Kaz Press: How To Build Bigger Triceps

Curls, pushdowns, skull crushers, dips. You’re doing the work, but your triceps still won’t grow, and the JM press leaves your elbows aching.

The Kaz press is the fix: a narrow-grip Smith machine triceps press where the bar travels to your chin, not your chest.

It’s built for intermediate lifters chasing bigger, stronger triceps, especially anyone with cranky elbows.

Below we cover how to do it, the muscles it hits, the mistakes to dodge, and how it stacks up against the JM press and close-grip bench.

What Is the Kaz Press? The Strongman Origin Story

The move is named after Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier, a 3-time World’s Strongest Man who benched a staggering 605 pounds.

He used the Smith machine on purpose to overload his triceps without fighting to balance a free bar. That let him chase serious weight with all his effort going into the muscle, not into stabilizing.

So what is it, exactly? The Kaz press is a hybrid of a close-grip bench press and a triceps extension, done on a Smith machine. You lie flat, grip narrow, and press.

The defining feature is the bar path. Instead of lowering to your lower chest like a bench press, the bar travels toward your chin. That higher path keeps the tension on your triceps instead of letting your pecs steal the work.

There’s a quiet lesson here, too. Plenty of purist lifters sneer at the Smith machine, yet one of the strongest humans who ever lived built monster triceps on it.

The fixed path handles the balance for you, so you can push heavy without a spotter and put every ounce of effort into the muscle. That trade, balance for raw load, is the whole point.

Kaz Press Muscles Worked: Which Triceps Heads You Hit

Not all three triceps heads get equal work here, and knowing which ones tells you exactly what to pair this move with.

The three heads

Your triceps brachii has three heads: the long, the lateral, and the medial. They share a single tendon that inserts at the olecranon (the bony point of your elbow), and their main job is extending the elbow, per StatPearls.

The long head is the exception, since it also crosses the shoulder. That detail matters more than you’d think.

Why the Kaz press favors medial and lateral

Shoulder angle decides which head works hardest. At roughly 90 degrees of shoulder elevation, which is the position of any flat horizontal press, the medial head is the dominant force producer and the lateral head pitches in heavily.

The long head, which wants overhead or shoulder-extended positions, gets under-emphasized.

The practical payoff is simple. The Kaz press builds the medial and lateral “horseshoe” you can actually see, so you’ll want to pair it with an overhead extension for the long head (more on that in programming).

And since the triceps is larger in cross-section than the biceps, this is where real arm size comes from. If you want another triceps-dominant move that hammers these heads, dips are a great complement.

Benefits of the Kaz Press

The Kaz press solves the exact problems that stall most triceps training.

• Heavier load, zero balancing: The Smith machine carries the bar for you, so all your effort goes straight into the triceps. Most lifters can load more here than on a JM press.
• Easy on the elbows: The fixed path removes the twisting and lateral forces that make the JM press and skull crushers ache. If your elbows hate free-bar triceps work, this often feels great.
• Safe to train solo, even to failure: You re-rack by rotating your wrists at any point in the set. That’s huge, because the bar tracks toward your throat, so a missed rep with a free bar would be scary.
• Quick weight changes: Sliding the bar onto the next pin makes drop sets and supersets effortless.
• Perfect for Smith-only gyms: If a Smith machine is all you’ve got, this is one of the best heavy triceps options on the floor.

how to set up safely

Step 1: Setting Up the Bench and Safety Stops

Get the station right before you touch a plate. Slide a flat bench under the Smith bar so that when you lie down, the bar sits over your upper chest and chin, not your lower chest the way it would for a regular bench press.

Next, set the safety stop hooks. Position them so the bar can descend to about an inch above your chin and no lower. Lie down and test the path with an empty bar first to confirm the height feels right.

One thing lifters always miss: the Smith bar is counterbalanced and usually weighs 15 to 25 pounds, not the 45 of an Olympic barbell.

Load your plates with that in mind so you’re not fooling yourself on the numbers. Set the stops, double-check the path, and you’re ready to lift safely.

Step 2: Grip, Elbow Path, and the Press

Lie flat and grip the bar narrow, roughly 12 to 16 inches between your hands, about shoulder-width or slightly closer. Use a full grip with your thumb wrapped around the bar, never a thumbless grip.

Unrack by rotating your wrists to free the bar, then press up to a full lockout over your upper chest.

Now the cue that makes or breaks this lift: tuck your elbows in toward your sides. Let them flare and the work shifts to your chest.

Lower the bar under control toward your chin, not your lower chest, keeping those elbows tucked the whole way. Use a deliberate 2 to 3 second descent rather than dropping into the stops.

From the bottom, drive back up to a full lockout and squeeze your triceps hard at the top. Don’t bounce off the stops. That chin-ward path is exactly why the triceps stay loaded and the pecs stay out of it.

