Tricep Pushdown With Bar
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The Tricep Pushdown With Bar is a strength exercise performed on a cable machine fitted with a straight bar attachment on the high pulley, where you grip the bar with elbows tucked at your sides and push it downward against the cable's resistance until your arms are fully extended before a controlled return. Its primary purpose is to isolate and strengthen the triceps brachii for improved arm size, pressing power, and elbow extension. Main muscles worked include the triceps, with secondary engagement of the shoulders and core; it requires a cable machine with an adjustable high pulley and a straight bar attachment, and is ideal for intermediate lifters seeking targeted upper-body development.
How to Perform Tricep Pushdown With Bar
- 1Attach a straight bar to the high pulley of a cable machine and select an appropriate weight on the stack.
- 2Stand facing the machine, feet shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent for stability, and grip the bar with an overhand grip, hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width.
- 3Pull the bar down to chest height to start, elbows tucked close to your sides and bent roughly 90 degrees; engage your core, keep shoulders down and back, chest up, and lean slightly forward from the ankles.
- 4Inhale, then exhale as you push the bar down by extending your elbows fully against the cable's resistance, squeezing your triceps at the bottom.
- 5Pause briefly at full extension with the bar near your thighs, keeping elbows pinned to your sides—no flaring.
- 6Inhale as you slowly let the cable pull the bar back up under control, allowing your elbows to bend without letting them drift away from your sides or the bar rise above chest level.
- 7Repeat for desired reps, keeping the bar gripped and under cable tension throughout the set.
- 8Key form tips: Keep elbows stationary and close to your body—avoid swinging or using momentum from your shoulders or back. Use only your triceps to move the bar. Common mistakes: Flaring elbows outward, using a partial range of motion, leaning too far into the cable, or letting the weight stack slam between reps.