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Stop Doing Tricep Pushdowns Like This!

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

Tricep pushdowns are one of the most commonly performed exercises in the gym. Given their ease of setup, they are actually a great exercise for home workouts too since you can do them with a single resistance band hooked over a doorway pullup bar. The problem is, the triceps pushdown is also one of the most abused and misperformed exercises which can quickly ruin your tricep gains if you don-t fix how you-re doing them. In this video, I-m going to show you how to perform a tricep pushdown properly so you can build your muscles without even having to use very heavy weights to do it. The problem with the pushdown is that like with every other exercise you do for your triceps (or any other muscle for that matter, your body is always going to look for a way to make it easier. You may even start out doing this exercise for your triceps the right way and quickly find yourself doing an exercise that is training your chest and shoulders way more than your arms. It has to do with the fact that your body looks for ways to compensate and take strain off of a working muscle. When doing pushdowns, in order to keep the tension on the triceps you want to keep your elbows pinned to your sides and slightly behind the body. Your hands should be at about the level of your chest and, most importantly, out in front of your body as far as you can. At the same time that this enables the right position to put the maximum amount of tension on the triceps it is also making the weight that you are lifting effectively the heaviest that it can be. Now some people take this as a blow to their ego and they look for ways to bump that pin up the stack a few more plates. The compensation that comes with this adjustment however is that the body starts to hunch over the rope or straight bar and the elbows flare out to the sides a great deal. While you will find new found strength in this position it is not because your triceps became suddenly stronger. It is because you just recruited the strength of the pecs and deltoids by putting them in a much more advantageous position to help. This is good if you are looking to build your chest and shoulders, bad if you wanted to build your triceps. Need even more convincing? See if you can identify what exercise this resembles when you position your elbows flared out to the sides and perform the exercise. If you-re drawing a blank I will help you out. This should look like a dip. Bring the hands just a little more out away from each other and the downward action of the hands and arms will look just like a dip or even moreso, a straight bar dip. Not that this is a bad exercise, especially if you are a parkour runner and need to build your strength for scaling to the top of a wall. For building your triceps however it just isn-t the best way. If you are looking for a complete training program that will not only train you to make the best muscle gains and fat losses than at any other point in your training without compromising your joints in the process, head to and get on of our ATHLEAN-X Training Programs. When you train like an athlete you realize that it isn-t just about which tricep exercises you are doing but how you are doing them that matters the most. Athletes can-t afford to give away an inch on the field or in the weight room preparing to compete. If you train like an athlete, neither will you. Your gains will shock you when you realize just how much more you were capable of
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

Burtea
I agree with your approach to this excercise, but that rope is misunderstood by so many gym goers, you including. While having the full extention of the arms, right where you end your movement (from what you are showing here, the actual excercise should begin. The rope mush be stretched as hard as possible from each end, aiming to make it as straight as possible. Try and hold (this one is a nobrainer) for a second that stretched rope and come back easy. This excercise if done properly should involve a fairly small weight as that stretch at the bottom is quite difficult.
Cheers!
P. s. your body shape is nice, keep it up!
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Joshua
I'd like to see some over weigh workout routines. For people who are not just building muscle but also want to drop weight. Routines are normally where alot of use lose heart. Routine loss. Not knowing what a routine is. I'd live 3 routines to know by heart. And can have as go to. And as I learn more I can advance my routines.
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QuantumXFluxMD
Excellent demonstration and explanation.
I see so many people doing this incorrectly and I'd like to help them but i don't wanna be -that guy- at the gym so I just keep it pushing. Even when your experienced at the gym/fitness it's always good to watch these from time and time to reinforce your behavior
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grahamt19781
I knew I was doing something wrong as I was doing nearly the whole stack and barely feeling it on my triceps! Watched a bit of this vid, followed the advice and immediately my triceps have blown up like balloons after a couple of sets. The best weight training advice on you tube without a doubt - thank you.
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Joe
I've had the most success standing up straight and not having ANY leaning forward motion or position, elbows to the side and turning palms out at the bottom. Read an article that Schwarzenegger said that is the way he did it. I haven't worked out in a year and still have the horseshoe on my triceps.
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Callipygian
I don't jack hammer, I have the same look as the way suggested but for some reason when I finish a set of tricep pushdowns there is some feeling in the triceps but I get a fleeting ache in my shoulders.
What can I do to take the shoulders out of the equation? What could I be doing wrong?
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Kelly
Very interesting. My workout partner -cheats- on every movement. On Monday we did back and biceps. He says his biceps arent sore. I said - that's because you never actually lifted anything with them -.
Most of his bicep lifts activated his back, chest, and shoulders more than his biceps.
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VOIP
Really messed up my palms doing a version of this gripping both ropes with one hand and extending down to work triceps and grip strength. Mid-rope w/o hands resting on stoppers. Hurt my inner palms. Red patches that have been itching like CRAZY for two days. Won't do that again.
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Walter
Super helpful. I got -jackhammering- and was like, -wow, I can really pile on weight now! - and starting do them all wrong. My suspicion of course led me here. No matter how long you've trained for, bad habits can form. Never hurts to go back to basics and revisit form.
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Kyle
I choke up on the rope when I do this exercise, so rather than my hands being at the end of the rope it-s closer to the top. My hands are still spreading when the weight is brought down. Any suggestions on whether this is a good or bad thing?
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