Mastering triceps pushdown form is essential, focusing on the elbow joint's position for optimal effectiveness.
The elbow joint's role in triceps pushdowns is crucial, functioning solely through flexion and extension in one plane of motion.
My expertise as a certified personal trainer, combined with extensive research, provides you with comprehensive instructions for safe and effective triceps pushdown variations.
After reading this triceps pushdown exercise guide, you will know the proper technique, sets, reps, and rest intervals of all tricep pull-down variations.
Quick Summary
- Tricep pushdowns are a focused exercise for strengthening and defining the triceps muscle, essential for overall arm strength and aesthetics.
- Proper technique in tricep pushdowns involves keeping the elbows stationary and close to the body, ensuring maximum engagement of the triceps.
- Incorporating tricep pushdown exercises regularly, with at least 87.5% of your 1 rep max for strength, can significantly contribute to muscle hypertrophy and overall arm strength, ensuring full recovery with rest intervals between 2 and 5 minutes.
- In my experience, incorporating a variety of tricep pushdown techniques, such as rope, straight bar, or V-bar attachments, can effectively target different parts of the triceps for balanced development.
How to Do Tricep Pushdowns
Here is how to correctly perform tricep pushdown without injury:
- Ensure you have a reliable cable machine that can hold enough weight so you can perform up to 12 consecutive reps without resting.
- Stand before the bar attachment and assume a split stance position with your right leg forward.
- Keep your back and knees slightly bent for added stability.
- Take an overhand grip with the bar and bend your elbow to assume a starting position for the whole exercise.
- Start the exercise by performing elbow extension to lower the bar towards the floor.
- When your elbows are fully locked, hold that position for one second.
- Reverse the motion by bending the elbows so the bar attachment travels closer to the upper arm.
- Repeat for 12 reps, 4 sets, and rest no more than 90 degrees between the sets.
Other Variations of Tricep Pushdowns
You must incorporate the principle of progressive overload to get the most out of all tricep pushdown variations.
This means increasing the number of reps, sets, and total training volume for each following workout, for better adaptation, as confirmed by the study published on the National Library of Medicine website [1].
Doing this has also been the best for developing muscle hypertrophy [2].
Ensure adequate recovery before re-exercising the same muscles to avoid overtraining [3].
Usually, the general recommendation is to rest between 48-72 hours before exercising the same muscles since this ensures full recovery [4].
Proper training leads to glycogen supercompensation in muscles, increasing energy for more reps and sets with shorter rest [5].
Here are the best triceps pushdown alternatives you can add to your arm workouts to build mass.
"The biceps get too much credit. Don’t get us wrong; training your biceps is a must for bigger and stronger arms. But your triceps — you know, that three-headed horseshoe-shaped muscle that sits on the back of your arm — deserve more attention. You’ll be stronger for it, too. "
- Mike Dewar, Certified Personal Trainer
Resistance Band Tricep Pull-downs
Resistance band tricep pull-downs provide increasing tension as you move further from the anchor point.
How to Perform Resistance Band Tricep Pull-downs
- Pick a resistance band allowing you to perform 10 reps without resting.
- Tie the band on the squat rack high enough to pull/push it down without compensating for the movement.
- Stand before the band and assume a split stance with your right leg slightly forward.
- Slightly bend your back and knees to improve your body's overall balance.
- Start the exercise by bending your elbows and pushing the resistance band toward the floor.
- This motion will cause the band to stretch, making the exercise harder as the resistance band stretches even further.
- Hold it for one second when your elbows achieve a fully locked position.
- Reverse the motion by flexing your elbows and shortening the resistance band to return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 10 consecutive reps, 3 sets, and rest for 90 seconds between the sets.
Related: Best Resistance Band for Home Gyms
One-Armed Tricep Pull-downs
One-arm triceps pull-downs are excellent unilateral variations that build strength and muscle hypertrophy, they're great for correcting muscle imbalances, ensuring symmetrical development and enhanced arm strength.
How to Perform One-Armed Tricep Pull-downs
- Load the cable machine with adequate weight so you can perform 8 reps with one hand without pausing.
- Pick between the straight bar and rope handle to work with. My advice is to select the rope.
- Stand before the rope and cable machine and assume a split standing stance with your left leg forward.
- Slightly bend your back and knees to ensure greater stability.
- Start the exercise by taking the rope with your right hand, the opposite hand from the front leg, and perform elbow extension to bring the rope closer to the floor.
- Hold that position for one-second isometric contraction when your right elbow is fully extended.
- Reverse the motion by bending your right elbow to return the attachment and your hand to the starting position.
- Repeat for 8 reps, 4 sets, and rest for 2 minutes between the sets.
Rope Pushdowns
Rope pushdowns are great exercises for isolating your lateral and medial triceps heads.
How to Perform Rope Pushdowns
- Load the cable machine with the appropriate weight so you can perform 12 rope pushdowns without resting.
- Stand before the cable machine and put your right foot forward to enter the split stance position and ensure greater stability.
- Slightly bend your back and knees for even better exercise balance.
- Take the ropes with both your hands and bend your elbows to assume the starting position of the exercise.
- Start the exercise by pushing down both ropes simultaneously with your hands to bring them closer to the floor.
- When your elbows are fully extended, hold that position for one second.
- Reverse the motion by flexing your elbows to return the ropes and hands to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps, 4 sets, and as little as possible between the sets.
Reverse Grip Triceps Pushdown
The reverse grip triceps pushdowns will activate more muscle groups than regular grip triceps pull-downs.
