Training guide
A tricep pushdown, or pressdown, is a cable exercise for the back of your upper arm. Facing a high pulley with your elbows tucked at your sides, you push a bar, rope or V-bar down until your arms are straight, then let it rise slowly to about chest height. It works all three heads of the triceps, and the attachment changes how it feels more than what it builds: no study has compared the rope and the bar for growth.
Pushdowns build the triceps well, and in a 12-week trial an overhead extension built a little more, so many people do one of each.
This guide shows the pushdown step by step on the 3D figure, with the rope, V-bar, reverse-grip and one-arm versions, how heavy and how many, and what to change if your elbows complain.
Facing a high pulley with a short bar, elbows tucked at your sides, push the bar down until your arms are straight, then let it rise slowly back to about chest height, your upper arms staying still. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) rates the pushdown a beginner exercise.
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With your arm at your side, the long head of the triceps is active but short, because it also crosses your shoulder. The three heads don't work in unison, and in ACE's study the long head worked harder than the outer (lateral) head in both rope and bar pushdowns.
In one 12-week trial of 21 adults, overhead extensions grew the whole triceps 19.9% against 13.9% for the same work with the arm at the side, with 34 to 39% lighter weights. A 6-week trial in 9 women found no difference. Pushdowns build the triceps; one overhead extension in your week covers the rest.
In ACE's study, the rope drew 74% and the bar 67% of a triangle push-up's triceps activity, not tested for a real difference, and nobody has compared them for growth. Handle shape changed forearm activity, not triceps activity. An underhand grip raised long-head activity a little in one small session study.
2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15, about 60 seconds' rest, most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure and the last 0 to 2 short, as our tricep workout does. Aim for about 10 or more hard triceps sets a week, counting each set of presses, push-ups or dips as half. Swinging didn't stop growth in a trial, but strict reps are easier to judge.
Keep discomfort to about 3 to 4 out of 10, settled within an hour, and let the bar rise only to about chest height if your elbow or your ring and little fingers complain. A snap at the back of the elbow with weakness straightening your arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E; triceps tendon tears are rare.
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An elbow extension against a cable from a high pulley, with your upper arms held still at your sides. ACE calls it a triceps pushdown or pressdown. The versions are named by the attachment: a short straight bar, a rope with your palms facing, a V-bar, a bar held underhand, or a single handle for one arm at a time. Our tricep extension guide groups it with the kickback as an extension done with your arm at your side.
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The long head starts on the shoulder blade, so it crosses the shoulder as well as the elbow; the lateral and medial heads start on the upper arm bone. All three join one tendon at the point of the elbow. With the arm at your side, the long head was the most active of the three in a model of 10 adults, but it is relatively short there; raising the arm overhead lengthens it. In 25 men doing pushdowns to failure, the heads didn't work in unison.
A cable pulls hardest on your elbow when it meets your forearm at a right angle. Standing close, with the cable running almost straight down, that happens near the start of the push, when your forearms are about level with the floor. This is our editorial reading of the mechanics, as in our cable curl guide; no study has measured it in a pushdown.
The number on the stack depends on the machine's pulley ratio, about half of it on a 2:1 machine and a quarter on a 4:1, as our cable machine guide explains, so compare yourself only on the same machine. You'll move more than in an overhead extension: overhead weights were 34 to 39% lighter in the 12-week trial.
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Anyone with access to a cable machine: it's the easiest rung of the triceps extension family. A hospital shoulder handout lists pushdowns on a pulley as safe for the shoulder, so they often suit people whose shoulders dislike overhead work.
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From our pushdown move pages, ACE's triceps pushdown (do not lock out; come back up until the elbows begin to drift forward, around upper chest level) and our tricep extension guide's steps. The 2-second lowering is editorial, and stopping at chest height matches our elbow guides' mid-range cue.
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The movement on the figure: Triceps pushdown
The bar pushdown at 2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15 (our tricep workout); the V-bar at 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (the move page's dose); the reverse grip at 2 sets of 10 to 15 with a lighter pin, and the one-arm pushdown at 10 to 15 each arm (our cable arm workout). The rope pushdown has no separate 3D demo: the bar pushdown shows the arm action, with your palms facing. At home, kickbacks with a dumbbell do the same job with your arm at your side.
In ACE's study of 15 women aged 20 to 24 with lifting experience, each doing one set of 7 reps at 70% of their maximum, rope pushdowns drew 74% of a triangle push-up's triceps activity and bar pushdowns 67%. The study didn't test whether that difference was real, and in both the lateral head worked less than the long head. ACE funded it and it wasn't peer reviewed. Activity in a few reps doesn't predict what a muscle builds, and we found no study comparing the rope and the bar for growth.
