Tricep Pushdown

Move · Resistance Training · Movement, Typed Supps

The cable pulls the same amount at every point of the rep, so there is no easy top where a dumbbell would go slack.

Stage by stage

Set-up (Elbows fixed at the ribs): The humerus is held still against the side; letting it drift forward turns the rep into a partial press.
During the set (Cable tension stays flat): Resistance is near constant through the range, including lockout, where a free-weight extension would have gone slack.
Immediately after (Long head barely stretched): With the shoulder extended the long head stays short at its scapular origin, so it takes a smaller share of the work.
Weeks later (Lateral and medial heads grow): The two monoarticular heads respond strongly, while the long head needs overhead work to be trained at length.

Muscles trained

Primary: triceps
Secondary: abs, shoulders

Intensity

3.5 METs (Resistance (weight) training, multiple exercises, 8-15 repetitions at varied resistance).

Time to effect

Weeks: Lockout strength on other pressing movements often improves as a side effect, since the triceps are the last muscle to fire in any straight-arm press.
Months: The triceps make up roughly two-thirds of upper-arm mass, so consistent training here shows up as noticeable arm size within a couple of months.

Related supplements

Creatine Monohydrate

Common myth

"Doing enough tricep pushdowns is all you need to build complete triceps." In reality: The long head of the triceps crosses the shoulder joint as well as the elbow, so it responds better to movements where the arm works overhead, like an overhead extension, than to a pushdown, where the shoulder barely moves. Pushdowns train the lateral and medial heads very well but are an incomplete triceps program on their own.