Step 3: Re-Racking Safely Solo

To end a set, or if you stall mid-rep, just rotate your wrists to hook the bar back onto the Smith machine catches. You can do this at any point in the range of motion, even with the bar an inch from your chin.

That’s the whole reason this move is safe to push near failure when you’re training alone. The catches plus the wrist-twist re-rack act as your spotter, so a missed rep never traps you. Train hard, bail clean, no panic.

Common Kaz Press Mistakes – How to Fix Them

Small errors quietly turn the Kaz press into a mediocre chest press and leave your triceps barely touched. These are the ones to watch.

Form mistakes

• Elbow flare: When your elbows drift out, the pecs and shoulders take over. Fix: cue “elbows in” and keep your upper arms close to your torso on every rep.
• Bar path drifting to the chest: Lower to the chest and you’ve just done a close-grip bench. Fix: set your stops correctly and aim every descent at your chin.
• Skipping the lockout: Stopping short robs you of the top of the movement. Fix: fully extend your elbows and squeeze the triceps at the top.

Loading and tempo mistakes

• Ego loading: Too much weight wrecks your form and flares your elbows. Fix: pick a load you control with elbows tucked. Technique beats numbers.
• Bouncing off the stops: Using the stops as a trampoline kills the tension. Fix: stop with muscle control just above them, then drive up.
• Rushing the eccentric: The lowering phase drives a lot of growth, and dropping the bar throws it away. Fix: take 2 to 3 seconds down.
• Wrong stop height: Set too high and you lose range; not set at all and you lose safety. Fix: always dial in the stops before you load.

Kaz Press vs JM Press vs Close-Grip Bench Press

Same family of move, three very different trade-offs. Here’s how they line up.

Exercise	Equipment	Load Potential	Stability/Skill Demand	Elbow-Friendliness	Best For
Kaz Press	Smith machine	Highest	Lowest, fixed path	Most elbow-friendly	Heavy triceps loading, solo training, Smith-only gyms, cranky elbows
JM Press	Free barbell	Moderate	High, builds stabilizers	Higher elbow risk	Bench lockout carryover, powerlifters
Close-Grip Bench Press	Barbell or Smith	High	Moderate	Moderate	Overall pressing strength with chest involvement

The Kaz press wins on raw load and joint comfort, but it isn’t perfect. The fixed path means you skip the stabilizer work a free bar trains, so it carries over less to your actual bench press.

The JM press fixes that gap because the free barbell forces you to balance and control the load, which is why powerlifters lean on it for lockout strength.

That locked trajectory also won’t suit every lifter’s joint structure. For some anatomies the straight vertical path feels off at the shoulder or wrist, so if it never settles, don’t force it.

The close-grip bench press sits in the middle, letting your arms find a natural arc while still loading heavy.

No Smith machine at your gym?

You’ve got solid swaps. The JM press and close-grip bench press are your free-weight pressing alternatives, and dumbbell skull crushers cover the long head the Kaz press misses.

Run one heavy presser plus one overhead extension and you’ve got the triceps covered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who invented the Kaz press?

The Kaz press is named after Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier, a 3-time World’s Strongest Man. He used heavy Smith machine triceps pressing as a cornerstone of his training, and the legendary triceps it built helped fuel his world-record bench press. The exercise carries his nickname today.

Why does the bar go to the chin instead of the chest?

The higher path keeps your elbows tucked and your triceps loaded through the whole rep. Lowering to your chest lets your elbows flare and your pecs take over, which turns the lift into a close-grip bench press. Chin means more triceps.

Can I do the Kaz press with elbow pain?

Often, yes. Many lifters find it more comfortable than free-bar pressing because the fixed path removes the twisting and lateral forces that aggravate the joint.

Start light, watch how your elbows feel, and stop if anything sharpens. See a professional if pain sticks around.

Is the Kaz press better than close-grip bench press?

It depends on your goal. The Kaz press gives more direct, heavier triceps work and is gentler on your elbows. Close-grip bench wins for overall pressing strength and carryover to your barbell bench, so ideally you run both rather than choosing one.

How many sets of Kaz press should I do?

For size, do 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps. For strength, do 4 to 6 sets of 4 to 6 reps with heavier weight. Fit those into 10 to 20 total weekly triceps sets across all your exercises for the best growth.

Bottom Line

The Kaz press is one of the best ways to load your triceps heavy while keeping your elbows happy, especially if you train alone, lift at a Smith-machine gym, or have stalled on close-grip bench. It’s a smart, no-nonsense pick, not hype.

Remember the two cues that make it work: bar to chin, elbows tucked. Then pair it with an overhead extension so the long head gets its share too.

One honest caveat: it won’t replace free-weight pressing for stabilizer strength or bench carryover, so treat it as a complement, not your only triceps work.

Give it a slot after your presses next push day and feel where the tension lands.