting the shuttlecock from behind the head), volleyball (serving the ball and hitting the ball from behind the head), pole vaulting (especially at the moment of take-off from pole), gymnastics (performing handstands and various exercises on the uneven bars), boxing (straight blows), karate (punching from the body to the side and from top to bottom).
French EZ-bar press sitting (standing) - triceps exercise 1. Place the back of the bench upright, sit on the seat and place your feet on the floor. The trapezoids are pressed against the back of the bench. The back is straight and slightly arched at the lower back.
2. Grab the EZ bar with a close overhand grip, preferably on the curved parts of the bar (palms slightly turned towards each other and the distance between them is less than shoulder width).
3. Raise the barbell up so that the bar is directly above the top of your head. The arms and torso are fully straightened and are in the same vertical plane passing through the sides of the body. The chin is parallel to the floor or slightly raised up. This is the starting position.
4. Take a fairly deep breath and, holding your breath, bend your elbows and lower the bar behind your head.
5. Please note: throughout the entire set, the upper arms (from elbow to shoulder) and torso must remain motionless.
6. Lower the barbell behind your head until you feel your triceps stretch like strings. Then, without pausing, contract your triceps as hard as you can and lift the barbell back to the starting position.
7. Exhale only when the bar has passed the hardest part of the lift or when you have fully straightened your arms.
8. At the top of the exercise, take a short pause and tighten your triceps even more.
French press EZ-bar sitting (standing) - muscles 1. To avoid rounding your back, tighten your psoas muscles and maintain the natural, S-shaped curve of your spine.
2. Don't move your elbows! They should remain motionless throughout the entire exercise, as should your torso, shoulders and legs. All the movement that occurs is only flexion and extension of the arms at the elbow joint.
3. To achieve maximum contraction of the long head of the triceps and anconeus muscles (they are the focus of the load in this exercise), be sure to fully straighten your arms at the top of the exercise.
4. Compared to a straight bar, the EZ bar is much more comfortable, as it significantly reduces the load on the wrists due to the fact that the palms are turned towards each other.
6. Do not perform this exercise if your shoulder joints are not flexible enough and you find it difficult to bend and straighten your arms when your upper arms (elbow to shoulder) are straight up.
7. Do not lean your elbows forward during the exercise. This dangerously shifts the focus of the load from the triceps to the spine, which can lead to loss of balance.
8. If you find it difficult to keep the barbell balanced when doing the exercise while sitting, try doing it while standing. This will engage additional stabilizer muscles in the legs and torso, which will make it easier to hold the barbell overhead in balance.
The French seated dumbbell press is a basic exercise aimed at working the triceps muscle from a different angle. This body position has a greater impact on the maximum stretch of the long head of the triceps muscle.
Main working muscle group: triceps brachii (long head).
Accessory muscle group: elbow muscle.
Seated French dumbbell press - execution technique.
There are two types of French overhead press with free weights (not including cable machines): the dumbbell press and the barbell press (curved bar). Let's consider the option - bench press with a dumbbell.
To perform this exercise correctly, you can use a regular horizontal bench or a bench with a low back to support your lower back; this will stabilize the position of your body and prevent arching in the lumbar region.
Tension of the abdominal muscles also plays an important role in stabilizing the position, which also prevents arching of the lower back.
1. Sit down on a bench, take a dumbbell in both hands, clasping the bar with your thumbs in a “lock” and first setting the desired weight on it.
2. Raise your arms up and place them slightly behind your head to feel the initial stretch of the muscle. Elbows slightly bent. As you inhale, begin to lower the weight behind your back, while your shoulders are static, only the elbow joint works.
3. Having lowered the dumbbell as low as possible and feeling how the triceps are stretched, without pausing, return the weight up to the starting point, exhale at the end of the movement.
4. Do not place your hands too far behind your head; this position can damage the shoulder joint. Throughout the entire amplitude, movements should be smooth without roars. Do not use or chase too heavy a weight!
It is worth noting that although the entire load falls on, when performed correctly, the elbow muscle is also involved. When performing the exercise while standing, the trunk stabilizers are activated, naturally, to maintain the required position when performing the exercise.
When working with light weights, the exercise is not as traumatic as when working with large weights. Not all athletes perform it standing; there is an alternative option - lying on a bench.
The standing French barbell press is not as easy to perform as it seems, the main thing is not to overdo it with the weight. We select the optimal or minimum weight if you are a beginner and start performing the exercise.
We take the barbell with a narrow grip and straighten our arms up to a completely straight line. We move our elbows slightly inward, with our feet shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, we begin to bend your elbows behind your head (you don’t need to move your hands far from the back of your head). Lower the bar until the biceps and forearms touch. Concentrating on the triceps, we return to the starting position as we exhale.
Standing French Dumbbell Press
The standing French dumbbell press is performed with one dumbbell. Take the dumbbell in your right hand and lift it up, feet shoulder-width apart. To fix the correct position, we strain the abdominal muscles, the lower back remains motionless. When the position of the shoulder is stabilized, we begin to move the dumbbell down while inhaling. In this case, the position of the elbow is almost unchanged. As you exhale, return the dumbbell to the starting position. Accordingly, we do the same with the left hand.
