Isolation

Skull crusher

Loads the triceps with the arms overhead of the torso, a position pushdowns miss. Rough on some elbows, which is what the swap is for.

Coming to the App Store

The movement pages are part of MacroChef Plus

How the lift is performed, what it trains, and where it belongs in a split — for all 67 movements. One subscription covers the training side and the whole recipe library.

How Plus works

Skull crusher, the movement — The movement

Trains

Triceps

Programmed at

—

Used as

a swap for other movements

This one is not programmed directly — it is what you do when the first choice is taken or does not suit you. See the splits it stands in for.

The muscle itself

The three heads of the triceps brachii seen from behind: the lateral head on the outer arm, the long head running up to the scapula, and the medial head low above the elbow, all joining one tendon. — The long head is the only one that crosses the shoulder, which is why it is only fully stretched with the arm overhead.

Everything else that trains this pattern

Barbell curlBiceps
Cable curlBiceps
Cable lateral raiseSide delts
Cable rope curlBiceps, Brachialis, Forearms
Dumbbell curlBiceps
Dumbbell overhead extensionTriceps
Face pullRear delts, Mid back, Rotator cuff
Hammer curlBiceps, Brachialis, Forearms
Lateral raiseSide delts
Leg curlHamstrings
Leg extensionQuads
Lying leg curlHamstrings
Nordic curlHamstrings
Overhead rope extensionTriceps
Reverse flyRear delts, Mid back
Seated calf raiseCalves
Seated leg curlHamstrings
Sissy squatQuads
Standing calf raiseCalves
Triceps pushdownTriceps

Training is the easy half

You will not build anything on the wrong number of calories, and most people are eating a long way under the protein they think they are. Get your daily number, then have the week built to it — every recipe on the site is costed from gram weights, so the figures are checkable rather than rounded up to sound better.

This is not a form tutorial. There is no technique walkthrough here and no claim about the one correct way to move — a page cannot watch you lift. What it gives you is what the movement trains, how much of it to do, and what to do instead when the equipment is taken. If a movement is new to you, get someone qualified to watch your first few sessions. If you are under 18, pregnant, or managing an injury or medical condition, talk to someone qualified rather than a website.