Okay,
you got me...I had no idea what to call this one. That's a common problem with me because I come up
with some pretty wild combinations of other exercises
- sometimes the naming is harder than the exercise
itself!
Not this one, though.
It's a combination of close grip push-up, a tricep
extension and almost a horizontal pike handstand
push-up/Arnold press. Try and mash THAT into a coherent name.
Anyway, for this one
you'll need a barbell and a bench (or chair or whatever)
and something to brace the barbell on. I'm using
a rack to push the bar up against and that was the
easiest but it can be anything solid. A wall won't
really work because your body has to go forward
over the bar a little ways.
So set a couple of plates
on the bar to get it up off the ground a bit then push
it up against the solid object. Set a bench a few feet
back from the bar (it can be parallel or lengthwise -
doesn't really matter as long as it won't slide out from
under you).
Set your hands on the bar
about shoulder-width apart then set your feet on the bench.
Get yourself into a pike
position with your arms fully straight and locked out
- this is the start position. This pike position is what
makes it different than a standard close-grip push-up
- you'll see why in a second.
Now lower yourself down
and forward, bending your arms and straightening out your
body as you do so.
Bring your body all the
way down until your stomach is touching the bar. This
is the bottom position.
Now
here comes the critical part - you're NOT
just going to do a close-grip push-up here.
You're going to push yourself
UP and BACK into the pike position where you started...
When you're at the top,
be sure to push yourself all the way up and fully lock
out your arms. Push your butt as high in the air as
you can. This kicks in the long head of the triceps, bringing
in the shoulder extension function of the triceps.
It's hard to really get
an idea for how this goes in the still pics here but when
you see it done in the video, you'll see exactly why it's
so effective for the triceps.
You're not only doing a
close-grip press but also using your triceps to push your
body back up to the pike position. It's a great multiple-angle,
bodyweight hit to the tri's.
And let me tell you,
even if you're strong, this'll have your triceps toasted
in just a few sets.
Now have a look at the video
to really see it in action...
