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MAX GAINS SERIES: Triceps Pushdowns

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

If triceps pushdowns are part of your tricep training then you are going to want to watch this video on how to squeeze every gain out of the exercise for max size. The pushdown is one of the most common tricep exercises but often misperformed as well. Here, I-m going to show you the best way to position your elbows, wrists, hands, and shoulders during the movement to get the most out of your tricep workouts. So it stands to reason that simply flexing and extending your elbow on a pushdown is not enough if you want to see maximum gains from the exercise. There is much more to it and the sooner you can capitalize on each of the areas I-m going to show you the better results you will see from performing the exercise. It starts with the hand position in relation to your body. You want to be sure that you don-t keep your hands too close to your chest or too far away during the exercise. If you stand too close you will likely see your hands rise up to about face level and this will take tension off of the triceps in the beginning of the exercise. With the line of resistance parallel to the forearm at the start you will not have as much tension on the triceps as desired. If you stand too far away then you will likely see your elbows drift away from your body which will cause the lats to overactivate and contribute unnecessarily to the lift. The key is to either find the midrange of these two extremes where your hands can be about chest height during the start and finish of each rep or perform the rocking pushdown that I have covered on this channel instead. Next you want to be conscious of the elbow positioning during the exercise. If you allow them to drift out (as if often the case when you see people perform this exercise) then you are going to quickly shift the work away from the triceps and onto the chest. You essentially turn the pushdown into a standing dip which will lessen its effectiveness on the triceps greatly. People often wonder whether the hands should be in a pronated or supinated position on the bar when performing the pushdowns. This is actually tricky because anatomically you are likely to believe that there is no impact on the triceps by varying the grip to an overhand or underhand position. The key however is that the change in grip often has an impact on the position of the shoulder and arm that can in fact affect the area of the triceps you are feeling it in. Finally, if you have any wrist issues you definitely want to take note of the implement you are using. Obviously a straight bar is going to be more stressful on your wrists given the fact that your wrists tend to go into radial deviation naturally with wrist extension. If you force your wrists flat you likely won-t see any additional strain on the wrists but rather in a compromise of the elbows flaring out that leads to the issues already covered. The fact is, the triceps pushdown exercise is incredibly popular and if you want to see the best gains from doing the exercise then you will want to take note of each of the things mentioned in this video. Obviously anyone can do a tricep exercise but getting the most out of it is what we are really after. If you want to get the most out of every workout you do, head to and start training like an athlete. See your best and fastest gains ever within the next 90 days
Date: 2022-04-22

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Comments and reviews: 10

JoeMama
The thing I usually hear about exercise selection is: Choose the Variation where you can use more weight(e. g overhand triceps extensions) but one thing that is confusing is. Sure I can use more weight but I also have to use more or stronger muscle groups and basically isolate less of the target muscle. Underhand takes out the assisting forearm muscles on the front which are much stronger. And the muscle that fails with the underhand triceps extension is not my grip muscles it's the triceps. I believe as long as my target muscle fails first the variation doesn't matter as much. And of course going close to failure is also more important to maximize mechanical tension then just how heavy you lift.
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sport
Really enjoy your videos. On this one, you spent a lot of time on the anatomy and bio-mechanics, and not as much on how to actually (step by step) do the exercises to -get jacked. - I appreciate and respect your knowledge and fully trust that what you say is good and makes sense. I may not recall the science of your videos but will definitely remember the form and execution of your recommended exercises. I mean no disrespect just providing constructive feedback. Thanks!
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david, r.
Jeff is so 100% rite on in this vid. I use TrakHandle Pro-X (2 handles) mounted overhead& slightly behind me in a custom made concentration curling machine with arm pad craddles for each arm. This rig is both for multi angle curls as well as concentration triceps pull downs. The handles allow wrist, hand, and forearms variations to hit every head of the triceps. Jeffs wisdom & instructions apply perfectly to my custom welded/fit incline bench conversion.
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Carnal
What I LOVE just as much as the exercises are Jeff's crystal clear, scientific explanations of how things work. If I could I would make it mandatory for other trainers to watch and learn from his videos. I paid hard-earned money for years to people who claimed to be professionals yet who didn't care if I get any results. Jeff is the polar opposite, he is educating and helping people because he cares. This guy is worth his weight in gold.
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LAYMAN
Thank you very much for the information that you share Jeff. they are all very helpful. I wasted I think more than 10yrs of my life working out with minimal gains because mainly, I was so mis informed and also lack the proper knowledge. and a little because I didn't have access on the right tools and machines. but now, learning your principles, I think I have more improvement in a couple of months than I did for how many years.
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Alex
Hey Jeff. So for economic reasons I switched from La Fitness to Planet Fitness. Now the culture shock took away umph and i have been out the gym for 7 mths. Now 22lbs and god knows how much of a increase in body fat later i decided to get back in shape. Now any advise on how to do that with the PF set up of smith machine for bench and squats and a minimal selection of curl bars?
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Nick
Jeff,
I have done triceps pushdowns for a while now, but recently I have been getting pain and a feeling of tension between the medial epicondyle and olecranon at the beginning of the pushdown movement. Do you know what causes this, or if I should stop doing this exercise for a while and see if it gets better? Also, I use the rope rather than a straight bar.
Thanks!
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NotThatGuy
What are those blue straps called? Please, I have no way to grip a bar or rope with my left hand (crush-amputation) and that particular strap looks like a promising tool I could add to my lifting workouts.
I can easily do many pushing exercises but many pulling moves are not possible for me anymore. I use lifting hooks for a lot of lifts but the Triceps Pushdown.
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Peter
Very helpful as usual. When you do a complicated video, like this one, it would be helpful for you to sum up at the end and demonstrate the exercise. For example, five main points: middle distance, elbows in tight, grip reverse makes that easier, straight bar makes that harder, how to hit long head with ropes.
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woo_rsv71
Jeff, you are the man. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. I always start with rope pull downs 5 sets, then reverse grip with straight bar pull downs, close grip bench for tris, and finish with single arm kick backs. Works for me. but I-m always open to new ideas. Nice informative video!
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