Do the Triceps Pushdown: Type, Advantages, and Options

The triceps pushdown is among the easiest and only workout routines for coaching your triceps.

It’s a fixture in lots of weightlifting applications as a result of it trains all three heads of the triceps, particularly the lengthy head, making it glorious for growing your higher arms.

On this article, you’ll be taught what the triceps pushdown is, why it’s helpful, the way to carry out it with correct kind, the most effective triceps pushdown alternate options, and extra.

What Is the Triceps Pushdown?

The triceps pushdown (typically erroneously known as the “tricep pushdown”) is a triceps isolation train carried out utilizing a cable machine. 

To carry out the triceps pushdown, you grip a deal with hooked up to a excessive cable pulley and push the deal with towards the ground by straightening your elbows.

You should use a number of completely different handles to carry out the triceps pushdown, together with the rope deal with, straight bar, EZ bar, and V bar. For this reason you’ll typically hear individuals check with the train because the “bar triceps pushdown,” “rope triceps pushdown,” and so forth.

Regardless of what many individuals say, altering the deal with you employ doesn’t drastically change how the train trains your triceps, so use whichever one feels most snug.

Triceps Pushdown: Advantages

1. It trains your whole triceps.

The triceps has three heads: The lateral head, medial head, and lengthy head. The lengthy head is the biggest and thus contributes most to the general dimension of your triceps. 

Whereas the triceps extension successfully trains all three heads, analysis reveals that it emphasizes the lengthy head, making it notably good for including dimension to your higher arms.

2. It maximizes triceps improvement.

Many individuals assume that heavy bench urgent is sufficient to prepare your triceps, and doing units of isolation workout routines just like the triceps pushdown is superfluous or “junk” quantity (additional units and reps that aren’t definitely worth the effort). 

Nevertheless, analysis reveals this most likely isn’t the case.

As an example, in a single examine carried out by scientists at Paulista College, researchers discovered that whereas doing the bench press or triceps pushdown alone brought about some triceps development, together with each workout routines in your coaching was higher. (In addition they discovered that doing the bench press adopted by the triceps pushdown led to extra development than doing the workout routines within the reverse order.)

This jives with different analysis that reveals coaching a muscle group with varied workout routines produces higher outcomes than only one train.

That’s why I all the time embrace triceps isolation workout routines just like the triceps pushdown and heavy urgent workout routines in my health applications for women and men, Greater Leaner Stronger and Thinner Leaner Stronger.

(And in case you’d like extra particular recommendation about what workout routines to incorporate in your coaching program to achieve your well being and health objectives, take the Legion Energy Coaching Quiz, and in lower than a minute, you’ll know the proper power coaching program for you. Click on right here to test it out.)

3. It lets you prepare your triceps when your different “pushing” muscular tissues are drained.

Throughout all the greatest pushing workout routines, just like the bench press, overhead press, and close-grip bench press, your chest and shoulders bear the brunt of the load.

In case your chest, shoulder, or push exercises solely encompass free-weight workout routines like these, your pecs and delts might fatigue quicker than your triceps. In different phrases, whereas your chest and shoulders could also be bushed after 6 units of those workout routines, your triceps could possibly deal with a couple of extra.

The triceps pushdown is a useful workaround on this state of affairs, because it lets you prepare your triceps after your different pushing muscular tissues are fried.

This ensures you prepare your triceps with the quantity they should develop with out your chest or shoulders turning into a limiting issue.

Triceps Pushdown: Muscle groups Labored

Triceps Pushdown: Type

1. Arrange

2. Push down

3. Ascend

The Greatest Triceps Pushdown Options

1. Reverse-Grip Triceps Pushdown

2. Banded Triceps Pushdown

The resistance band triceps pushdown is an effective variation in case you wish to work out at residence or whereas touring and have restricted area and gear. 

Nevertheless, as a result of a resistance band presents nearly no resistance when it’s slack, there’s little stress in your triceps after they’re stretched. This makes the band overhead triceps extension much less efficient for constructing muscle than the cable or dumbbell overhead triceps extension, which is why you need to solely use it while you don’t have entry to gymnasium gear.

3. Machine Triceps Pushdown

Like most machine workout routines, the machine triceps pushdown is less complicated to be taught and carry out than the free-weight triceps pushdown as a result of it requires much less steadiness, coordination, and stabilization. This makes it a great variation for people who find themselves new to weightlifting or working round an damage.

Nevertheless, machine workout routines are barely much less efficient than free-weight workout routines for constructing muscle, so when you’ve constructed a base degree of power or recovered out of your damage, it’s normally greatest to do to the cable triceps pushdown.

4. Single-Arm Triceps Pushdown

• Could allow you to raise extra whole weight than you’ll be able to with some bilateral workout routines, which can assist you acquire extra muscle over time
• Helps you develop a larger mind-muscle connection along with your triceps, since you solely have to deal with one aspect of your physique at a time
• Helps you appropriate muscle imbalances, as a result of each side of your physique are compelled to raise the identical quantity of weight (one aspect can’t “take over” from the opposite)

5. Dumbbell Kickback

Just like the cable triceps pushdown, the dumbbell kickback successfully trains the lengthy head of the triceps. The one downsides are that it’s tough to take care of good kind when you progress to heavy weights and it doesn’t prepare your triceps by a full vary of movement or place stress on them after they’re stretched, which makes it much less efficient than the cable variation for gaining muscle and power.