We found no study of spreading the rope at the bottom. Do it if it feels natural; straightening your arms fully is what matters.
Comparing a standard handle with two ball-shaped grips, triceps activity didn't differ, while the finger muscles worked harder with one ball grip. So pick the attachment your wrists and elbows like, as our cable machine guide says.
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In 22 adults doing one-arm pushdowns, palm up with a handle raised long-head activity over palm down (a moderate effect), with no clear difference for the lateral head (80.7% against 77.1% of maximum). People managed fewer reps palm up with the same weight, and the paper gives two different reference loads in different places. It's one small session of muscle activity tests, so treat the reverse grip as variety, done lighter, not as a long-head builder.
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We found no study comparing one-arm and two-arm pushdowns. One arm at a time is useful for evening up a weaker side or for comfort (our view).
In 21 adults, one arm trained overhead cable extensions and the other the same work with the arm at the side, like a pushdown: 5 sets of 10 at 70% of maximum, twice a week for 12 weeks. On MRI scans, the whole triceps grew 19.9% against 13.9% and the long head 28.5% against 19.6%, though the overhead weights were 34 to 39% lighter. Strength rose alike.
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In 9 novice women, pushdowns on one arm and overhead extensions on the other (6 sets of 6, twice a week for 6 weeks) grew the triceps similarly and raised strength by about 40% and 45%. A 2026 review suggests the two trials may differ in how they measured and set up the exercises. Two small trials that don't agree, so the overhead advantage is promising rather than settled.
In 43 young men, bench pressing grew the lateral head and lying extensions grew the long head more, measured by MRI. A mix of pressing and extensions covers the whole muscle, which is why our tricep workout uses both.
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Both work the triceps with your arm at your side. Pushdowns are easier to load in small steps; kickbacks need only a dumbbell and drew a little more activity in ACE's study (87% against 67 to 74%). A hospital handout lists both as safe for the shoulder, as our tricep kickback guide says.
We found no growth trial comparing cable and free-weight triceps work. In 32 adults aged 60 to 86, a machine programme that included a cable triceps extension gained less triceps strength than free weights over 26 weeks, but similar strength overall.
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A pin you can push down 10 to 15 times without leaning your body weight onto the bar, as our move page's caution says. In your first two weeks, stop each set with 3 or 4 reps to spare, as our plans advise.
2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15, resting about 60 seconds, most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure and the last 0 to 2 short (our tricep workout and tricep extension guide). Going to failure added a trivial amount of growth at most across 15 studies, and light and heavy loads built similar muscle when the sets were hard.
About 10 or more hard triceps sets a week, counting each set of bench presses, push-ups, overhead presses or dips as half a set, as our tricep extension guide works it out. Two sessions a week, as the 12-week trial used.
In 25 untrained adults (30 started), pushdowns done with a lean, leg drive and flaring elbows built about as much triceps as strict ones over 8 weeks (9.9% against 10.5%, and 14.7% against 14.0%), with about twice the load moved. Strict reps make your effort easier to judge.
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In 25 trained adults, half reps at the stretched end, in a programme of overhead extensions and cable pushdowns, built about as much triceps as full reps over 8 weeks, with full reps slightly ahead at one site; the study was funded by a fitness company. In another trial, mid-range partial lying extensions grew the triceps more. The evidence conflicts, so full reps from chest height to straight arms are a sound default.
Add reps until every set reaches 15, then the next plate. If that's too big a jump, use a half-step or add-on weight, or a machine with a higher pulley ratio, as our cable machine guide says. Stack numbers only compare on the same machine.
For a harder finish, our drop-set workout does one set of pushdowns, then moves the pin up about 20% twice with no rest. Keep it to the last set, and stop about 1 rep short each time.
With controlled high blood pressure, the American Heart Association considers low- to moderate-intensity strength training with proper breathing safe. Breathe out as you lift, as our breathing guide advises.
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The weight is too heavy: go lighter, as our move page says.
Your shoulders and back muscles take over. ACE warns that forward-moving elbows recruit the lats and reduce the work on the triceps. Keep them by your sides.
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That bends your elbows fully. Stop at about chest height.
Keep them straight, or try the rope or V-bar.
Keep your shoulders down and back, away from your ears.
Keep the plates just off the stack, as our cable machine guide says.
Straighten fully, but under control. ACE's pushdown entry says not to lock out, while its pressdown entry says to straighten completely; no study has tested it.
Up to about 3 to 4 out of 10 during the exercise, settling within an hour, and no worse the next morning. If it's worse, go lighter next time, not to nothing. That's the rule in our elbow guides.
An ache where the triceps tendon meets the elbow, worse when you straighten against resistance, is usually a load problem. Our triceps tendinopathy guide starts with holds halfway down a pushdown and lighter, mid-range pushdowns, and brings heavy skull crushers back last.
Bending the elbow fully, or for long, can bring on tingling in the ring and little fingers from the ulnar nerve, which shifted at full bend in about half of 52 healthy elbows. Stop the bar at chest height so your elbows don't bend fully. The NHS says to go to an urgent treatment centre or A&E if your arm tingles or feels numb after an injury, and our ulnar nerve guide covers tingling that keeps coming back.
Nobody has measured elbow joint load or counted elbow problems in pushdowns. Choose the attachment and range that keep you within the pain rule.
In US emergency departments over 20 years, triceps tendon ruptures were about 0.02 per 100,000 people a year (from only 31 sampled cases), men 12 times as often as women, at an average age of 44; in US military personnel the rate was 1.1 per 100,000. Kidney disease and anabolic steroid use were the commonest conditions among 262 operated tears. The usual causes are a fall on an outstretched hand or a forceful push against a heavy load.
A snap at the back of the elbow with sudden pain and weakness straightening the arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E.
One overhead extension in your week: the overhead cable extension at 3 sets of 10 to 15 (our tricep workout) or the standing dumbbell extension at 2 sets of 10 to 12 (our dumbbell upper body workout). Skull crushers at 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 and the close-grip bench press at 3 sets of 6 to 8 after a lighter set (our tricep workout); presses and dips count as about half a triceps set. The overhead triceps stretch, 15 to 30 seconds 2 to 4 times each side, is its move page's dose.
3D demoOverhead cable triceps extensionIntermediate · A cable machine
3D demoStanding overhead dumbbell triceps extensionIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell skull crusher (lying triceps extension)Intermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoClose-grip barbell bench pressIntermediate · A barbell + A bench or box
3D demoParallel bar dipAdvanced · Pull-up bar
3D demoOverhead triceps stretchBeginner · No equipmentThe tricep workout puts pushdowns after a close-grip press, an overhead extension and skull crushers. The cable arm workout pairs bar and one-arm pushdowns with curls on one cable station. Push day, the chest and triceps workout and the arm workout use pushdowns at 10 to 15 reps; the drop-set workout has a pushdown drop set.
A 35-minute triceps session: a close-grip bench press or dips, then overhead extensions, skull crushers and pushdowns, about 10 hard sets.
35 minIntermediate7 movesA barbell, A bench or boxA 35-minute arm session on a cable station: bar, rope and one-arm curls paired with pushdowns and overhead extensions, about 7 hard sets each for biceps and triceps.
35 minBeginner11 movesA cable machine, A bench or boxBiceps, triceps and forearms: curls, hammer curls, skull crushers, pushdowns, concentration curls and dips.
35 minBeginner7 movesA dumbbell, A bench or boxA push day workout for chest, shoulders and triceps: bench press, overhead press, incline dumbbell press, lateral raises and pushdowns.
55 minIntermediate10 movesA band, A barbellA 55-minute gym session for a split: the bench press, an incline dumbbell press, cable flys and dips for your chest, then two triceps extensions.
55 minIntermediate11 movesA band, A barbellA 40-minute full-body workout on a dual cable station in four pairs: pull-through and row, press and Pallof press, pushdown and crunch, raise and curl.
40 minBeginner14 movesCardio machine, A bandA 20-minute drop-set finisher for shoulders and arms: lateral raises, curls and pushdowns, each one set with two drops, plus a push-up drop set.
20 minIntermediate10 movesA band, A dumbbellPushdowns come round once or twice a week in these plans, through the upper body, push day and arm workouts.
A 4-day upper/lower split: two upper body and two lower body gym days, each muscle trained twice a week, with sets, reps and progression.
4 training days50 minIntermediate5 days a weekA 5-day gym split that trains every muscle twice a week: upper, lower, push, pull and legs, with an honest look at the bro split.
5 training days50 minIntermediate6 days a weekA 6-day push/pull/legs plan for experienced lifters: two push, two pull and two leg days, with sets, reps, rest and lighter weeks.
6 training days55 minAdvanced5 days a weekThe classic chest, back, legs, shoulders and arms week, built from our gym workouts, with what research says about training each muscle once.
5 training days45 minIntermediateIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that feels tight, heavy or squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw or back; a sudden, extremely painful headache, especially while straining; someone who faints while exercising; or palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, breathlessness or feeling faint. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Call 999 too if arm pain comes on suddenly with pressure, heaviness or squeezing across your chest.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising.
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If you have severe pain in your arm and it's difficult to move; you've injured your arm and heard a snapping noise, or it has changed shape; or your arm tingles or feels numb. In the US, go to urgent care or the emergency department.
A snap at the back of the elbow with sudden pain and weakness straightening the arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E.
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If your arm hurts when you exercise but the pain goes when you rest, or it's swollen and you have a very high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery; or if you think you've torn a tendon, with sudden, severe pain during an activity. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
If elbow or arm pain hasn't gone after a few weeks.
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Very painful, swollen, tight arms and dark urine after an unusually hard or high-rep session, such as drop sets or an arm challenge, need medical help the same day: it could be rhabdomyolysis, as our elbow pain from pull-ups guide explains. Dark urine isn't always there, so arms far sorer, more swollen or weaker than the session explains still need the same-day check.
Check the cable, clips and pin before you start. A frayed cable or a clip that won't close means another station, as our cable machine guide says.
After heart surgery through the breastbone, or a heart or lung transplant, follow your surgeon's advice before pushing, pulling or lifting with your arms.
After breast cancer surgery or reconstruction, follow your surgical team's advice on when you can lift your arm above shoulder height, or push, pull or lift with it.
After a recent shoulder dislocation, or shoulder or elbow surgery, follow your surgical team's limits first.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard or straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled (140/90 or higher at a clinic, or 135/85 at home), or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
With a pacemaker or defibrillator, the American Heart Association asks you to check with your doctor before upper-body strength training, because repeated arm movements can damage or dislodge the leads.
Muscle soreness for a day or two after a new or harder session is common and fades. Sharp pain, or pain that builds during a set or lingers into the next day, isn't: swap to an easier version, and see a clinician if it persists, as our plans advise. The NHS says to stop exercising straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, and to get help from 111 if symptoms worry you or don't go away.
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The rope drew 74% and the bar 67% of a triangle push-up's activity in one set, not tested for a real difference, and nobody has compared them for growth. Handle shape changed forearm activity, not triceps activity.
All three heads work, not in unison, and in ACE's study the long head worked harder than the lateral head in both rope and bar pushdowns.
Arm-at-your-side extensions grew the triceps 13.9% in 12 weeks against 19.9% overhead, and pushdowns matched overhead work over 6 weeks in another trial. Do both.
Swinging didn't stop growth in beginners, but it didn't add any either, with about twice the load moved. If you have to lean on the bar, it's too heavy.
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In 104 adults, 12 weeks of training one arm didn't reduce the fat over it more than over the other arm, and across 13 studies working a body part didn't reduce the fat over it. Pushdowns build the muscle underneath; our arm fat guide covers what helps.
Stand facing a high pulley with a short bar at chest height and your elbows tucked by your sides. Push the bar down until your arms are straight, moving only at the elbows, then let it rise slowly back to about chest height. If you have to lean your body weight onto the bar, it's too heavy.
The triceps at the back of your upper arm, all three heads: the long head, which also crosses your shoulder, and the lateral and medial heads. With your arm at your side the long head is active but short, which is one reason an overhead extension is worth adding.
Either. In the one study, the rope drew slightly more triceps activity than the bar (74% against 67% of a triangle push-up), but it wasn't tested for a real difference and nobody has compared them for growth. Use whichever your wrists and elbows like.
If it feels natural, but no study shows it adds anything. Focus on straightening your arms fully with your elbows by your sides.
Holding the bar or handle palms up worked the long head a little harder in one small session of muscle activity tests, but you'll manage fewer reps with the same weight, and it hasn't been tested for growth. Use a lighter pin.
Both. In a 12-week trial, overhead extensions grew the triceps about 40% more than the same work with the arm at your side, though a 6-week trial found no difference. Pushdowns are easy to load and kind to most shoulders, so many people do one of each.
A pin you can push down 10 to 15 times without leaning on the bar, with the last rep or two hard. Stack numbers depend on the machine's pulley ratio, so compare yourself only on the same machine.
2 or 3 sets of 10 to 15, resting about 60 seconds, most sets 1 to 3 reps short of failure and the last 0 to 2 short. Across the week, aim for about 10 or more hard triceps sets, counting each set of presses, push-ups or dips as half.
Usually the tendon has had more load than it's ready for: go lighter, let the bar rise only to chest height, try the rope, and keep pain to about 3 to 4 out of 10 that settles within an hour. A snap at the back of the elbow with weakness straightening your arm needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E. Our triceps tendinopathy guide has a loading plan.
Straighten your arms fully, but don't snap the joint locked. The American Council on Exercise's own entries disagree on lockout, and no study has tested it.
With a band anchored over a door, yes, though we don't have a 3D demo of it. Kickbacks with a dumbbell and close-grip push-ups train the triceps without a cable.
No. In 104 adults, training one arm for 12 weeks didn't reduce the fat on it more than on the other arm. Pushdowns build the muscle underneath; fat comes off the whole body with activity and eating habits.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