- this is the most “basic” version of the French press, which allows you to work out the target muscle group in the most accentuated manner. Pump up your triceps This exercise is easiest because the elbows are in the most comfortable position, which provides better isolation of the triceps bundles, and also allows for better stretching of the muscle fibers. At the same time, the standing position allows you to swing the weight a little if the athlete is already ready for “cheating”, although the correct one, of course, is always better.
The standing French press is also good because a comfortable position of the joints provides not only better muscle pumping, but also wears out the joints themselves less, which, of course, is most important in the long term! Despite the fact that the exercise is performed standing, the spine is completely safe, because the athlete does not use very large training weights.
Here you should pay attention to the fact that the standing French press is an isolating exercise, although it is often performed as a “base”, which can cause injury to the elbow joint. In any case, the wear and tear on the elbow joint will greatly increase, so to avoid this, you should first do the bench press with a narrow grip, which will tire the triceps.
Work of muscles and joints
The standing French press, as noted above, provides a very comfortable position for the elbow joint, which makes it possible to very well emphasize the load on the triceps bundles. Also, since the entire load falls exclusively on the triceps, it is possible to use all its bundles, which is especially important for us, since it is usually difficult to load the internal bundle.
In addition to the effectiveness of the French standing press, there is also such a factor as safety, which is ensured by a number of things, but primarily by the fact that the bar does not press from above, but pulls the arms down, due to which the joints wear out less. But it is also important that it is much easier to maintain the position of your elbows while standing than lying down.
French bench press - diagram
1) Stand with the barbell, holding it at waist level, with your legs in a scissors position.
2) Squat down a little and throw the barbell over your shoulders, from where you should squeeze it out, as when doing a military press, this position is the starting point.
3) Turn your elbows parallel to each other so that they look forward and bend them slightly.
4) Exhaling, slowly lower the bar as low as possible, but do not linger at the bottom point.
5) Having reached the limit of muscle stretching, with a powerful push, while exhaling, straighten your arms to the starting position, but leave your elbows slightly bent.
French Press - Notes
1) During the exercise, the back should be slightly bent back and the shoulder blades should be brought together. This is necessary not so much to remove the load from the spine, since the weight of the bar is not large, but so that you better control the distribution of the load.
2) The previous technique completely allows you to isolate the triceps, but, nevertheless, you cannot apply force with your shoulders, so they should be fixed in one position.
3) Don’t move your neck, your head should look forward all the time so that you don’t lose your breath.
4) The standing French press should be performed in the 12-15 rep range, which can cause muscle failure, so ask your partner to back you up so you don't have to drop the barbell.
5) The knee joints should also be bent so that the load is distributed over the quadriceps, which, again, is important not for the safety of the joints, but for better stability.
Anatomy
From an anatomical point of view, the standing French press is a very convenient exercise. Firstly, it isolates the triceps from other muscle groups, which allows you to better load the lagging bundles, primarily the internal triceps bundle. Secondly, the weight of the barbell stretches the muscles and joints, rather than putting pressure on them from above, which provides greater safety and diversifies the load compared to other exercises. In addition, the standing position allows you to “swing” the weight and “finish off” the muscles in the last rep failure.
The joints also benefit because the French standing press allows you to choose the most comfortable body position without limiting the athlete to the size of the bench or anything else. Together with the light weight and other advantages, this exercise can be called the safest for the elbow joint, along with
The standing French press is a very effective exercise in terms of human anatomy. It isolates the target muscle group, which allows you to more effectively work out the lagging triceps bundles, namely the internal bundle.
Elaboration:
Targeted – all three (lateral, medial, long) heads of the triceps
Synergists - no
Stabilizers – anterior deltoid, pectoralis major (clavicular head), wrist flexors
Advantages:
Complete isolation of the triceps and impact on all three heads at once
Greater range of motion compared to the classic bench press, better stimulation of the triceps
Improving results in other pressing exercises
Greater stability of the shoulder and elbow joints
General development of triceps strength and mass
Visible detail of the triceps brachii muscle
Elimination of asymmetry in the development of triceps muscles
Technique:
1.
Grasp a barbell (straight or EZ bar) with a close grip and lift it overhead until your arms are fully extended. Place your feet shoulder-width apart and point your elbows slightly inward
2.
As you inhale, begin to bend your elbows, keeping them close to your head. Lower the barbell in an arc behind you until your elbows are perpendicular to the floor and your forearms touch your biceps. Using your triceps, return the bar to the starting position and exhale. Repeat a specified number of times
Alternative exercises:
In addition to the classic version, there are also alternative exercises:
French press with EZ bar while sitting on a bench
French press sitting on a bench with a dumbbell behind your head
French press sitting from the lower block of the simulator
At the bottom point, hold for 1-2 seconds
Do not spread your elbows too far to the sides
Don't use heavy weights
Lower the barbell down slowly and under control
Look ahead
Which is better, dumbbell or barbell?
A dumbbell behind your head allows you to use more load, and, as a result, load your triceps more. Dumbbells put less stress on your joints. It is not particularly convenient to hold the barbell above your head - the heavy weight pulls you back.
As for the classic French press and standing press, it is better to alternate these exercises with each other for a deeper study of the different heads of the triceps.
Standing French press technique, video: