Here’s a fun little triceps finisher I like to use with my lifters on bench press day. We snagged this one from some of Joe DeFranco’s old NFL combine prep videos and our lifters love (to hate) it.
After your main bench press work, take a weight you could lift for 6-10 reps, and then perform:
- 1-board press to 1-2 reps in reserve (RIR)
- 2-board press to 1-2 RIR
- 3-board press for max reps
All without racking the bar until the set is over. This mechanical drop set lets you continue to pump out reps as you fatigue by reducing the range of motion with each new board.
Like any other cluster set, this triceps finisher lets you get more work done in less time, which is always a plus when trying to increase training volume without spending 2-3 hours in the gym multiple days per week.
And because for most lifters the bottom range of the bench press is the weakest point, it’s challenging to truly fatigue the triceps with a bench press variation. The most common approach is to train the bench press heavy and then hit the triceps with lighter accessory movements like triceps pushdowns, skullcrushers, etc. The problem is that the loading on the accessory movements simply can’t match the loading of a heavy bench press. Weight isn’t the only thing that matters when building size and strength, but mechanical tension is probably the most important thing. Even the full stack of a cable machine can’t hold a candle to a heavy bench press in terms of mechanical tension.
Give this triceps finisher a try after you’re finished your main bench press work on your next upper body day. You’ll be blown away by how much further you can push your triceps on this movement than a traditional bench press.
