For triceps growth
For triceps growth, skull crusher rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch, more of the work on the triceps.
Cable kickback is easier on the joints.
Both are good choices, and they train the triceps differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed. (Fonseca et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2021)
The research score comes from these, scored by hand from the studies. Lifter scores appear once an exercise has 10 ratings. How scores work
Cable Kickback. Hardest where the triceps is shortest, so it misses the stretch, but it’s light on the elbows.
Skull Crusher. Lowering behind the head stretches the long head, but heavy reps can be hard on the elbows.
For triceps growth, skull crusher rates higher on our research criteria: more stretch, more of the work on the triceps. Cable kickback is easier on the joints. Both are good choices, and they train the triceps differently. Using both across your week covers more of the muscle than either alone: in studies, varied exercises grew parts of a muscle that one exercise missed.
About the same: both are easy to learn.
Cable kickback needs a cable station, so for most people it’s a gym exercise. Skull crusher needs an EZ bar and a bench, so for most people it’s a gym exercise.
Cable kickback: it rates Excellent for joint and recovery cost in our research rubric, against Good for skull crusher.