When it comes to working your triceps the one exercise almost universally included in every workout is the pushdown. The triceps pushdown is an isolation exercise where you feel the triceps contact, leading to great muscle pumps and flex time. Because it can be done with an assortment of pulley attachments, there are countless ways to mix things up when it comes to your pushdown procedure and also countless ways to make these tricep cable pushdown mistakes.
However, even though the triceps pushdown is not a complex exercise, it gets screwed up regularly.
Here, we’ll dive into the proper form for the triceps pushdown, what’s required for good form, and four common mistakes stopping lifters from achieving the horseshoes triceps that 99% of lifters want. Why 99%? Because the other 1% are lying to themselves.
How to Do the Cable Tricep Pushdown
- Set the cable at the highest anchor point.
- With your body facing the cable, put your feet together and your upper arms by your sides.
- Get your chest up, shoulders down, and back flat with your hips angled slightly forward.
- Grip your attachment of choice and extend the elbows to push the handles down.
- Slowly return your forearms to just above 90 degrees, keeping the elbows in front of the shoulders at all times.
What’s Needed For Good Form
The beauty of the triceps pushdown is that you can isolate the triceps and feel the muscle contract, hopefully getting you a nice pump. Here are some essential form tips for the triceps push-down.
- Keeping the elbows slightly forward from the shoulders.
- Having a slight forward lean of your torso due to your hips angling forward.
- A controlled eccentric contraction.
- Keeping your wrists neutral.
- Not standing too close to the cable machine.
There is not too much devil in the details, but body position with the triceps push-down is essential.
4 Common Tricep Cable Pushdown Mistakes
Get the best out of this triceps muscle-pumping exercise by NOT making any of these four mistakes.