Tate Press — start position
Start
Tate Press — end position
End

Arms / Intermediate / Isolation (single joint)

Tate Press

A dumbbell isolation exercise for the triceps, with the chest and front delts assisting.

At a glance

Primary
Triceps
Secondary
Chest, Front delts
Equipment
Dumbbells
Movement pattern
Elbow extension
Level
Intermediate
Type
Arms, Isolation (single joint)

Loads the elbow. Use a load you can control and skip it if it causes pain.

How to do it

  1. Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand on top of your thighs. The palms of your hand will be facing each other.
  2. By using your thighs to help you get the dumbbells up, clean the dumbbells one arm at a time so that you can hold them in front of you at shoulder width. Note: when holding the dumbbells in front of you, make sure your arms are wider than shoulder width apart from each other using a pronated (palms forward) grip. Allow your elbows to point out. This is your starting position.
  3. Keeping the upper arms stationary, slowly move the dumbbells in and down in a semi circular motion until they touch the upper chest while inhaling. Keep full control of the dumbbells at all times and do not move the upper arms nor rest the dumbbells on the chest.
  4. As you breathe out, move the dumbbells up using your triceps and the same semi-circular motion but in reverse. Attempt to keep the dumbbells together as they move up. Lock your arms in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down again slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
  5. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.

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Muscles worked

Neck (Front)Upper traps (Front)Front delts — secondary (Front)Side delts (Front)Chest — secondary (Front)Serratus anterior (Front)Biceps (Front)Forearms & grip (Front)Abs (Front)Obliques (Front)Hip flexors (Front)Quads (Front)Adductors (Front)Shins (tibialis) (Front)Calves (Front)Outer shins (peroneals) (Front)Feet (arch & toes) (Front)Neck (Back)Upper traps (Back)Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps) (Back)Rear delts (Back)Side delts (Back)Rotator cuff (Back)Lats (Back)Lower back (erectors) (Back)Triceps — primary (Back)Forearms & grip (Back)Hip abductors (glute med) (Back)Glutes (Back)Hamstrings (Back)Adductors (Back)Calves (Back)
FrontBack
  • Primary: Triceps
  • Secondary: Chest, Front delts

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How specific this exercise is to each movement.

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Photos and instructions: free-exercise-db (github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db), public domain.