What Is a French Press Exercise?

The French press exercise is a weight lifting technique that builds the tricep muscles. This is the muscle group located on the back of your upper arms. The French press exercise involves holding weights in both hands and bending your arms at the elbow. Straightening your arms with the weights providing resistance, works the tricep muscles. The French press exercise is also called "skull crushers" since that is what would happen if you drop the weight while performing them.

  1. Features

    • To perform the French press exercise, pick up a barbell with a moderate amount of weight on it. This should be slightly less than what you can comfortably curl with your biceps. Lay down on a flat weight lifting bench and extend your arms straight above you. Bend your arms at both elbows and slowly lower the weight toward your head. Keep your upper arms pointing up throughout this movement. When your arms are bent at a 90 degree angle, press the weight back up by straightening your arms. This is one repetition of the French press exercise.

    Function

    • Do three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions of the French press exercise. If your triceps are not burning by the time you finish 10 repetitions, increase the amount of weight you are lifting. If you have trouble control maintaining good form throughout the French press exercise, decrease the weight.

    Warning

    • Lifting more weight with the French press exercise is not necessarily better. The triceps are small muscle groups that require a specialized movement to build. Lighter weights are better for this. If you are forced to arch your back or swing the weight up then you are lifting too much. This is dangerous. If the weights slip out of your hands they will fall on your face and could seriously injure or kill you. Use light weights when performing the French press exercise and gradually increase the weight as needed.

    Effects

    • Many weight lifters under estimate the importance of building triceps with the French press exercise. Two-thirds of the muscles in the upper arm are triceps. Working biceps is fine, but the bulk of the upper arm girth is from triceps. In women, the back of the upper arm can become loose and flabby. Toning the triceps with the French press exercise can reduce this.

    Types

    • There are several types of French press exercises. They all use essentially the same motion but there are slight variations. The dumbbell French press is performed in the exact same way except a dumbbell is lifted in each hand instead of a barbell. This is a safer way to do the French press exercise since you can drop the weights to the side instead of on your head if it becomes too difficult. The French press exercise can also be done while sitting with the arms extended straight up. This is also called triceps extensions.