Rope pushdown

A rope pushdown is elbow extension against a cable. The rope lets the hands separate at the bottom, which lets the triceps finish the movement fully instead of stopping where a bar stops.

It trains all three heads, with the long head doing less than it would in an overhead extension, because the shoulder is not in a stretched position here.

Sets, reps and RIR

Single-joint work responds to reps and time under tension more than to heavy load.

RIR means reps in reserve: how many you could still have done when you racked it. RIR 2 is two short of failure.

How to do it

1. Set the pulley at the top and take one end of the rope in each hand, thumbs up.
2. Stand close enough that the cable hangs almost vertically, with a small forward lean and the elbows at your sides.
3. Pin the upper arms against your ribs. Only the forearms move from here.
4. Push down and let the hands spread apart as you straighten, ending with the arms locked and the rope ends beside your thighs.
5. Let the forearms come back up until they are past ninety degrees, without the elbows drifting forward.

Common mistakes

Elbows travelling forward

When the elbow moves in front of the ribs, the shoulder helps and the triceps gets a partial rest. The upper arm is the part that must not move.

Leaning over the weight

Bending far forward lets bodyweight push the rope down. That is a press, and the weight on the stack stops meaning anything.

Stopping halfway up

Short reps at the bottom feel strong and leave out the stretched part of the range. Let the forearms come back up properly between reps.

Shrugging on the last reps

Shoulders climbing towards the ears is the whole upper body joining in. If that is what it takes, the set is done.

How it differs from the neighbouring variants

A straight-bar pushdown lets you use more weight and keeps the wrists in a fixed position. It is the stronger version and gives up the spread at the bottom.

The overhead cable extension puts the shoulder in flexion, which stretches the long head of the triceps and loads it hardest there. The two work well as a pair.

What it suits

Pushdowns sit at the end of a pressing day or an arm day. Ten to twenty reps with zero to two in reserve, and no reason to hold back on the last set, since a failed rep just means the rope comes up. If your elbows ache, keeping a few reps in reserve usually settles them faster than dropping the exercise.

Muscles worked

Primary: Triceps.

Estimate your one-rep max

Epley's formula, from a set you have actually done. It is an estimate, and it drifts above eight reps, so keep the input between one and twelve.

What it is called elsewhere

• Norsk Tau-pushdown
• Svenska Tricepspushdown med rep
• Dansk Pushdown med reb
• Deutsch Trizepsdrücken mit Seil
• Español Extensión de tríceps con cuerda
• Italiano Pushdown con corda
• Português Tríceps corda
• Русский Разгибание рук с канатом
• Français Extension triceps à la corde

Related arms exercises

• Barbell curl
• EZ-bar curl
• Preacher curl (barbell)
• Skull crushers
• Standing French press
• Reverse curl

athlate logs this exercise, keeps the numbers, and tells you what you lifted last time.