How to Perform Reverse Grip Triceps Pushdowns
- Load the cable machine with the appropriate weight so you can perform at least 10 consecutive reps without pausing.
- Stand before the machine and assume a split stance with your right foot forward.
- Slightly bend your back and knees for greater stability.
- Start the exercise by pushing the bar attachment with a reverse grip to lower it closer to the floor.
- Hold that position for a split second when your arms are fully extended.
- Reverse the motion by bending your elbows until you reach the starting position of the exercise.
- Repeat for 10 reps, 4 sets, and rest for no more than 90 seconds between the sets.
Triceps Pushdown Alternatives
Here are the best triceps pushdown alternatives.
Close Grip Bench Press
Due to the unique grip position, the close grip bench press will work the pectoralis major, triceps brachii, and anterior deltoid in performing this exercise.
How to Perform a Close Grip Bench Press
- Load the barbell with sufficient weight to perform 8 bench press repetitions without pausing.
- Lye on the flat bench directly under the loaded bar.
- Unrack the barbell and extend it above your chest with your elbows.
- Start the exercise by lowering the barbell towards your chest by bending the elbows and extending the shoulders.
- Hold that position for one second when the bar reaches the level of your chest muscles.
- Reverse the motion by extending the elbows and flexing/adducting the shoulders to return the bar to the starting position.
- Repeat for 8 reps, 4 sets, and rest for 3 minutes between the sets.
Barbell Skull Crushers
Barbell skull crushers effectively target triceps by positioning shoulders to prevent long head muscle insufficiency.
How to Perform Barbell Skull Crushers
- Load the barbell with the appropriate weight to perform 12 skull crusher repetitions without resting.
- Lye on the flat bench, pick up the barbell and assume a starting position, as in the previous bench press exercise.
- Start the exercise by bending your elbows while keeping your shoulders fixed during the whole movement.
- When the bar reaches the level of your head, hold that stretched position for one second.
- Reverse the motion by extending the elbows to return the barbell to the starting position above your chest with arms fully extended.
- Repeat for 12 reps, 3 sets, and rest less than 90 seconds between the sets.
Dips
Dips effectively target triceps and additional muscles like the lower pectoralis major and anterior deltoids.
How to Perform Dips
- Hop on to the parallel bars and assume a starting position for the dips.
- Your shoulders should be fixed and elbows fully extended. Ensure your back is flat during the whole movement and your eyes look straight ahead without breaking the posterior chain.
- Start the exercise by lowering your body towards the floor by bending your elbows and extending your shoulders.
- Hold that position for one second when your chest reaches the level of the parallel bars.
- Reverse the motion by extending the elbows and bending the shoulders to return to the starting position.
- Repeat for 12 reps, 3 sets, and rest for up to 3 minutes between the sets.
"It may seem simple and almost too good to be true, but as you flex and extend your elbow during triceps exercises, each repetition gets you closer to acquiring the ever so sought-after horseshoe. Whether you’re a physique competitor, want to get brutally strong and rep two plates on the bench press, or chisel your arms as part of a fat-burning plan, triceps training deserves a place in your routine."
- Adam Salvatore, Certified Personal Trainer
Also Read: Best Dip Bars For Home Gym
Triceps Pushdown Sets, Reps, and Programming Recommendations
Here is the best strategy for getting the most out of your tricep pushdown sets, reps, and overall programming.
Strength – Reps and Sets
You should perform with at least 87.5 % of your 1 rep max for strength.
In addition, the number of reps shouldn’t exceed 5, and the number of sets should be at least 4.
The rest intervals will vary, but usually, they are between 2 and 5 minutes.
The point is to ensure full recovery to repeat the same effort for each following set.
Hypertrophy – Reps and Sets
For hypertrophy, you should stay in the zone between 60 and 87.5% of your 1 rep max for each exercise.
In addition, you should perform between 6 and 12 reps and at least 4 sets for the most significant muscle growth effects.
The rest intervals between the sets shouldn’t exceed 90 seconds.
FAQs
How Do You Isolate Triceps on Pull-Downs?
To isolate the triceps on pull-downs, you must perform an overhead tricep pushdown with at least 90 degrees of shoulder flexion. The long head of the tricep muscle only works when you bend your shoulders more than 90 degrees because when below that threshold, it enters a state called muscle insufficiency.
Is Tricep Pull-Down Enough for Triceps?
Tricep pull-down is enough for triceps if you use proper programming for a triceps workout and appropriate accompanying upper body exercises. In addition, it is crucial to perform a tricep pull-down from the overhead position since that is the only way to hit all three triceps heads and not just the medial and lateral head.
Do You Hit Triceps on Pull Day?
You should hit the triceps on a full day using the bro split methodology focused on maximizing strength and muscle hypertrophy. To build arm and upper body mass, you must perform triceps pushdown exercise every other 72h to ensure maximal muscle growth and enough recovery time between the workouts.
Are Triceps 70% Of Your Arm?
Yes, the triceps are 70% of your arm’s total mass. This makes the triceps the best and most important muscle for filling shirt sleeves and appearing bigger to other people when walking on the beach or posing at an amateur bodybuilding competition.
Are Triceps Stronger Than Biceps?
Yes, the triceps are stronger than the biceps. There are three tricep muscles and only two bicep muscles, but the average man has a stronger bicep muscle because he uses it more during the day, leaving the tricep to not develop at its full capabilities.
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